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Stella

Jefferson National Forest

S tella raced through the woods, searching madly for a hiking trail or any signs of life. Her feet were already shredded from the rocks and jagged branches she trampled. She was leaving a blood trail.

Still disoriented from the drug in her system, she’d tried to run due east but often found herself veering.

After an hour—best estimate—she hadn’t come across a path or service road.

About forty minutes of daylight remained; the sun had just dipped below the treeline.

Stella slowed her pace as panic and adrenaline subsided and paused under a massive oak.

Pulling the scalpel from her pocket, Stella cut strips from the bottom of her jeans and wrapped her feet as best she could.

The combination of fatigue and the truth agent in her system was crippling.

Moreover, she had no food or water. Stella walked until her knees buckled.

She was just about to resort to resting in a hollow log when she spotted the abandoned maintenance shed.

The lock was broken, and inside was only bare shelves.

In the back corner, she found a lifesaver—a nearly empty plastic bottle of Mountain Dew lay on its side.

Stella drank the trickle of soda and collapsed on the dirt floor.

She’d rest for an hour, metabolize the drug that was dulling her mind, and continue east as soon as she was able.

The instructions pounded in her mind like a drumbeat.

Find a road, hitchhike to safety. Stella had go-bags with IDs and cash hidden all over the world.

She’d get to her nearest stash, become someone else, and disappear.

This wasn’t who she was. Stella had never backed down from an enemy in her life.

But Ren was dead, and all that ridiculous hope had died with him.

The fight had left her. There was nothing left to do but run.

She’d pick up the pieces and begin again, alone. Funny, she’d never minded being on her own until Ren crashed into her life and filled her heart. The thought of never seeing him again made it hard to put one foot in front of the other, but Stella was a survivor. Her shattered heart kept beating.