I wrapped my arms around Leah’s lifeless body, hugging her tightly to me. Her arms hung down heavily at her sides. “I love you. I love you so damn much. I am so sorry I failed you.”
The bedroom door flung open. Eli was standing there with his arms crossed.
“What the hell is going on in here?” he boomed.
“I’m sorry,” I said not realizing that I had been loud. “She… she didn’t make it.”
“Oh,” Eli said. He stared at me and started shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “Why are your bags here?”
I rubbed my palms against the sides of my legs. “I was looking for something.”
“At what point do you want me to remind you of the cameras?” Eli asked.
Oh, shit. He’d mentioned that he’d seen us coming. The cameras hadn’t only been outside, he’d had them placed inside the house too.
“I know what you found,” Eli said.
“Why? Why did you do this?” I asked. If there was one thing I wanted to know before he killed me, it was why.
“You damn no-good kids were just going to steal from me, just like all the ones before,” Eli said. “I had to do everything I could to protect myself, my things, and now, my niece too.”
I shook my head. “So, you killed her? And tried to kill me? We would have just left. We didn’t want your things. The only reason we came here was because Heather wanted us to.”
“I would have been a fool to sit here and do nothing, waiting for the day you tried to harm or deceive us,” Eli said.
“You’re crazy,” I said.
“What’s going on, Uncle Eli?” Heather said stepping up beside him.
I huffed. “I’ll tell you what’s going on. Your uncle killed my girlfriend.”
Heather instantly started shaking her head. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“I’m pretty sure he’s done it before, too,” I said jerking my thumb toward the window. “There are gravestones not far from the side of the house.”
Eli’s lips pressed together. He didn’t even try to deny it.
“Uncle Eli, is this true?” Heather asked.
“I’m going to protect you. Your parents weren’t able to but I will,” Eli said.
She stepped up to him and hit him in the side of the arm. “Did you do this?”
Eli pulled his arm back and smacked her so hard he flung her into the wall. Heather lost her balance and fell to the floor, her legs tangled underneath her.
I had to figure out a way to get out of the cabin. Eli was blocking the door, I didn’t have my gun, and Heather was sobbing on the floor.
Heather covered her ears and squeezed her eyes shut. “They helped me, Uncle Eli! How could you do this? They’re not bad! You are! You’re terrible, just like my dad said!”
“Shut up!” Eli bellowed so loudly, the walls shook.
I sucked in a breath and charged forward.
27
Stevie
In the morning, they brought us bowls of mush. Oatmeal maybe. I was given half the amount of everyone else but I didn’t care.
The beating they’d given me hadn’t been enough for their sadistic souls. They needed to starve me too.
I didn’t eat it. I didn’t want it anyway.
“Stevie,” Melinda said sitting down next to me at the window. I stared out, wondering what Gage and Shawn were doing. Were they taking care of Jake? Was he even alive? “If you really have something waiting out there, you can’t do this.”
“I’m not doing anything,” I muttered before resting my chin on my fist.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” she said. “You need to get back there to them. Whoever is there is probably waiting for you, right?”
I pressed my lips together so they wouldn’t tremble.
“A boyfriend, maybe? A husband? Maybe a child?” she asked.
I swallowed hard. My mouth was dryer than the desert. I couldn’t speak but I gave her a nod.
“Boyfriend?” she asked.
My head bobbed once.
There was a quick glimmer in Melinda’s eyes that quickly faded. “Are there other boys there?”
“Yes.”
“Well, then, we can’t give up. You can’t give up,” Melinda said. “I’ll help you. We’ll all help you.”
I frowned. “You don’t get it, do you?”
“It’s you that doesn’t get it.” Melinda scowled.
“I’m not going to risk anything happening to anyone else. There has been enough death,” I said.
“They’ll be letting me out later to help with dinner,” Melinda said looking at the others. “I can easily get to the knives.”
“And I can get the keys to get us out of here,” Ida said. “That bastard will come for me tonight. I’ll get him to drink a lot before he has his way with me. I’ve never been brave enough to steal the keys before but knowing there is something else out there helps. I’m willing to risk anything to get out of this place.”
I shook my head. “This is a terrible idea. I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”
“I’ll get weapons,” Melinda said.
“I’ll get the keys,” I said.
They were making plans. I wished I had confidence that we’d be okay. That we could pull this off and no one would get hurt.
Tami twisted her fingers. “What can I do to help?”
“When we get out, you and Abigail run through town, carefully switching off the lanterns,” Melinda said tapping her finger on her chin. “I think this could really work.”
“Or it could fail horribly,” I said. “We could all end up dead.”
“We’re already dead here,” Ida mumbled.
Melinda’s brow wrinkled. “What happened to that girl they threw in here? The one with the fighting spirit. The one that wasn’t afraid of these wretched men.”
“They killed her,” I said turning toward the window. I sniffed and swallowed back the lump in the back of my throat. “She died with Lydia.”
“No,” Melinda said placing her hand on my cheek. She placed her fingers on my chin and turned me to face her. “They didn’t. I still see her in there. Fight to get her back. We need her. Do it for us. Do it for Lydia. Do it for the people you have back at your place.”
My shoulders slumped. It felt as though the muscles in my body had all been sliced in half and there wasn’t anything to hold me together.
“Please,” Abigail said. “Help us. We need you. We won’t ever get a chance like this again.”
Tami nodded enthusiastically.
“You really want to do this? It’s dangerous,” I said.
“Yes,” Melinda said. “And the other women will want to be there with us. All of us together, we can get out of here. There are more of us than there are of them.”
I shook my head. “It’s possible that not everyone will make it out.”
“We need to try, right ladies?” Melinda said flapping her hands, urging the others to agree.
“Yes!” Tami said.
Abigail’s head bobbed.
Ida looked at her nails and then at me. “If it means I’ll never have to lay in that dreadful man’s sweat-stained bed again, I’m one hundred percent in.”
Something in my core shifted. All the pieces inside me started to come back together. I thought of Shawn, and Gage, and the others too, as my outer shell toughened. They wouldn’t want me to stop fighting. Ever.
“Okay,” I said letting the smile curl my lips. “Let’s do it.”
Just as Melinda said they would, men came for her to help prepare dinner. Hours later, an armed, hideous, gray-haired man with rotten teeth came for Ida.
They were out of the house and there wasn’t anything I could do but wait. Ida would come with the keys to let us out… to let us all out from each of the houses and Melinda would take us to the kitchen to arm ourselves with knives. Tami and Abigail would sneak around, turning off the lights.
We’d all escape. It almost seemed too easy but I
knew it wouldn’t be.
I paced as my stomach twisted. I didn’t want anything to go wrong.
The only reason the women hadn’t tried sooner was because they had nowhere to go. They’d believed all that was out there for them was death and while they didn’t like being prisoners, none of them were ready to die.
It had been night for hours and there was no word from either Ida or Melinda. I could hear my heart pounding in my head.
“Something went wrong,” I said.
“Don’t say that,” Abigail said puffing out her lip.
I turned at the sound of someone at the door. There was a heavy thud followed by a key being inserted into the lock.
Ida stepped inside, holding her hands out to the side. There was blood staining her clothes.
“I hated him, you know?” I Ida said as her breaths shook her. “I don’t know why I feel bad about it.”
“He was a bad person for everything he did to you,” I said.
“He really was,” Tami said from behind me. “It wasn’t just you, he was hurting a lot of us and you saved us from him.”
Ida’s lip quivered as she stared at Tami. “I… I didn’t know he was doing this to you.”
“It’s okay,” Tami said. She squinted as she looked out of the door. “Where’s Melinda?”
“Still in the kitchen,” Ida said.
“What should we do?” Tami asked.
I sucked in a breath. “You and Abigail go to Melinda and get your weapons. Ida and I will let the others out and meet you there.”
“Okay,” Tami said giving Ida a quick hug. “See you soon.”
Ida handed me the keys. Her hands were still shaking. “Take these.”
The light outside our door went out. Lightning flashed in the distance.
“Let’s go,” I said.
Ida led me from house to house. At each stop, she quickly explained what was happening to everyone inside. All of the women followed us without asking many questions.
She told them they could choose to stay but there was something better out there. A place where they wouldn’t be held captive. Where they wouldn’t have to do things against their will.
They followed us to the kitchen. It was impossible to keep them quiet but we tried.
The storm was growing closer. Every few minutes, a lightning strike would flash and light us.
“Shh!” I said vigorously tapping my finger to my lips. “I heard something.”
The men were shouting. They knew we had escaped.
“They’re coming!” someone said. There was a touch of excitement in her voice.
I moved to the front of the line and got a knife from Melinda. She smiled and handed me a cleaver. The edge glistened with a flicker of lightning.
“Saved this one just for you,” Melinda said.
I patted her shoulder. “Make sure you grab one for yourself. They’re coming.”
“Hurry, ladies!” Melinda called. “It’s payback time!”
The woman hooted and hollered. They were ready. They were greater warriors than I would ever be.
I wasn’t fit to lead them but I didn’t have a choice. It was time.
I ran to the front of the group. We had to run to the south, guided only by the flashes of lightning.
“Ready to fight?” I asked, my voice falling with the rain. I cleared my throat and raised my voice. “Are you ready to fight?”
The women roared.
Lightning flashed again. I saw Ida standing at the front with a steak knife in hand. Tami and Abigail were in the middle of the group, both smiling at me.
I looked away, hoping they would be okay. I turned and came face to face with the barrel of a gun.
“What do you think you’re doing?” the man asked.
“We’re leaving,” the woman behind me said. She stepped forward and jammed her blade into the man’s side.
He grunted and leaned forward. The woman easily pulled the gun from him and laughed.
A few others joined in. The sound of the gunshot instantly stopped the laughter. There was a scream from my left.
My eyes darted around, trying to find where the gunman was. There was another gunshot. And then another.
“Run!” I said and they followed me.
I smacked into a man. My hand moved quickly, hacking him once in the neck and then again in the arm as he was falling to the ground.
Lightning struck nearby and the earth shook. I looked over my shoulder to see the group of women had thinned.
My eyes locked with Tami’s and then Ida’s. I could see they were anxious for me to keep everyone moving even while the shots rang out.
Women screamed with each pop. There were howls and moans. It was only a matter of time before we were all on the ground… dead.
There was another shot. It was close. Too close.
Ida was on the ground. Her hands around her stomach.
I cried out my frustration. I didn’t want anyone to get hurt and here we were… fighting… dying.
I sucked in a breath and dropped to my knees. “Nooo!”
28
Joss
My eyes darted around the floor. I spotted one of the guns and picked it up.
“Stay with Jenna,” I called as I pushed my way through the door.
The ringing of the bell above was like sharp needles pushing into my brain. I scanned the area as tears rolled down my cheeks.
I was terrified. Not because of what might happen to me but because of what could happen to Cal.
“Where are you!” I screamed.
Why did they want a baby? Was it just to raise him in their strange cult? Maybe it was because he was a boy… but they wouldn’t have known that just by seeing him. At least, I didn’t think they would have.
I gasped when I spotted Ned. He’d gotten further away than I had expected.
I raised the gun but I couldn’t shoot. Even if I would have, I likely would have missed. I couldn’t risk anything happening to Cal.
My feet splashed through the mud. I ran so fast it felt like I was flying… or maybe like I was being carried. Was it possible that Robby and Caleb were with me? Helping me. Nah. Maybe?
The rain hitting my cheeks was like little razor blades slashing my cheeks. It stung but I didn’t care. I kept going.
I came upon them and Ned stopped. He must have heard me behind him.
“Let him go,” Ned said. “I’m not giving him up.”
“Why? What are you going to do with a baby?” I asked.
“I need to go back with something, or they’ll kill me,” Ned said. “I can’t fail.”
I shook my head. “You can’t steal someone’s baby.”
“Then you come back with me,” Ned said.
“A trade?” I asked.
“Sure,” Ned said. “You and the other girl. Then the girl can have her baby back.”
My stomach turned. “I can’t make that deal for someone else but I’ll go with you if you give him up.”
“He’s more valuable than you are,” Ned said. “My boss will wonder how we’ve lost three men for one woman. But the baby, we can shape and mold. We can raise him to be like us.”
Ned stared at me for a long moment. He tightened his grip on the gun.
“Never mind,” Ned said. “The deal is off.”
I jerked my hand up and shot him in the leg only seconds before he pulled the trigger. Ned fell to his knees and his arm jerked upward as he cried out in pain. The bullet ripped through the air somewhere above my head.
Blood gushed out of the hole I’d made in his leg. Ned let Cal roll out of his arm and into the mud. He pressed the hand that had been holding Cal against the wound.
Without the baby in his arm, I knew I had to do it. I had to kill him.
I held my breath and fired again. The sound was deafening. My ears were ringing.
Ned stared at me. He didn’t blink. It looked like he’d been frozen.
After what felt like an eternity, he flopped forward.
His face pressed down into the mud.
I kept my gun aimed at him as I dashed forward and picked Cal off the ground. There was a little frown on his face. He was on the verge of bursting into tears.
“It’s okay,” I whispered. “It’s over now. We’ll go back to Mommy, okay?”
I took a step back but something grabbed my ankle. I looked down at the fingers digging into me.
The wide eyes of Ned’s mud-covered face stared at me. I shot him again and his entire body shook. His limp hand fell away and I ran back to the gas station just as fast as I had run from it to get Cal.
Again, it felt like I was being carried.
When I returned, Jenna was awake. She whimpered at the sight of us coming in through the door.
Jenna grabbed Cal and pressed him to her chest. She wrapped an arm around me.
“Are you okay?” Jenna asked.
“I’m fine.” I pulled back looking at her head. “How about you?”
“Just a bump. How will I ever be able to thank you?” she said between her tears.
I hugged her back. “I’m just glad we’re all back together.”
I waved Allie to us and she huddled in. Her breaths were quick and her eyes stayed on the bodies but she was okay.
“Let’s get out of here,” I said.
Jenna quickly cleaned Cal with the baby wipes. We packed a few things, took the guns, and left.
As we walked, I couldn’t stop thinking about what I’d done. I’d saved Cal. I ran toward danger instead of hiding from it.
Of course, it wasn’t like I had a choice. I’d made a promise to Cal. I was going to keep him safe no matter what.
My strength had surprised me. Maybe we would be okay. Maybe I was more of a fighter than I gave myself credit for.
After all, I was still here. I was still going. I was pretty sure that wherever Robby and Caleb were, they were looking at me with smiles on their faces. I wasn’t just a follower… I was a fighter too.
Clover came up next to me and meowed. I picked her up and hugged her.
“I’m not a very good pet parent, am I?” I asked pressing my cheek to the top of her head.
I looked at her and smiled. Her eyes narrowed but it looked like she was smiling back. Clover no doubt thought she was the one taking care of me.
The Reset Series | Book 6 | Striking Page 13
