The Mafia Trial

As I rushed through the thick forest I could feel the branches pulling at my shirt and tearing at my skin but I didn’t stop running.  At top speed, I knew I could run for a good 20 minutes but I didn’t have only myself to consider.

“Kassie, …. can we please…. Stop for …. Just a minute.”  I heard Tayler gasp out.  She had been trailing along behind me the whole 7 minutes since we had started running.  If we continued to constantly stop, we would lose the small lead we had on the others.  I knew that Tayler would continue asking to stop the whole time but it didn’t matter we had to keep running.  Finally, I stopped and watched as Taylor plopped down and leaned against a tree.

I had met Taylor two years ago when I had first tried to get into the Mafia, an organized international body of criminals, who have a complex and ruthless behavioral code.  Taylor had wanted to get in for a while too but gave up after the first disappointing try and non-acceptance.   Unlike her, I continued trying to get in every year, and finally, I had made it.  Getting accepted into this competition would decide who was the best and who deserved to be in the Mafia.  It was the best day of my life when I got accepted to compete but as soon as Taylor had heard that I had gotten accepted, she begged me to let her go with me.  I had told her no about a million times.  When she finally told me that she would die if I didn’t let her go I thought it was a silly joke but I noticed her getting sick and thin and I realized that she wasn’t eating.  I finally said yes knowing that I couldn’t let her kill herself.  It was the only thing I could do, but watching her now I wished that she would have just taken no for an answer. 

The competition started last week.  It was simple, survive for a month with no provisions in a jungle while trained killers hunted you.  I had done many survivalist trips and was prepared for it.  The only thing I had not been prepared for was having someone who was unprepared and was not suited for this.  I knew that if I didn’t get Taylor to accept this and start helping out soon then we would lose.

I gave Taylor a two-minute break all the while expecting someone to jump out at us.  I thought all this through making sure to keep a count going on in my head.  The two minutes were up too quickly for Taylor’s liking.

“Come on Taylor. We need to start moving again.”  I said, walking over to give her a hand.

“Give me another few minutes please Kassie!”  She said in a whiny voice, her breathing nearly back to normal.  “I’ve only just sat down and my feet are sore.”

I had to bite my tongue so that I wouldn’t yell at her to get off her lazy bum.

“Listen, Taylor, if we don’t continue moving soon then we won’t find shelter before dark, and if we don’t find shelter before dark then who knows what will find us.  So unless you want to be killed I’d suggest you get up and start running.”

She paused for a moment and considered what I had just said as if she thought I might be joking.  I guess she realized that I was serious because she slowly started to get up.  This wasn’t the first time she had refused to start running again and I was glad she had made it easier this time.

As we continued running I knew that Taylor would be asking for another break soon.  We couldn’t continue at this pace.  I knew that without Taylor I could pass this thing, but with Taylor,  I knew we would lose.  Again the thought that I’d been trying to push down rolled around in my head.  I could leave Taylor and win this without her and as each period of running time got shorter because of her, I knew that I would eventually have to leave her.  I would try putting it off as long as possible knowing that without me, she wouldn’t survive but in this type of job, you look out for number one and no one else.  She wouldn’t last a day in the Mafia and I wasn’t going to waste my time keeping her alive when I needed to keep me alive.

Wait, what am I thinking?  I couldn’t betray her.  She may be annoying nevertheless she was still my friend. I couldn’t let her die and I’m not giving up on her. 

After a few more breaks from running, I decided to just stop for the night.

“Good job,''  I said to Taylor.  She had made it with me to a safe place for the night, hopefully, it was safe.  The place I had chosen was where a huge tree had fallen and the dirt and roots had left a small hole that Taylor and I could hide in for a bit without being seen.  We couldn’t stay there all night and we would have to move in the next few hours. I prepared myself for a long night without sleep by leaning against the fallen tree. After a few hours, I felt myself dozing off. The feeling was addicting but it didn't last long. Before I knew it, a hard shaky feeling roused me from the dark. I became more aware of my surroundings and found myself propped up in an awkward position against the fallen tree.  The shaking stopped and I found Taylor glaring down at me hotly.

“I can’t believe you! You go on and on about what I should do and yet here I find you sleeping. Do you not realize that if someone finds us while you’re sleeping on the job, both of us are gonna be dead?!”

 I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.  I hadn’t slept for the past few nights, I had taken all the watches, I had found us food and shelter, and I had put up with her instead of leaving her for dead.

I stood up, both of us glaring at each other.

“Are you kidding me Taylor?!”  I nearly screamed.

“Do you really think being killed is worth joking about Kassie? Aren’t you the one who got us both into this stupid competition? The least you could do is help out instead of having me do all the work and carry both our loads.”  Taylor said, her cheeks flushed after her outburst.

I knew my face held a look of complete shock but I could feel it rapidly turning into a look of pure hatred.

“You think it's my fault we’re in this competition?!”  At the jerky nod of her head I burst out, “You practically begged for me to take you after you realized I was allowed to take one person with me to this competition! Did you expect this to be easy??” 

“Of course I didn’t. I’m not an imbecile!”  Taylor replied angrily.

“Then why on earth did you beg me to come?!”  I shouted.  I knew that shouting might lead some of the killers towards us but I didn’t care.  I wanted to know why Taylor, a lazy, useless and self centered jerk, wanted to be a part of the Mafia.

“Because I want to be known for something all over the world. I don’t care what it is or what I do to get it but I want to be recognized by anyone who sees me and you’re not helping me obtain that goal!”

“So,’  I said trying to keep my voice steady, ‘You are having me go through all this trouble risking life and limb so that you can become famous?”  It took all my mental power to keep from hurling myself at her.  I might have actually punched her right then and there if I hadn’t heard the unmistakable sound of someone running towards us.

Taylor was still going on about how important fame was to her.

“Taylor.”  I hissed. 

“You don’t understand my position Kassie. I'm the youngest in my family and I never get noticed-”

“Taylor be quiet!” I said louder. 

“This will make it so that I’m noticed by everyone and another thing-”

“Taylor! Will you shut up!” I tried to tell her as quietly as I could.

“What?! Oh I see you just want to be the only one talking don’t you? Well…”

I rushed forward and quickly covered her mouth with my hand.

“Taylor there is someone coming towards us and we have to get away now. Keep your mouth shut and follow me.”  I started running silently and heard Taylor stumbling noisily after me.  We headed east.  I had no idea where we were going but my goal was to survive and I knew we needed to get away as quickly as possible.

I kept running, getting faster and faster each time I thought of getting caught. 

We burst into a rocky clearing and I saw looming ahead the edge of a gorge.  I slid to a stop trying to slow my momentum down and narrowly missed falling off the edge. 

 Taylor slid to a stop next to me.

“....Great...a gorge...you lead us straight...to a gorge...what do you propose we do now stupid?”  I didn’t respond immediately.  Truthfully I didn’t know.

“...Well? Are you just gonna stand...there...or are you gonna….get your lazy self...into action and...get us out of here?!”  Taylor said, gulping air in angrily.

“You know what Taylor, why don’t you figure out what we do next. You’re the one who wants to be famous.” 

“Ugh fine. I’ll do all the work...while you slack off.”  Taylor walked to the edge of the cliff; hopefully, she was seeing how deep it was and maybe she would try to find a way over.

I calmed my breathing and made sure to listen to see if anyone was trying to sneak up on us, but all I was hearing was Taylor muttering about how lazy I was.  

I was so sick and tired of her attitude and something needed to be done right this instant.  I tiredly pulled myself up off the ground.  Knowing what I was about to do gave me a sickening delight.  I walked over to Taylor who was looking carefully over the cliff. 

And with a little push….