Page 23

Waking in the campground in southern Arkansas, the rag-tag group of people were in surprisingly good spirits considering what they’d been through in the last few months. Several people were moving around, preparing meals, others were shaking out the sleeping bags.

Leaving their homes was the hardest thing they’d ever had to do. They’d been settled, each with their own home, and living a life away from prying eyes and onlookers. When they saw the groups of people moving through the valley toward them, they knew they had to run. There was no time to take anything personal or to pack cars or vans with items.

Thank goodness they were always prepared. Tents, sleeping bags, utility bins filled with supplies and food, it was all ready. As they escaped on the route that had been planned for years, they took one last look back at the only place that had ever been home for them. And watched it burn.

“Good morning,” said their leader. “Everyone okay?”

“All good,” nodded several of them. “Any word?”

“No. A few strange vibes, but nothing concrete that we can use. I think we need to try and find my old friends.”

“They’re not going to want to take all of us in,” said the other man.

“I don’t think you understand. It’s kind of what they do. If we’re in trouble, they’ll help us. We probably should have gone to them in the first place. We can’t keep running from campground to campground. Sooner or later, someone is going to find us, and we’re going to be out of luck.

“We’ve got people that will need medications, we’ve got pregnant women, we can’t keep running. Besides, that’s no way for the kids to live. They deserve to be able to play outside when they want to without fear.”

“I know,” nodded his friend. “I’m just terrified for all of us. We’ve known that there were more like us somewhere out there but to believe that we could find them was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Plus, who’s going to believe us?”

“These people will. I promise you. They will.”

They spent the morning discussing their options and talking about the possibility of heading back to their homes. Except it was no longer an option. They’d lost a few during the exit and skirmish. Had it not been for the quick thinking of their team, they would have lost more.

The problem was he wasn’t really sure how to get in touch with his old friend. Hell, he wasn’t even really a friend. Just someone who’d saved his ass once. But he knew of what he was doing and what he was accomplishing. It was something they all wanted to be a part of.

For three days and three nights, they camped out in Arkansas. The weather was sunny, cool, and blissfully perfect. But when one of the team suspected their stalkers were coming their way again, they knew they had to move on.

“This needs to be a decision for everyone,” he said. “Do we stay and fight? Do we move somewhere new? Or do we try and find my friend in Louisiana?”

“Louisiana,” said the crowd.

“We’ve always trusted you,” said a woman. “You’ve never steered us wrong, and if you think this person can help us, then I believe you. I don’t think we have a choice at this point. Someone desperately wants us and whatever we have.”

He knew that hiking through the woods and making their way on foot was going to be a long process, but it was better than being tracked in vehicles, and it would require at least a dozen vehicles for all of them. They didn’t have a choice. They’d left everything behind.

“Then, Louisiana it is. We leave at dawn.”