Page 27

27

Nash

Lightning crackles across the sky, and then a few seconds later, thunder booms all around us, startling me so I squeeze Lara’s hand. The weather’s been so hot these past few days that a storm is long overdue, but it couldn’t have chosen a worse time. I’d planned on the cover of darkness to hide us as we escaped.

As all of this runs through my mind, a gunshot rings out, warning me the sentry guarding the perimeter of the compound knows someone’s gotten out. Pulling Lara along, I hope to God my legs don’t give out before we reach somewhere safe.

“I can’t keep up!” she cries out when I tug her forward once more. “I don’t have legs as long as yours.”

Another sharp crack of lightning lights up the darkness, and when I look back at her, I see real fear in her eyes. “Just try. We need to cover more ground if we expect to make it.”

We run our fastest down a dirt road that I silently pray to God connects to a main road somewhere close. My shitkicker boots aren’t made for this kind of thing, but I push on as hard as I can. If they catch us now, I have no faith that Micah won’t have the two of us killed.

“Do you know where we can call to get help?” she breathlessly asks.

I don’t want to tell her there’s no one who’s going to open the door to two strangers in the middle of the night. She might give up, and I can’t have that right now. Not when we’re so close to getting away.

The sound of men behind us tells me we’ve got precious few minutes to reach the main road. At least there we’ll have a chance to flag down a car. Not that I think we’ll have any better luck with that than with knocking on someone’s door to get help, but I can’t focus on that now.

“We just need to get to the main road,” I say, tugging her forward to stay with me. “Keep running! We can’t let them catch us!”

I don’t want to frighten her, but the sound of my voice is probably doing that for me. Thankfully, she can’t see my face because if she could, she’d know I’m as terrified as she is.

“Nash, there are people following us! What are we going to do?”

At that very moment, a flash of lightning illuminates the sky, and I see the road up ahead. A car drives by, buoying my hope that someone will pick us up to take us the hell away from here.

Not that I have any idea where to go. I’ve been with The Golden Light for years. I don’t know what it’s like out in the real world. Lara does, though, so I can only hope in exchange for helping her get away that she’ll help me out in the beginning.

My legs ache from running in these boots, and it takes everything I have to not groan in agony. I don’t want to let Lara know I’m struggling, though. I don’t think she’ll keep going if she thinks I can’t.

“Nash, they’re getting closer! What are we going to do?”

The panic in her voice makes my stomach clench. I can hear them running behind us, their shoes pounding against the ground as they rush to catch us. It’s only a matter of minutes, if that, before they reach us.

If only we can get to the road in time.

“Come on! It’s not far now,” I say in my best cheerleading voice. “We’re almost there!”

She has a burst of energy and nearly runs away from me, pulling my arm as she does. “We’re going to make it!”

A gunshot echoes through the darkness. Terror courses through me as I push my body harder than ever before. Behind us, a deep voice barks out, “Stop! If you don’t stop, we will kill you. Stop now!”

Lara tightens her hold on my hand, and I sense the genuine fear in her without her saying a word. I can’t let them catch us. They will kill me, but I don’t know if that’s what Micah will do to her. Another woman dying might be too big a problem for him. My death won’t be, though. I have no connections outside of the group, so nobody will miss me.

As for her, she might not be killed, but her fate will be no better if he makes her one of his girls. Kept hidden away and used for his pleasure, they’re forced to be little more than slaves.

I turn around hoping to see how far away the men are, but there’s nothing but darkness without the lightning. Their voices threatening us come through loud and clear, though.

They’re gaining on us.

We need to go faster, but Lara’s right. Her legs aren’t long enough. There’s no choice now. If we hope to get away and find someone to give us a ride, we have to run faster than the men chasing us.

“When I stop, you need to get on my back. Don’t waste time, or we won’t escape them.”

She lets out a tiny sob but says nothing. A few steps later, I suddenly skid to a stop and yank her back toward me. Just as I told her to, she jumps on my back and wraps her arms around my neck.

“Nash, oh hurry! I can hear them!” she cries in my ear.

I don’t need to be told twice to get going. I know what the consequences of our attempting to escape will be if we fail. My feet take off like they’ve got wings on the back of them. I don’t know where the strength comes from, but I don’t feel any fatigue in my legs now. I only feel pure fear at the thought of what will happen to us if I don’t reach that main road and find someone who will help us.

The sound of the cars’ tires rolling over the pavement fills my ears, thrilling me. It’s not that far now. I just need to keep going.

“Nash, we’re doing it!” Lara says, hope filling her voice.

Another gunshot rips through the darkness, but this time it doesn’t terrify me. They’re too far behind and running in the dark like we are, so their shots won’t reach us.

Not yet.

I can’t let up now, though. Just a few steps more and we’ll get to the main road. I just have to pray someone will stop and help us.

“You can’t get away, Nash!” a man bellows.

I recognize that voice. Adam. He’s probably licking his damn chops in anticipation of catching me. I bet he’s already got what he wants to do to me all planned out. No chasing after me just to shoot me down in the high grass like with Maren. No, he’s a psycho. He’s going to want to torture me for a little while before he finally puts a bullet in my head.

“Don’t listen to him,” Lara says in my ear. “We’re almost there!”

My eyesight becomes bleary as we get closer to the road, so I shake my head hoping to clear it. I can’t lose focus now.

Just a few yards more…

Lara begins yelling and flailing her arms above my head just before we reach the main road, and I’m stunned when a car pulls off to the side. I sprint over to it, spending the last of my energy to reach the dark SUV.

The window slowly lowers as I keep turning my head to see how close Adam and his buddies are. Thankfully, they seem to have slowed down.

A man looks out from the driver seat, and before I can ask him if he can give us a ride, Lara exclaims, “Mario! What are you doing here at this time of night?”

Confused, I don’t know what to expect him to say, but the man flashes us a big smile and waves us into his car. “I could ask you the same question. Jump in!”

I don’t question how the two of them know one another and hurriedly get into the back seat. Lara climbs into the front seat, and we barely get the doors closed before her friend Mario is jamming his foot on the gas and slamming me back against the leather seat.

She turns her body toward him and slaps his arm. “I don’t know what we would have done if you didn’t come along. You saved us, Mario!”

“Timing is everything. So where were you two coming from?” he asks before glancing in the rearview mirror to look at me.

Something makes me feel like I’ve seen him before. That can’t be possible, though. I haven’t seen more than a handful of outsiders in my entire time with The Golden Light. The few times I left the farm to visit other locations for Micah didn’t give me much opportunity to see people not in the group. Mario must have a familiar looking face.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Lara answers with a laugh. “Someday after I give you my article I’ll explain everything. Until then, I think I can speak for Nash when I say you literally saved our lives.”

“Well, I’m happy to do it. Where can I take you?”

“Where are we?” I ask, but Mario doesn’t answer.

Before I can tell her to not say too much, Lara blurts out, “My car is parked in Wilmington. I know it’s a huge favor, but can you drop us off there?”

Wilmington? That’s in Delaware. Did we get moved to a site outside of Pennsylvania?

As these questions fill my mind, I listen to him agree to take us wherever Lara wants, and then he says, “Why didn’t you answer my call yesterday and again today? I’ve been worried about you.”

“It’s a long story, but suffice to say I’m going to need a new phone.”

They continue to talk, catching up on all that’s been happening in his life since they last spoke, and I feel myself begin to drift off now that adrenaline isn’t pumping through my system. I take a deep breath and close my eyes, truly relaxing for the first time in God only knows how long.

Thoughts about where I’ll go float through my mind, but they can wait for later. Right now, all I want to do is enjoy the feeling of freedom at it fills every nook and cranny of me.