Anxiety. I could feel the blood rush through my body. My heart beat like a crazed beast imprisoned by my rib cage. Palms sweaty and face moist. I knelt down, hands touching my knees as I tried to catch my breath. I’d been running through the woods for some time now. Darkness was falling and taking a break wasn’t an option.
I couldn’t let them catch me.
I dug into my pocket and grabbed the plastic container that I’d been risking my life for. But truth be told, it was the only thing keeping me sane.
I popped a pill.
And I know what you’re thinking. Is he some type of addict? Is he mentally distraught? Negative and fucking negative. There was a deeper reason for me ingesting these tiny beauties on the regular.
I was preserving my brain.
There weren’t many of us left these days. The open-minded. Free thinkers. Being an individual wasn’t heard of in our society. And if you stepped out of the box, if you even thought about straying from that perfect straight line, they’d come for you. You were pretty much fucked once they found you.
They’d turn you.
As long as I kept taking the pills my mind wouldn’t slip. They allowed me to see our world for what it really was. I could see the beauty and the bullshit. I was able to recognize what was pure and what was poisoned.
But with this knowledge I was never safe.
I could hear their voices nearby; hear their footsteps moving through the bushes. I had to keep moving. I had to find somewhere to hide.
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