Even though I saw the black SUV just as we turned every corner, she never knew they were getting close. She was staying calm because she wasn’t looking back, but I knew they were gaining on us, and we needed to ditch the car. It was the only way to lose them. There was no way they’d leave their vehicle and chase us on foot.
After a series of turns, I told her, “Stop here.”
“What?”
“Stop. Pull over. We’re ditching the car.”
“Are you serious?”
“Pull over. It’s the only way we’ll lose them.”
She growled, but she swerved into the parking lot of what looked to be an old filling station from years past.
“Pull behind the building,” I directed, so she pulled the car behind the building and killed the engine.
“I can’t believe we’re doing this again,” she complained as she climbed out of the car.
“How do you think I feel? I really don’t want to go hiking when I’m already sick with food poisoning, but here we are. Grab your bag,” I reminded her as I climbed out of the backseat.
We didn’t bother locking the car or taking the keys. We left the car just as we found it, only a few hundred miles away from home. We set off across the tall grass toward the forest behind the building.
“We’re so screwed,” she grumbled as she stomped through the tall weeds. “It’s going to be dark soon. You know that, right?”
“I know.”
“We’re going to get lost.”
“It’s fine.”
“I hate nature.” She kicked a tree, then immediately started crying and jumping up and down on her one good foot.
“Ow, ow, ow.” She fell to the ground, holding her foot in her hand.
“What the hell did you do that for?”
Tears were steaming down her cheeks. “Shut up and help me up.”
I bent down and pulled her to her feet.
“Come on. Walk it off,” I said, keeping my arm around her and pulling her alongside me.
After a few minutes, she applied increasing pressure until she was walking on her own. After that, she settled down. There was no more talking, no more kicking, no more bickering or griping. We both just kept our heads down and put one foot in front of the other as we made our way through the forest.
The sun fell from the sky, and the darkness came. It felt like we were the last two people on the planet, like the earth just swallowed us up. We took breaks, and we listened. There was nothing but silence all around us. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the forest opened up to a big field. In the center was a lone barn.
“Let’s go check it out,” I said, before leading her across the grass as rain began to fall.
It was the best option we had.
It felt like we’d started all over again.
Chapter 13
Amelia
Oliver nearly hauled me across the field. We were only about halfway across when it started to sprinkle. By the time we got to the barn, it was really starting to pick up. Luckily, we made it just in time, so we both stayed mostly dry.
The only problem was that the rain lowered the temperature, and when the wind picked up, the rickety barn around us seemed to shift and creak.
