Over (2 page)

The wind whipped the tent, lifting one side from the ground. Macy sat up a little, listening for the guys. She couldn't hear a thing beyond the wind and the occasional animal in the distance. They seemed to be moving farther away. Was that good or bad? If they were leaving because they sensed something bad was going to happen, then Macy needed to be prepared for whatever that was.

At least all of the camping gear belonged to someone else. If it was destroyed or they had to leave it behind, it wouldn't matter. No one had any attachments to it.

The longer the boys were away, the more Macy's stomach twisted. She couldn't push away images of bad things happening to Luke. The thought of Chester getting a hold of him…it was too much. Maybe he was strong enough to fight him off. Unless Chester had his gun on him, then it might not matter.

Macy hadn't heard any shots, so that had to be a good sign. She couldn't do anything about it, and what she really needed was more rest before they moved on. Despite her worries, she closed her eyes and tried to relax her mind. There were five guys out there. They'd be able to handle themselves.

As she listened to the wind and the sounds of the other two girls' breathing, Macy found herself drifting off. Part of her wanted to fight it, but she gave in.

Conversation awoke her. She felt rested; how long had she been sleeping? Sitting up, she noticed the wind had stopped. Tina wasn't in the tent, but Allie still slept next to her.

Macy slid herself out of the sleeping bag, trying not to wake the younger girl, but she stirred and rubbed her eyes. "Is it time to get up?"

"I think the boys are back. You can sleep if you want. We'll probably eat and keep going."

"No. I want to go with you." Allie sat up and stretched.

Macy tried to fix her hair, but gave up. They all looked ragged after being in the woods for a few days. Half of them had dirt caked on their arms or face, and everyone's white clothes were dirty.

The two girls grabbed their shoes and put them on before exiting the tent. Tina sat by the campfire with the guys. Relief washed over Macy when she saw Luke. He smiled when he saw her and Macy threw herself into his arms. He squeezed her.

"What took you guys so long?" she asked.

"The wind scared a lot of animals into hiding, but we did find that guy." He pointed to something roasting over the fire. It looked like it had been a fox. "I'm not sure that it'll fill us all, but at least it's more substantial than berries."

Macy's mouth watered. The irony didn't escape her, and she wondered if she would ever go back to being vegan.

"Did you get rest?" Luke kissed the top of her head.

"I did. Don't you need some?"

"What I need is something to eat. My stomach hasn't stopped rumbling."

"How much longer until it's ready?"

"It hasn't been cooking long. Want to go for a walk?"

She stared into his eyes. "Are you sure you don't want to sit and relax?"

He took her hand, sliding his fingers through hers. "What I want is to spend some time with you while we're not on the run." He turned to a couple of the others and told them they wouldn't be gone long. He led her into the woods where there was barely a path.

"How much longer do you think until we reach the end of the woods?" Macy asked.

"I wish I had an idea. Just as long as we get there."

"What are you going to do when we reach civilization?"

He squeezed her hand. "Help you get back to your family."

"After that?"

"I'll figure something out. We need to tell the authorities about the community. There are other kids in there against their will, taken from their families. Maybe my mom will leave and we can find a home together, but I'm not counting on that. She's really happy there."

They came to a boulder, and Luke sat. He indicated for her to sit too. She did and he wrapped his arm around her. "I'm almost eighteen, so I'll probably find myself a job. I'll manage."

"Without a real education? I mean, I know you've been in school, but I don't think the community lessons will count for anything."

"You worry too much."

"No I don't. You need—"

"We have to focus on getting out of the woods first. Then we can—"

"If you're under eighteen, you could get a foster family and then go to high school. You could catch up and even graduate."

He held her closer. "I'll do that. Okay?"

"You're just saying that."

"Maybe."

"So, what's your real name? You never did tell me. Everyone else is going by them except you."

"I've grown to like Luke."

"You were going to tell me in the corn fields. Remember?" Macy asked.

He was quiet for a moment. "I was, wasn't I? Lucas is actually my middle name, so even though I changed my name, I've still held onto a piece of myself."

"Did you go by that before the community?" asked Macy.

"If I tell you, will you keep calling me Luke?"

"Sure, but you have to tell me. Otherwise, I'm going to have to make up something." She turned to look at him. "You look like," she paused, "a Walter."

"Walter?" Luke laughed. "Really?"

"Yeah," Macy teased. "If you don't tell me your name, I'm going to call you Walter."

"I'm definitely not Walter. Looks like I need to tell you."

"You should…Walter."

Luke shook his head. "My first name is Raymond."

"Raymond? You don't look like a Raymond."

"You'll let me stick with Luke?"

"Luke it is."

He ran his fingertips underneath her chin and placed his lips on hers.

Macy's heart pounded against her chest, and before she had time to react, Luke pulled back. "We should rejoin the others."

Pursuit

Luke and Macy walked back to the camp hand in hand. Everyone was sitting around the campfire.

"What'd we miss?" Luke asked.

"We're just trying to figure out how much longer until we're out of here," Tina said.

"It's got to be a ways," Luke said. "There are no sounds of anything other than wildlife. We have to plan for the worst."

"What's the worst?" Allie asked. She shivered.

"A week, maybe more," Tina said.

"No." Macy shook her head. "The worst would be Jonah and Chester finding us."

The others all said their agreements.

"How's the fox look?" Luke asked.

Trent poked it with a stick, moving it around. "It actually looks pretty close."

"Good," said Luke. "We should look around the camp and see if there's anything we need to take with us."

Most everyone dispersed, going through the two tents and the other random stuff left behind by the previous inhabitants.

"Why do you think they left without their stuff?" Macy asked.

Trent poked the fox again. "Could be anything, but I've learned not to question a good thing."

"You don't think we need to worry?" Macy asked.

He shook his head. "If they were coming back, they would have already. Could have been a storm or wildlife that chased them off. Who knows?"

"Too bad they didn't leave us a car," Luke said.

Trent laughed. "That would've been helpful."

"I don't even see any tire tracks," Macy said.

"That's not surprising," Luke said. "It's been so windy. We were lucky to find the tents still standing."

Macy stood closer to the fire to warm up while Trent and Luke discussed the best options for getting out of the woods. She half-listened to them while letting her mind wander back to her family.

She'd been gone at least a couple months. Did they still hold hope for finding her alive? Had Chester sent them any more messages? He had posted her fake status saying she ran away and then he left her bloody clothes. Did they even think she was trying to get to them?

Tears filled her eyes. If they could just get back to civilization, she wouldn't have to wait much longer to find out. She thought about them for a little while longer until everyone else gathered back around the campfire.

Trent looked at the fox again. "Looks good enough to eat. Let's dig in. Anyone find a knife?"

Allie held up a rusty pocket knife. "It's kind of gross though."

Luke took it. "Thanks, Allie." He opened it up and held the blade into the flame. "This will kill any germs."

Before long, they were all cutting off pieces. Macy was surprised that everyone was so generous—making sure that others had some before digging in. They all had to be as hungry as her, but they probably weren't used it. Between Chester starving her and her self-starvation before that, she could handle the hunger—not that she was going to turn down the food.

Her mouth watered as she held the warm meat in her hands. Macy looked at it for a moment, holding onto the smell before finally digging in.

After everyone had some, Trent and Luke handed out seconds. The portions weren't as big, but the animal was down to the bones after that. Allie and Tina brought some berries they had collected and everyone passed those around.

Macy pulled closer to the fire as she finished the berries. It felt good to have food in her stomach again. That coupled with the sleep, she felt that she could go on until they got out of the woods.

"Should we stay another night or get going?" Trent asked.

"As much as I'd like to stay where we have a camp," Luke said, "I don't like staying in one place. Jonah isn't one to give up easily. We need to move on."

Trent looked disappointed, but nodded. "You're right."

"Why don't you take a nap?" Macy asked. "You guys were gone hunting for a long time. Get some rest."

"I think I will." Trent got up and went into the tent the guys had slept in.

Luke wrapped his arm around Macy. "Are you cold?"

"It feels like it's going to snow."

He sniffed. "Smells like it too."

Macy giggled. "You can smell snow coming?"

"You can't? It always has that smell right before."

Macy sniffed. "Yeah, I guess I can smell something different in the air."

"That's snow." Luke pulled her closer. "You know what I think?"

"What?"

"There's going to be—"

Loud rustling noises sounded not far away. Luke jumped up, grabbing the pocket knife from the side of the fire.

"What's that?" Macy whispered.

Luke put a finger to his mouth.

Macy stood up. Everyone looked around, wide-eyed and silent.

Another rustling sound.

Blood drained from Macy's face. She didn't know if she was more scared of a wild animal or Chester. Either way she could end up dead, but Chester knew how to torture. She scooted closer to Luke.

Trent came out of the tent. He grabbed a large stick and held it up.

More rustling noises. This time they were closer.

"Found them! Over here!"

Jonah.

The sounds of hooves and more rustling noises came from the same direction.

Kids around the camp screamed.

"Run!" yelled Trent.

They went in different directions. Luke grabbed Macy's hand and pulled her in the opposite direction as Jonah's voice. She fought to keep up. Her heart pounded in her ears and she had a hard time getting her feet to do what she wanted.

Luke led her through thick bushes where the leaves scratched her face as they ran. There was no path and they kept running into trees and other plants blocking their way.

Macy heard a high-pitched scream followed by Allie's voice screaming no.

A strange sound escaped from Macy's throat.

"We have to keep going," Luke said.

"What are they going to do to Allie?"

Luke held a pricker bush out of the way. "Hopefully just a public shaming. Come on."

"Shouldn't we try to help her?"

"I promised to get you back to your family. Let's go."

Macy moved around the pricker bush. "But she's so young."

Luke pulled on her hand and they ran through a tight path. "I know, but from the sounds of those hooves, there's too many of them. We wouldn't be able to fight off the prophets. Jonah probably has half the men from the community."

"I feel horrible about leaving them."

"Chester is undoubtedly after you. If anything, they're using the others as bait to draw you in. You don't want to fall into his trap, do you?"

Images of being locked under Chester's barn flooded her mind. "No. We have to go."

Luke squeezed her hand. "There's nothing we can do to help the ones the prophets catch, but I can protect you and get you back home."

Macy's throat closed up. All of this was her fault. If she hadn't gotten into Chester's truck in the first place, none of this would have ever happened. She wouldn't have been taken, he wouldn't have tortured her. Now all these other people were going to be hurt. She couldn't get Allie's face out of her mind. "I hope Allie's going to be okay."