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heavy backpack full of books behind me, I couldn’t slow down.
     
    The man began to reach toward me just as I was close enough.  I shoved him in the chest, sending him stumbling back and to the floor.  The contact was enough to absorb my momentum and bring me to a stop.  The man immediately started struggling to grab me.  I turned and started to run in the opposite direction back to the other stairwell.  I reached out for the door and pulled it open as my shoes squeaked to a stop.  I glanced down at the man just in time to see him get to his feet again and start coming after me.  I yanked the door shut behind myself and began to make my way out of the stairwell.  I heard the injured man upstairs slam into the door and begin frantically pounding his fists against the door, trying to get through it.
     
    I came down the bottom of the stairs and the exit door was in sight.  I pushed the door open and ran outside.  About a hundred yards in front of me I could see my pickup truck.  I glanced to my left and saw the sick guy from the tutoring center standing outside of the other door to Hastings Hall.  I tried to slow down, hoping that he wouldn’t notice me running to my truck, but by the time I slowed down, he had already seen me.  I started to sprint toward my truck.  I couldn’t help but glance over my shoulder every couple of seconds to see how close he was.  The second time I looked, another two of them were close behind him.
     
    I stepped down off of the curb onto the asphalt of the parking lot and almost lost my balance.  Somehow I managed to stay on my feet.  I looked back at the pack of sick people chasing me just as they reached the edge of the parking lot.  Two of them lost their footing and hit the ground hard.  I slowed for a moment until I realized that the third one was still running at me.  I picked up my pace and began to dig in my pocket for my key ring.  It was crammed in my right pants pocket with my cell phone.  I had to slow down to get my hand into my pocket but I tried to speed back up as I felt my fingers wrap around the metal ring.  I gave the keys a quick tug to get them out of the pocket.  I could feel my face go pale as I heard the distinct jingle of my keys and clack of my cell phone hitting the blacktop.
     
    I stopped as quickly as I could and saw that the sick guy was only about thirty feet behind me.  My phone and my keys had landed too far from each other for me to get them both.  The keys were closest and they were what I needed to get out of the parking lot.  I grabbed the keys and continued to run for my truck, leaving my cell phone behind.  When I finally reached the truck, the added weight of my book bag slammed me up against the driver’s side door.  I scrambled to get the key into the door and could hear the sick man’s feet against the asphalt as he was coming toward me.  Just as I began to panic, the key slid into the hole and I popped the lock open.  I ripped the door open and jumped inside.  As I tried to get completely inside the truck I felt my backpack being pulled back out of the door.  I looked over my shoulder and could see the sick guy pulling my bag toward his mouth as he tried to bite it.
     
    I turned sideways and began to kick him in the stomach.  He didn’t seem hurt by the kicks, but he let go of the bag and attempted to grab my leg.  I was able to land a good kick to his chest, and he stumbled backward away from the door.
     
    I pulled the door shut and sat up in the driver’s seat to start the truck.  Once again the reliable four-cylinder rumbled to life just as the man ran full force into the door.  I let out the clutch and pulled off.  I could see all three of them in the rearview mirror.  There was no way they were going to catch me but they continued to lumber after me at a very awkward looking jog.  I hadn’t had the chance to actually watch them move until I drove away from the campus. I had always been running away