Nightmares

I ran. Ran as fast as my out of shape legs would take me. Whether speeding toward or away, I'm still not sure. My lungs unable or unwilling to provide the additional oxygen.
Something enormous was at stake. Something for which I was responsible. Faster. Damn it. Kick it up a level.
There was as much chance that I would be the arriving hero who needed to save the day, as there was that I would be the fleeing villain who had just ruined everything. All I knew for certain was that everything depended on me getting somewhere before it was too late.
Savior or destroyer. Such stark extremes. I was beginning to cramp. The wind stung. I could not afford to pass out. Is that jeering or cheering I think I'm hearing?
The sidewalk ends abruptly at the edge of a vast desert. Did I take a wrong turn somewhere? So much at stake. I am responsible.