by Marla Monroe
“What is it?” she whispered back.
“Someone’s outside moving around. We might have to make a run for it. I want you awake and ready,” he said.
Marty eased away from the window and crouched next to the bed. “There’s two of them. Take a look through the window, Granger, and see if you recognize them.”
Granger eased off the bed and silently walked over to peek through the window. After a few seconds, he pulled back and nodded in their direction. Once he had returned within whispering distance, he confirmed that they were the guys from the farm they’d left.
“There can’t be more than three of them. I can’t imagine they would leave the two women without someone to defend them,” Granger told them.
“If we stay here, we’re sitting ducks. We need to get to the truck and haul ass,” Marty said.
“I agree, but how are we going to manage that without them picking us off? I only saw two of them, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t another one sitting out there in a tree or something waiting for us to show ourselves.” Granger stared from her to Marty.
“Our best bet is to sneak out as soon as night comes. We can go out the window over there since it’s opposite from where we’ve seen the men. Waiting until night will give us an advantage. Unless they have night vision goggles, they won’t be able to see us well enough to shoot accurately.” Marty waited to see what they were going to say.
Destiny wanted to tell him it was too dangerous, but she knew that sticking around where they were was just as bad. They couldn’t stay there forever, and what would happen if they decided to burn them out? No, leaving was their best option. She’d just have to suck it up so she wouldn’t slow them down. Now that they knew she was a woman, they’d make allowances for her. She didn’t want that. It would put them all in danger.
“I think you’re right. We need to move as soon as we can,” Granger said.
“Destiny? Think you can make it to the truck? We’re going to need our hands free in case we need to use our guns,” Marty said.
“I’ll be fine. Just tell me when to run.” She would make it if it killed her.
“That’s the spirit.” Marty turned and nodded to Granger. “More than likely they plan to wait until they think we’re asleep to attack. We need to catch them off guard and run as soon as it’s full dark.”
Destiny cringed at the thought of one of them getting hurt because she was too slow and they slowed down to keep her safe. She liked both of them too much for that to happen. The fact that she cared for Granger had begun to sink in, but realizing that she’d already started to have similar feelings for Marty scared her. It wasn’t normal to feel this way about two different men.
She tried to blank everything out of her head so she could be ready when Marty said it was time to go. There would be plenty of time to worry about feelings and how right or wrong they were once they were safely on the road again. It looked like she was going to be traveling with them for a while now anyway. It would give her time to heal so that when she went her own way, she would be able to take care of herself once again.
* * * *
Marty stared out the slit in the curtains, making sure nothing was moving. He wasn’t sure this was a good idea, but it was the best one he could come up with. Truth be known, he didn’t expect them to make it to the truck. It wasn’t that he was afraid of dying, but it pissed him off that he had let a bunch of assholes like those guys get the drop on him. He should have been expecting them to try something. If they’d driven farther away, they wouldn’t have bothered to follow them, but since he’d stopped so soon to give Granger some time to recuperate, it had been too good of an opportunity for them to pass up.
To make it worse, they had a woman to protect now. It didn’t matter that they hadn’t known earlier that she wasn’t actually a teenage boy. The fact remained that she was supposed to be protected, and he’d screwed up.
“Anything moving out there?” Granger asked in a low voice from his position across the room.
“Don’t see anything. Should be able to head out in another twenty minutes.” Marty pulled on his backpack.
“Just say the word. I’ll have Destiny up and ready when you do.”
Marty nodded without saying anything as he continued to focus all of his attention on the area out front that he could see. It was as if the sun sank in slow inches instead of seconds as time was usually measured in. When he could no longer make out the outline of the porch railing, he eased away from the window and stood up. Turning, he nodded at Granger.
The other man already had his backpack on and quickly helped Destiny out of the bed. When she started to slip on her own backpack, Granger stopped her.
“You can’t wear it, or you’ll irritate that wound and start it to bleeding again,” he said in a soft whisper.
“I’ll wear it over one shoulder. You’ve got to have your hands free in case you need to use your rifle,” she reminded him.
“Don’t put it on your injured shoulder, Destiny. If you open that wound back up, you’ll end up with an infection. You’re lucky as hell you haven’t so far, anyway.” Granger helped her settle the pack on her right shoulder.
“I’m ready,” she said.
Marty watched her, worried that she wasn’t doing nearly as well as she appeared to be. She was a strong woman. He couldn’t help but admire her. Very few women he’d known in his life would have had the guts, much less the ability, to fool people into thinking she was a young teenage boy and work their way across the states with the world all fucked up like she had. No, she was a woman to be treasured and taken care of.
He carefully opened the window, making sure once more that nothing seemed to be moving, before slipping out to stand guard while Granger helped Destiny climb through. He kept his body between her and the surrounding woods while Granger climbed out next. Together, the three of them made their way deeper into the trees. He saw one of the men who’d been watching the cabin up in a tree not far from them. The idiot lit a hand rolled cigarette, announcing his location like a lighthouse strobe light. He made sure to check the trees after that, winding them around behind the idiot smoking.
They kept low and used any bush they could locate as cover. He was thankful that Destiny knew how to be careful walking to keep the noise down. Marty took them in a zigzag pattern to make it more difficult to follow them if they had somehow picked up a tail. He didn’t think they had, but he wasn’t leaving anything to chance.
Finally, they reached the spot he planned to leave them to go grab the truck. It amazed him that they’d managed to get away without a fight. Stealing the truck out from under them was going to be tough.
“Okay, you two stay here. Right through there is the road. I’m going to get the truck and bring it back here. As soon as you see me stop there, get in fast.”
“Marty, it’s too dangerous. Leave the truck. We’ll make it fine on foot until we find another one,” Destiny said.
“Darling, you’re not going to be able to keep up with that bullet wound in your shoulder. Besides, we need the ammunition and supplies in my truck.” Marty looked over her head at Granger. “Keep her quiet until I get back. If you hear anything, or if I don’t show up in twenty minutes, run and don’t look back.”
“Watch your ass, man. We’ll be here waiting on you,” Granger said.
“Marty…” Destiny started to speak again.
“Shh, or you’re going to give away where you are. I’ll be back.” Marty slipped back into the darkness.
He took a much more direct approach back to grab the truck than he had getting them to a safe hiding place. As soon as he was within sight of the vehicle, Marty made a circle to try and locate where everyone was located. He made out one more man hiding on the opposite side of the cabin as the one in the tree. Neither one of them would be able to see him climb into the truck. The third man worried him. He had no idea where he was. That meant he had one chance to grab the truck and haul ass.
He
had long ago removed the light in the cab of the truck that came on when the door was opened. He could open the door without making a sound, but if he closed it, the noise would give him away. No closing the door until he was on his way out. The next thing that might lead to his getting himself shot was if they’d thought to disable the truck. That would make him a sitting duck.
He checked his watch. Eight minutes down. He had to hurry. Sweat dribbled down his back. More of it traced a path down the side of his face.
A brief flash of the moon light off something shiny caught his attention, and he realized where the third man was hiding. In the damn truck bed.
Fuck! What am I going to do now?
Chapter Six
Time seemed to drag as they waited for Marty to make it back with the truck. Each second pounded away inside of her, taunting her that they were in this mess because of her. If she hadn’t eaten that damn rotten tomato, none of this would have happened in the first place.
“Easy, woman. I can hear you worrying from here. He’ll be fine.” Granger’s low voice barely registered in her ear.
“I’m sorry, Granger.”
“For what?”
“For getting you and Marty in this mess. If it wasn’t for me…”
“Stop that right now,” Granger bit out. “None of this is your fault. They were using us to keep from having to do their own damn work and not feeding us enough to keep a dog alive. More than likely they have bodies buried out there somewhere from the people they’ve had working for them over the years that finally starved to death.”
She shivered at the thought of that. She wouldn’t put it past them, either. Though she’d never met the two women living inside the house, she wondered if they were there by choice or if they’d been captured and were being held against their will. It was that very fate she’d been running from.
The sounds of gunshots echoed through the woods, making her jump. Terror that something had happened to Marty tightened her throat until she felt as if she were choking. Only Granger’s large hand on her uninjured shoulder stopped her from jumping up and running.
“Hold on. Marty will be here,” he whispered.
One minute, then two, ticked by before the sound of a vehicle gunning the engine reached their ears. Again, Granger’s hand kept her in place. When the truck pulled up exactly where Marty had said he would, Granger let her stand up but kept her behind him as they slipped through the bushes.
Marty threw open the passenger side door. “Hurry up. We’ve got to get out of here before the other two follow us.”
“What about the third man?” Granger asked as he jumped in after her and slammed the door.
“Don’t look in the back. We’ll have to dump the body after we’ve lost them,” Marty said, a grim expression on his face.
Destiny realized that he’d had to kill one of the men to get the truck to them. She could tell it hadn’t been something that he’d been comfortable doing, despite the fact that they had tried to kill her and would have killed them given half a chance. It made her admire him even more that he didn’t take any life lightly.
“Where are we going now?” she finally asked.
“Soon as I’m sure they’ve given up on chasing us, we’ll look at the maps and decide our next step,” Marty said.
“Do you think they’ll give up after one of them got killed?” Destiny was afraid they’d chase them down until they caught them.
“Yeah, they’ll give up soon. They have two women back at their farm, from what you’ve told me. They aren’t going to want to leave them with only one man to watch them. Besides, winter will be coming soon, and they still have a lot of work ahead of them to get ready for it.” Marty flashed a tight smile at her before returning his concentration to the road.
“Destiny, lean back and relax. We’ve got a long night ahead of us.” Granger settled their packs in the floorboard.
“We need to look for a larger truck when we stop as well,” Marty said.
“Yeah, don’t think you were expecting two passengers when you started out.” Granger chuckled.
“There’s safety in numbers, man. Safety in numbers.” Marty kept glancing in his rearview mirror as if he expected someone to pop up in the back of the truck.
Destiny sighed and tried to relax, but her shoulder ached something fierce. Knowing there was a dead man in the bed of the truck didn’t help either. When Granger attempted to stretch out some, he laid his arm along the back of the seat so that his arm brushed the back of her head. Even that small amount of contact had her blood heating. She clamped down on the desire that began to rise, reminding herself that she looked like a survivor from a refugee camp. He wouldn’t be the least bit interested in someone like her.
Though that thought helped dampen the effects of having both men so near to her, it did little to make her feel better. She had no experience with boys, let alone men. All of her knowledge of the opposite sex and about sex in general came from the many books she’d read over the years. She’d been lucky in that her aunt and uncle hadn’t been super conservative. They’d supplied her with romance books that got progressively more explicit as she grew older.
She could remember her aunt saying, “Dessie, baby. One day we’ll find a good man for you, and you’re going to want to know what to expect and how to please him as well as take your pleasure from him.”
She had known how wonderful they’d been to her, but she hadn’t known how hard it had been for them to provide for her without anyone knowing about her. She had great clothes, the books, and plenty to eat. How they had managed to do all of that without getting caught, she didn’t know. She missed them so much.
At some point she must have fallen asleep, because the next thing she knew, the sun was coming up and they were pulling in to a parking lot somewhere. She blinked, trying to clear the sleep from her eyes.
“Where are we?”
“We just crossed into South Dakota. We’ve been driving parallel to Montana for a few miles,” Granger said.
“Why are we stopping here?” she asked, yawning.
“Time to switch trucks,” Marty explained. “You and I are staying here while Granger finds us another set of wheels.”
She watched as Granger got out of the truck, carrying only his rifle. She wanted to tell him to be careful, but she wasn’t sure if that would jinx him or not. Right then, they needed every bit of luck they could get. When she turned to ask Marty how far they were from the Montana border, the way the rising sun hit his face made her stoop and swallow. He was a beautiful man, all hard planes and angles. Right then, there were dark circles under his eyes, a testament to how little sleep he’d had in the last twenty-four hours.
“As soon as he gets back with a truck, you need to let him drive, and you need to rest. You’re exhausted,” she told him.
“I’m fine. Once we’re on the road again, I’ll rest.” Marty kept looking around, one hand on his weapon, and the other on the steering wheel.
“Where are we going after this?” she asked. Now he had her looking around as well.
“I’m not sure, yet. I want to find a safe place to spend the night tonight so we can all rest. We’ll look over the maps then and decide together.” He looked down at her and smiled a smile that looked so tired to her. “Don’t worry, Destiny. We’ll keep you safe.”
She smiled back at him with more confidence than she felt. “I know you will.”
Less than five minutes later, the sound of an engine drawing closer had Marty pushing her down in the seat.
“Don’t move until I tell you it’s safe. We don’t know if there’s anyone else around here or not.”
Destiny tried to remain still, but her shoulder ached from crouching down in the seat. With their packs in the floorboard, there wasn’t room to get down there. She waited as the motor drew nearer. She saw the second that Marty knew it was Granger by the way his shoulders relaxed.
“Okay, you can sit up now.” He opened his door and climbed down
. “Scoot over to this side to get out, Destiny.”
She scooted over, letting him help her down from the truck. Granger was stepping out of a fairly new-looking brown Jeep Patriot four-by-four with a smile.
“Couldn’t have picked a better one than this. It has almost a full tank of gas, heated seats, and will probably take us just about anywhere we need to go. Plus, it has covered storage, which we might need.” He hurried around the other truck and grabbed their packs.
“Climb in, Destiny. We need to make a few more stops before we get back on the road,” Marty told her.
She climbed into the backseat and buckled up with some help from Marty. Her left arm wasn’t much use for anything other than making her shoulder hurt. She watched him grab things from behind the seat of the old truck, handing them to Granger, who put them in the back of the Jeep. He climbed up into the back of the truck, but she couldn’t tell what he was doing. She could barely make out his expression, but it was enough to know he wasn’t comfortable being back there with a dead body. Destiny had almost forgotten that there was a dead man riding around with them in the back.
After handing several things to Granger, Marty jumped down from the truck and climbed in the front passenger seat of the Jeep. Granger settled their packs on the back seat next to her. Then he got in behind the wheel and closed the door. Seconds later, they were driving away from the old truck. She wasn’t sure how she felt about leaving the body there instead of burying it. Despite the fact that the men had been trying to kill them and that one had actually shot her, it seemed wrong to just leave him there.
“If it had been safe to do it, Destiny, we would have buried him. It just isn’t safe,” Granger said. How he’d known what she was thinking, Destiny didn’t know.
They rode through the small town without seeing anyone in the area. Where she’d come from in Atlanta, there were always people milling about during the daytime. She’d watched them with a pair of binoculars, wanting to see what others looked like besides her aunt and uncle. The farther west she’d traveled, the fewer people she saw. Right after everything had gone crazy, everyone left had flocked to the cities where they thought they would be safer and have better access to food and water. Instead, it had led to disease, and a second outbreak of different plagues swept through those areas with the greatest concentration of people.
