Rebirth

Chapter 21 - Escape

"How the hell did she get out?" he thought wildly to himself. He whirled around and
looked at the door. It lay in pieces at his feet.

"Dammit!" he swore under his breath.

He turned to his brothers and said "We have to find her. She can't get outside. She
won't survive out there."

Yazoo looked at Loz. They could see the panic in his face.

"I'll search the house upstairs," said Yazoo sprinting up the stairs.

Kadj ran off down the hallway in the direction Tifa had fled moments before with Loz
close on his heels.

"You were supposed to watch her," he said through gritted teeth.

Tifa ran down the hallway as she heard Loz yell for his brother's to wake up.

"I have to get out of here," she thought panicked.

She stumbled forward in the dark, both hands outstretched to feel the walls of the
hallway. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness as she ran on. She could see the faint outline
of another door ahead and to the right of her. She ran to it. It looked like a bulkhead
door. Her heart leapt with joy.

"This will take me outside," she whispered. She grabbed the door handles and pushed. It
wouldn't budge. Her fingers ran over the padlock that kept the door closed to the night
and swore. Just at that moment, her stomach cramped up again, shooting pain across her
belly and through her back. She doubled over and gasped.

"Not now, baby, please not now," she whimpered, holding her swollen belly, gritting her
teeth. She stood up straight as the wave of pain passed and shook the lock. Her fists
were already damaged from breaking the door down, but she knew what she had to do,
she had to get away.

She slowed her breathing and moved her feet into a fighting stance. She closed her eyes
and calmed her mind and body, waiting for the force within her to gather. Suddenly she
heard Kadj crash through the door of her room behind her. This was the release she
needed. Her fist lashed out with a quick powerful punch, shattering the lock. The heavy
bulkhead door crashed open. She was almost blown back off her feet by the frigid air
that was sucked into the warm hallway. She gasped, catching her breath, as she launched
herself out into the night.

She stood by the door, looking around for a place to run. Her thick hair blew around her
face, caught by the cold wind, and she brushed it aside with a ruined hand so that she
could see. The sun was setting over the valley before her. The place was deserted. No
trees or other buildings to hide in. No shelter from the weather. The cold wind was
biting into her as she stood, almost naked, by the door.

"Run, Tifa, run!" a voice in her head shouted. It was Aeris, urging her to move. The
sound of her friend's voice propelled her into action and she sprinted off in the direction
of the snow capped mountains.

She ran and ran for what seemed like hours. She could hear angry voices behind her at
first, but they receded into the darkness and all she was left with was her wildly beating
heart and the wind whistling past her ears. Even the voices in her head were silent.
Finally she could go no further and collapsed on all fours on the ground, panting. Her
sweat covered skin chilled her as the wind continued to howl. She shivered
uncontrollably and curled up in a ball, her knees pulled as far as her swollen belly would
allow up to her chest.