by Kim McMahill
“I watched Nyla drive away and did nothing to stop her. She’s a lot like her mother you know. And, don’t feel too bad about the lies. I lied to Katherine Riley today and didn’t feel a bit guilty either.”
“Something drew me to Jared’s room early this morning and I found his chip under his pillow and I knew what they had done. I didn’t tell Vera or anyone else, but Katherine called a few hours ago and she knows. I’m sure she has called the authorities by now and she’s claiming Claire was abducted,” Leah said, while choking back the tears.
Ruby stopped rocking. She reached over, patted Leah’s knee, and handed her a tissue.
“You and I know how close our children are and how ridiculous it is to claim Claire was kidnapped. But, it doesn’t matter what that woman tells anyone, it won’t change the outcome for the boys if they’re caught. Let’s just pray they aren’t found and leave it at that.”
Leah nodded and blew her nose. She knew Ruby was right. By simply removing their chips and running away, the boys had already committed a serious enough crime to be punished to the fullest extent of the lawby death.
“Have you told Nyla’s mother yet?”
“I think she knew before Nyla even left the house.”
“What do you mean?”
“Rachel joined her father in Heaven late last night.”
A gasp escaped Leah’s lips. Ruby had experienced an even greater loss, yet she seemed remarkably under control—it had to be her faith. Leah had heard of God and Heaven. As a young child, she was told God was a myth that simpletons used to believe in to explain things they didn’t understand. Now, Leah wished she believed, because she didn’t understand why life had turned out this way and if anything happened to her son, she wanted to take comfort in believing he had gone to this wonderful place.
“Maybe I do have time for a cup of tea and if you wouldn’t mind, could you please tell me more about your God and His Heaven?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
“Down,” Ethan ordered as he dove to the ground, pulling Nyla with him.
Lights from a vehicle swept over their bodies as they lay flat, faces pressed into the dirt. A cactus spine dug into Nyla’s knee, but she barely noticed the pain through the heavy pounding of her heart. She struggled to breathe as Ethan’s hand pressed down in the small of her back, pushing her belly into the rocks. Despite the pain, the feel of his strong hand gave her comfort.
They remained plastered to the ground until they could no longer hear the patrol vehicle or see any lights. Ethan stood and extended a hand to Nyla. She grabbed his hand and he pulled her to her feet in one quick effortless motion. Nyla thought she was in good shape, but they had kept up a brutal pace all night and she wasn’t sure how much further she could go.
Nyla turned to look for Claire and Jared and was startled to see them standing so close, yet she hadn’t heard them approach. Claire’s brilliant jade-colored eyes were wide and her face covered with dirt, yet she glowed with excitement.
“Well, at least we made it to the paved road with plenty of time to spare,” Claire whispered enthusiastically.
Ethan started to speak, but paused and looked at Claire. She was so optimistic in the face of danger it amazed him. Her positive outlook had always been a trait he admired. Now, he could do nothing but shake his head in disbelief. Claire’s buoyant spirit had added color to an otherwise drab existence, but she required a lot of energy. His eyes moved to Nyla. She was practical, yet smart, caring and fearless, a combination he never wanted to live without. The realization stunned him, but he pushed it out of his mind and refocused on the issue at hand.
“We’ve got a couple of options. We could back track and hunker down until they go off shift or we can assume it’s clear for a while now that the car has passed and cross the highway,” Ethan posed to his attentive friends.
“I say we go for it,” Jared replied. “The closer we get to the border the better. Right?”
“I’m with Jared. Freedom is so close I can taste it. And, it doesn’t taste like a prepackaged, nutritionally balanced sack of crap,” Claire stated.
Nyla wanted to laugh, but instead pretended she hadn’t heard Claire’s description of their previous life. She feared that if she gave into the temptation to laugh, she wouldn’t be able to stop. Looking over at Ethan, she could see he was struggling to keep a straight face as well, but he quickly regained his composure. Nyla knew he was weighing all the options. He was always cautious and analytical, which she respected so she was never hesitant to follow his lead.
“I think we should wait. Carlos said cross the highway after the shift change at four. He couldn’t send much information for fear of being caught. Maybe he had reasons other than the patrol agents that we don’t know about,” Ethan stated.
“I’m going now,” Claire stated. “We’re sitting ducks here and I’m too tired to backtrack to a safe distance. My feet are blistered, my legs feel like gelatin, I’m terrified we’ll run into wolves, snakes or bears and we’re out of food and water.”
Jared stood behind Claire. He placed his hands on her shoulders and rested his chin on her head. Nyla knew his actions were a symbol of solidarity. He would go wherever Claire went.
Nyla looked over at Ethan, searching his expression for help and guidance. She watched as he stared at Jared and Claire, but his face was blank and Nyla couldn’t read what was on his mind.
“I don’t like it, but if you two are going, we’re going too. We have to stay together. Don’t you agree, Nyla?”
“Normally I’d say you’re the boss, but I think you’ve just been replaced by a five-foot, five-inch brunette. So how do you propose we get across, Claire? Do we just waltz out onto the road and wave a friendly greeting at the passing patrol car?”
Claire shot Nyla an annoyed look and motioned for everyone to follow. After a short hike, they were able to drop back down into the dry creek bed. Claire led the group toward the paved road, staying in the shadows of the banks. Where the creek met the road stood a large bridge.
The creek was dry, but apparently, at times it was a raging torrent. The bridge spanning the creek seemed to go on forever, both ends lost in the darkness. Nyla looked over at Ethan and she could tell he was thinking the same thing—it was too easy and they would be vulnerable.
“Well, what do you think?” Claire asked. “I spied a piece of the bridge before we had to dive for cover.”
“Wait just a minute,” Ethan suggested.
Before Nyla could ask what he was doing, he had slipped away into the darkness, leaving her feeling cold and shaken. The panic attacks brought on by Ethan’s absence were becoming more frequent and she struggled to bring this latest bout under control. She sat down on a rock and watched as Claire and Jared swayed in the moonlight, making her yearn for Ethan. She focused her attention on breathing and staying calm. Letting out a sigh of relief and jumping to her feet as Ethan’s familiar form came into view, she had to fight the urge to throw herself into his arms and beg him to never leave her again.
“I climbed up to the road and this may be our best bet whether we cross now or at four. The pavement curves away in both directions past the bridge, so unless a patrol vehicle is close, they won’t see us.”
“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go,” Jared cut in impatiently.
“I said it may be our best bet, but it’s impossible to know for sure. It’s a climb from here to the road and the bridge is lower than the rest of the paved road, so I suppose it’s possible this corridor is being watched from a higher vantage point.”
Nyla stood close to the bank at the creek’s edge. There was quite a bit of cover for them, but if they proceeded much further, there would be no way out if they were spotted. The bank was too steep to scale quickly or quietly. They could easily be trapped if spotted.
“It’s risky, but I’m game. As much as I hate deviating from Carlos’ instructions, like Claire, I’m too tired to backtrack at this point. I had no idea there were so many m
uscles in the human body that could all ache at the same time,” Nyla said.
Claire laughed. “I know what you mean. Even my jaw hurts, don’t ask me why.”
They crowded together and stared at the wide bed running underneath the bridge, all eyes then focused on Ethan.
“I’ll go first, but stay close together. If Jared runs into a snake he’ll scream like a little girl and we’ll definitely get caught,” Ethan replied.
Ethan walked along the bank with his friend’s in tow. The progress was slow since he was trying to stay in the shadows of the steep bank while straining his eyes for snakes, approaching vehicles or other predators. He hoped this ideal habitat would be empty, but his hopes were soon crushed by the chilling sound of a serpents warning.
The snake coiled in their path rattled loud enough that no one needed an explanation as to why Ethan had stopped. In the quiet, still night, the sound cut through the darkness like a siren, making the group freeze. They were directly under the bridge, which provided some cover in case a vehicle approached, but they needed to act fast and get as far from the road as possible.
“Let’s just give it a wide berth. We’ll go around it and cut back in as soon as we’re clear. We’ll be vulnerable for a moment, but if I try to kill it, it’ll take too much time,” Ethan said.
He lifted his hand to motion for his friends to follow, but before he could take a step, he heard a vehicle approaching and quickly retreated to the cover of the bridge, while keeping a sharp eye on the serpent. As he watched the snake, two others slithered out of the weeds and warily joined the one already agitated by the uncommon human presence.
The vehicle stopped on top of the bridge and the engine silenced. Nyla could hear two car doors open and then slam shut. From the guard rail on top of the bridge a person scanned the creek bed with a powerful spotlight. She could hear footsteps directly overhead and then the large light fanned out over the dry bed on the opposite side of the bridge.
Nyla crowded closer to Ethan as she listened to the two women talking. The voices were getting louder and they were now able to make out the words.
“Keep an extra close lookout tonight. We got a report of four runaways who are probably heading this direction,” one woman stated.
Rocks tumbled down into the creek bed as a large unseen animal scampered up the bank to avoid being captured in the spotlight.
“Over here. I think I heard something.”
The sound of boots pounding overhead took Nyla’s breath away. The women left the bridge and scrambled down the bank. Once they reached the creek bed and turned the light under the bridge, it would be all over. Nyla wondered if Ethan and Jared would be executed on the spot or if they would at least be taken back to stand trial. The thought of losing Ethan terrified her. She slipped out from behind Ethan and positioned her body in front of his. He tried to push her back, but she refused to budge. If they were going shoot Ethan, they would have to go through her. She doubted a woman would shoot another woman and she hoped her instincts were correct.
Ethan wrapped his arms around Nyla once he realized it would make too much noise to force her behind him. He eased her back while pushing Jared and Claire further into the shadows and behind some brush along the bank. He knew Nyla was attempting to shield him from being shot if they were seen and the gesture made it impossible for him to think clearly. No one had ever shown him such care and devotion. She was willing to lay down her life for him. He squeezed his eyes shut and held her tight, hoping he could protect her if they were discovered.
Hugging the bank, Nyla felt a little more hidden. She still doubted they were concealed enough to take a direct hit of light, but to bolt now would definitely give their position away. Just as she was certain their dream was over, a scream pierced the night. The light dipped away and danced erratically over the dry creek bed and then diverted skyward and disappeared. Feet churning up the bank, dislodging rocks in the process and loud thuds overhead indicated the women were back on the paved road and running across the bridge. Car doors opened and slammed shut and the motor roared to life. The vehicle idled above them for several moments, then pulled away.
“Glad I didn’t try to kill the snakes since they probably just saved our lives,” Ethan stated. He reached in his pocket and pulled out his bundle of rattles. Careful not to let his friends see, he tossed them into the brush. A great weight lifted from his mind with the disposal of the tiny package. One more tie to the past had been severed.
They searched for the snakes, but saw nothing and figured the women’s screams had scared the serpents away. Without a word they jogged silently down the creek bed, trying to put as much distance as possible between them and the civilization that could destroy everything they had been working for.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
They hadn’t traveled far from the paved road when they heard the now familiar whir of helicopter blades. Ethan grabbed Nyla’s hand and ran for cover. He looked around for Jared and Claire and saw they had found a place to hide before the helicopter’s lights reached them.
As soon as the sound of the helicopter faded, Ethan motioned to Jared and Claire. “They must not have detected us, so let’s get going. If they come back hide and curl up into a ball. I don’t know much about infrared imaging, but if they’re using it, it seems like we’d want to give off an ambiguous heat outlineno arms, no legs, no heads, in other words try not to look human.”
Nyla had never run so much in her life and was surprised she had the stamina to keep going. She could hear the sound of her friends’ frantic footsteps close behind, along with heavy breathing, letting her know they were all spent and running on adrenaline. Soon they began climbing out of the creek bed, dislodging rocks, but the noise was drowned out by all the sounds melding together in Nyla’s headcarnivores howling at the fading thump of the helicopter’s blades, a car’s engine purring, and her own gasps for breath as she fought to keep pace with Ethan’s long stride.
They reached the edge of a hill and could see the ruins of an adobe building below, the moon glistening off the river, and the lights of a Mexican village in the distance. The river wasn’t as low as Carlos had predicted, but looked crossable, though he warned the Rio Bravo could be deceptive.
“Come on,” Ethan demanded. “If we can make it inside the ruins before the helicopter returns, it’ll provide us with some cover.”
Despite the sound of the vehicle closing in on them, they scrambled off the hill and made a dash for the crumbling walls of the ruins. Just as the helicopter reached them, they ducked into the structure. The roof was damaged and some of it had collapsed, but enough was intact to offer protection from the searchlights.
The helicopter hovered directly overhead as its lights bounced around in the exposed parts of the structure. After several moments, the craft veered slightly south and lingered over the river, its searchlight fanning out in all directions. Finally, the helicopter continued on, flying low over the river corridor.
Nyla could feel Ethan’s arm tighten around her. She buried her face in his chest and could hear the rapid beat of his heart. She couldn’t see Claire and Jared, but she could feel them pressed tightly against her. As they crowded together in the corner of the ruins, Nyla was overcome with the desire to tell her friends just how much they meant to her in case she never got another chance. They had been her family for so long and she couldn’t imagine life without them. Claire was the sister she never had, Jared the brother she always wanted, and she wasn’t sure about Ethan, but she needed him in her life.
The helicopter flew further down the riparian corridor, making the noise level slightly more bearable, allowing the howl of coyotes to add to the din of the night. Claire and Jared stepped back enough to allow Nyla to breathe. She tried to move, but Ethan’s arm was still wrapped tightly around her preventing her from budging.
Nyla’s head swam as the tension and sounds pressed down on her. She felt confused and desperate and began to shake. Instinctively Ethan pulled
her closer and his hand rubbed her forearm as if trying to generate heat.
“I love you,” she whispered.
“Quiet,” Ethan demanded.
Nyla couldn’t believe she had uttered the words out loud which had been bouncing around in her head and she wasn’t sure if he had even heard her through all the noise. If he had, she was crushed. She hadn’t really thought about ever saying it to him, but the fear of losing him and all the chaos had allowed the words to slip out. She wished she could take the words back, but more than that, she wished he would have returned her feelings.
The coyotes’ songs seemed to follow the helicopter, but the silence left in its wake was short lived. The sound of two car doors slamming and the voices of two women filled the gap with a new threat.
“We’re already past our shift, so let’s make this quick. I’m dying to check my e-mail,” the woman in charge stated.
“I say we just head home. The pilot wasn’t sure what the image was. She said it looked like a single large blob of heat, not four humans. It could have even been a large bear and its cub as far as she could tell. After the incident at the bridge I’m not too excited about exploring.”
“I hear you. Running into those snakes was enough excitement for one night. Why people used to be so gung ho on communing with nature is beyond me. I’m happy to look at it from afar and as soon as my tour of duty is up and I’m out of here, I won’t miss it a bit.”
“Sometimes I don’t know why we try to stop disgruntled citizens from crossing the border. If they don’t see what a great society we’ve created, then let them go to Mexico. I’ve heard they don’t even have embedded microchips and GPS trackers. Can you imagine living like that? Being in this vast space without the peace of mind of a GPS tracker is terrifying.”
“It’s the principle and it’s our job. We want to make sure no one challenges the authority and if they do, they’ll pay the price. If one person gets away with breaking the law then others will follow and before long it’ll be anarchy.”
