Escape, a New Life (8 page)

Sara seemed doubtful.

“What?  If our test run goes well in the morning, as long as the thing floats, we could be over there by tomorrow night!”

“We’ll see.”

Abby looked out and saw Eric heading toward them again.  He was moving slowly, obviously exhausted, but the fact that he was coming over must mean he was done, too.

Abby turned to Sara
. “Do you have anything at your camp that you need?  That you want to bring with you?  You should go before it gets dark.”

“Trying to get rid of me?”

Abby laughed, but Sara was not smiling. “No, I’m just saying, we don’t want to get held up any longer than we need to tomorrow, so you should get your things.”

“I don’t have things,” she raised her voice
. “I have all the things I need with me.”

“That’s for sure,” Abby said, raising an eyebrow at her chest.

Sara took a step toward her as Eric arrived, “Hey,” he said, “what’s going on here?”

The two women
were silent, and didn’t take their eyes off each other.

“Can’t you girls play nice?” he said, laughing.

Sara looked at him. “Apparently not.”  She turned and stormed off into the trees.

“What was that about?”

“You don’t want to know,” Abby said.

“Well, I might want to know.”  He looked at Sara walking away from the camp
. “Is she still coming with us?”

“Why
? Would you like that?  You want her to come with us?  Yesterday you didn’t want anything to do with her.  Why the sudden change of heart, huh?”  She poked him in the chest.

“Whoa, what are you talking about?  She seems nice, and you’re the one who said to give her a chance.”

She stared him straight in the eye, trying to read his mind.  “Asshole,” she said, running off into the trees after Sara.

HOW COULD she have disappeared so quickly?  Abby was trying to track Sara through the trees without being noticed.  The problem was, she was not noticing Sara either.  Wherever she had gone, she had gone quickly. 

Abby
followed along the trail where they had met yesterday at just about this time.  When she arrived at the very spot where they had met, she stopped to look around.  Yesterday, Sara had been off on the side of the trail, and somewhat hidden in the trees.  Without having any other sort of guidance, Abby figured that would be the best way to continue her search.  Going off the trail, she started looking for any type of clue that indicated Sara had gone back this way.

After wandering for quite some time, Abby was beginning to
accept the fact that she was out of luck.  The sun was getting lower in the sky and would be setting sometime in the next hour.  She figured that as long as she headed toward the beach before the sun completely set, she could find her way back. 

She did not want to call off her search,
but she only had a few more minutes to pick through the brush before she would be forced to turn and head back.  Sara either did not want to be found, or… what?  She clearly did not want to be found. 
That’s probably for the best,
Abby thought. 

She
felt bad leaving her here while they fled the island.  At the same time, Sara may be an entirely different person than Abby first thought.  The way she reacted back at camp was not what Abby expected.  Then again, how can you know what to expect from someone you have barely known for a day?

In the distance
, there was a slight clearing in the trees, and Abby saw something on the ground, a white cloth maybe.  Walking to the edge of the trees that surrounded the clearing, she squinted her eyes to see.  It was Sara’s tank top!  If her shirt was on the ground, where was she? 

Abby reached her right hand down and wrapped her fingers around the handle
of her knife, drawing it from the sheath.  Closing her eyes, she listened and heard nothing.  Dead silence.  No sounds of struggle, or someone being dragged through the trees.  She had not, and still did not, hear any screaming – muffled or otherwise.

With knife in hand, she stepped back several paces, and
slowly circled around the clearing.  Masked by the trees, she stepped carefully, not making a sound, scanning the ground for any clues.  She was not sure what she would find, but maybe there would be some sign of the direction where Sara was taken.

Abby thought about watching Sara flirt with Eric on the beach.  The woman certainly liked attention, but Abby could
not imagine that she would just strip her shirt and leave it on the ground to go prancing through the woods.  Someone else, or perhaps several others, must have grabbed her.  It appeared that Sara’s luck in avoiding her old friends had run out.

She completed a full circle back to where she had started.  There was no sign of what might have happened to Sara.  She found no blood
-smeared leaves, no freshly broken branches, or other articles of clothing.  After having circled the entire area, she was sure that there was no one else around, but going out into the open clearing made her nervous nonetheless.  Abby weighed her options.  It was getting late at this point, and the sun was getting low.  If she did not head back in the next few minutes, she was not sure she would be able to find her way.

Abby decided that she would run into the clearing, grab the shirt, and run back to the trees to head straight back toward the beach.  It would
not take her thirty seconds.  She secured her knife and had one last look around.  “Out, back, home.”  She repeated to herself over and over. 

She ran faster than she would have imagined.  Closing the distance quickly,
something flashed ahead, and looking up she was shocked to see Sara standing at the edge of the trees.  Just as she started to slow her pace, Abby stepped onto a patch of dry grass that immediately gave way under her feet, sending her flailing forward.  She hit the ground in front of her and crashed through, falling ten feet down and landing with a thud that knocked the wind out of her.

Rolling over, she looked up and saw the opening that she had just fallen through.  Sara was standing at the edge and putting her top back on.  “Sorry
, sweetie, it had to be done.  Get comfortable. I’ll be back soon.”  With that, she was gone.

Abby sat up and flexed her right shoulder, which had absorbed most of the impact.  There were fallen branches all around her, and
a ton of dried grass that had apparently been piled on top of the branches to conceal the hole she had fallen into.  This was not something Sara had just set up in haste.  No, this was here waiting.  This was planned.

Anger set in before panic.  She screamed at the top of her lungs.  How could she have been tricked so easily?  She listened and heard nothing but the sounds of natur
e around her.  What did she say? ‘Get comfortable?’  Abby realized that Sara must be alone out there, but probably not for long.  She is going to get the others. 

Abby decided that she was not going to wait around for them to get back.  She tried jumping up and grabbing the top, but it was far too high over her head.  Even her fingertips would not reach the height of the edge.  She tried to climb the sides of the hole, but the dirt was loose and the wall crumbled in her hands as she tried to climb. 

Looking around, she found nothing of use at her disposal.  She plopped down on the ground and thought about how she was going to get out of this.  There were some very large branches over the top of the hole, which had served to support the smaller branches and grasses that had been covering it.  If she could get one of those down, she could prop it against the side and try to climb it to the top. 

At first she tried jumping and hitting them, but they were too high.  She tried poking at them and hitting them with the smaller branches, but they did not budge.  They must have been secured somehow at the ground level.  She took a slightly larger stick, maybe two inches in
diameter and a couple feet long, and pushed hard against the branches overhead.  She got the same result.  In anger, she took the stick that she was holding, threw it at the wall, and began pacing like a caged tiger.

Abby
looked at the stick that she had thrown, and saw that it had momentarily pierced the soft dirt wall before it fell.  That gave her an idea.  She took out her knife and quickly sharpened one end of the stick to a point and thrust it into the dirt wall.  It easily sunk into the dirt five or six inches before stopping.  She took a large stone and hammered at the back end of the stick until it sunk in further and was tough to wiggle with her hand.  Then she tested it.  It had a little give, but for the most part it held firm.

Abby looked up.  It must be ten feet to the top, and she stood just over five feet tall.  She looked around the floor and grabbed several more sticks that were similar in length and width.  As fast as she could work
, she sharpened the ends, and thrust them into the wall, one over the other.  She soon had five sticks pounded into the wall at one-foot intervals as high as her arms could reach.

She stas
hed her knife and began climbing.  The bottom one came loose and her foot slipped right away.  She realized she had to keep her feet very close to the wall and not put so much pressure on the far end of the sticks.  She stuck it back in and tried again with success for a few steps.  Once she reached the top stick, she stood holding on, realizing she had nothing above her to grab and continue her ascent.

Grasping her knife
, she sank the blade into the wall, giving her a handhold.  She continued this way until she was standing on the top stick and her arms could reach the lip of the hole.  She latched onto one of the secured logs at the top, and tried to pull herself up.  Her feet slipped off of the stick, leaving her dangling in the air and clinging to the log.  Swinging her feet to catch the edge of the hole, she carefully maneuvered herself out and up, onto the ground.

Panting, both from the physical exertion and adrenaline, she knelt in the clearing for a few minutes to compose
herself.  As she stood up, she heard the rustling of branches about ten feet to her right.  Coming out of the trees was Sara, looking shocked.

“You bitch!” Abby yelled at her. 
Without thinking that Sara had likely returned with some of the others, she charged at her.  Abby made it three steps before a large stone clubbed her on the back of the head and her world went black.

ABBY COULD HEAR unfamiliar voices all around her. Her head was spinning, and pain radiated from the back of her head.  With her eyes closed, she would guess that it was dark, or at least that she was in a dark place, as no light filtered through her eyelids.  She felt as though it would be painful to open her eyes despite the lack of light, so she lay there with them closed for the moment, trying to get her bearings. 

She struggled to concentrate through the fog of pain and dizziness.  There were voices, but she could not make them out.  She tried to relax and focus, and will her mind to get in gear. 
The voices began to come into focus after a few minutes.  She could hear Tom and the background murmurs of his followers. Then she heard Sara speak and her blood began to boil. 

She did not dare move.  She could tell that she was laid out on a semi
-soft and uneven surface, probably right on the ground.  She wriggled her hands and feet to confirm she was bound. Rubbing her wrists back and forth, she realized that she was bound much tighter than the last time.  As she lay there, she focused her mind on her right leg. 
Is the knife still there?
  She could not tell.  Moving very slowly, she shifted her leg and pressed the side of it into the ground to see if she could feel the scabbard still attached to her thigh.  She felt nothing.  Her leg was bare. 

The voices were too far away for her to understand, and they began to fade after awhile. 
She had not opened her eyes yet, but she did not feel like she was alone.  For one, she had to assume they had learned a lesson and would not leave her unattended.  Aside from that, she
felt
as though someone else was there.  She could not explain it, but she definitely felt it.  Once the voices faded to the point that they were barely audible, she thought about opening her eyes.  Just as she was about to, she heard the sound of footsteps padding on the dirt nearby.  She kept her eyes closed, trying to appear passed out.

It was a man.  That much she was sure of.  The steps were too heavy for a woman.  It smelled like a man
, too.  It smelled like a man who had not bathed in quite some time.  He was so close now she could listen to him breathing.  Her eyes were still closed, and from what she could tell, her head was facing away from him. 

It was all she could do not to jump when he touched her shoulder.  Had he not done it so delicately, she probably would have
screamed.  He shook her very gently, as if he did not want her to wake up.  She thought about opening her eyes to see who it was.  Could Eric have found her?  No, she knew it was not Eric.  The heavy gait was not his, and he did not smell like this.  No, it had to be one of them.

He gently shook her again.  She just let her head hang to the side and tried to will him away.  If she were unconscious
, he would leave her alone.  At least that is what she thought, until she felt his breath on her neck and his hand slide under her tank top.  Her mind raced.  She was bound and laying on the ground.  There were not a lot of options.

His breathing sped up as he
massaged her breast under her shirt.  Abby was overcome by helplessness, and anger. 
What can I do?
  If she screamed or fought, the others would come running.  She could sense his excitement increasing as he rapidly breathed near her ear.  Deep in her gut, she hated herself for allowing this to happen.  Suddenly, her thoughts came into focus.  The helplessness.  The abuse.  Even the fact that she was tied up.  For a split second, everything was clear as two words screamed from the back of her mind, “Never again!”

  In a flash
, she snapped her head right and slammed her face into him, sinking her teeth into his cheek.  She was like a wounded animal, lashing out however she could.  He screamed as he pulled away, leaving a chunk of his flesh behind, which she spit at him in disgust.  She rolled onto her knees and launched herself forward, slamming her forehead into his crotch with astonishing force, making herself dizzy from the impact.  The man bawled in pain before dropping to the ground where he began vomiting.

Abby was in a state of shock herself, not knowing what in the world possessed her to do that.  She spit blood from her mouth and took a quick assessment of her surroundings. 
Her eyes struggled to focus.  Her head spun, if not from being assaulted earlier, then from her head on collision with this man’s crotch, she couldn’t tell which.  There were no weapons of any kind.  She saw nothing but trees all around.  She sat and contorted her arms to loop under her feet so that her hands would at least be in front of her.  Grabbing a stone with a dull edge, she furiously rubbed the vine that bound her feet and freed them.  There was no time to worry about her hands.  She heard the voices returning.  They were approaching fast.  The others must have heard him scream.

She took off at a sprint into the trees
, but was barely past the tree line when Sara tackled her from behind.  The two of them fell to the ground in a heap.

“You just don’t quite, do you?”  Sara was breathing hard. 

Abby said nothing. 

The others surrounded them within seconds.  They
yanked her to her feet and dragged her back.  A very large man held her arms like his hands were grappling hooks, digging his fingers into her skin.  She winced from the pain and struggled to keep her feet under her.  She thrashed back and forth trying to free herself from his vice-like grip.  When her right arm came loose, Sara grabbed a fistful of her hair, close to her scalp, and made a tight fist.  Abby screamed and stopped struggling, as Sara dragged her by her hair back to the camp.

One of the women was checking on the man who had been enjoying himself
until Abby had put an end his fun.  He was still in a great deal of pain.  He had stopped vomiting, but looked as though he might again at any moment.  He sat holding his crotch, rocking back and forth like a child.  Blood trickled from the wound on his cheek.

Sara
threw Abby down to the ground.  “She’s the tough one,” she said.  “Like I was telling you, the guy, Eric, he basically just follows her around.  She’s definitely the one in charge.”

Abby looked up
. “One in charge?”

Tom laughed, smiling through his beard
. “You can drop the act. We know why you’re here.”

Abby looked confused.

“Oh, don’t play dumb,” he said.  “I know who sent you.  You are good, I’ll give you that.  But I’m not going down without a fight.”

Abby just shook her head
. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Sara spoke up
. “Let me go back to their camp and take care of Eric.”  She looked at Abby and smiled. “I know he won’t be a problem without you around.”

“Take care of him?”  Abby asked.

“Kill him,” Tom said definitively.  “Then you, once he’s out of the way.  I figure we’ll hold onto you for now.  Just in case.”

“Why the hell…” Abby was
dumbfounded.  “We don’t want anything to do with you people.  We are trying to get out of here!”

Tom looked smug
. “Of course you are!  Now that you know it’s not going to be so easy to take us out.  Listen, we know this island, we know what you’re trying to do, and it’s not going to happen.”

Sara locked eyes with Abby
. “Don’t worry.  I’ll make it quick.  He won’t suffer.”

Abby struggled against her binds, but the others held her down.

Sara laughed. “You know, I almost feel a little bad.  You never got to tell him how you feel, did you?  And now he’s back there, all alone, wondering where you went. That poor, handsome man.  All alone.”  She ran a finger down the center of Abby’s chest. “Don’t worry, honey, I’ll comfort him.  Hell, I’ll even screw him.  Right before I kill him.” 

“Bitch!” Abby yelled
. “What is wrong with you people?  Just leave us alone!” 

She thrashed against her binds, knocking over the woman
who was holding her.  The man gripping Abby from other side held tighter.  Tom pushed Sara out of the way and backhanded Abby with such force that her world spun around. 

She shook her head.  When her eyes came back into focus, she was looking into the trees behind Tom.  She saw something, or someone. 
Her eyes went in and out of focus, and she wondered how much more head trauma she could withstand and still see straight.  She decided that head-butting the man in the crotch was a poorly thought out plan.  She concentrated hard, trying to focus her eyes.  It looked like there was a man in the trees.  She closed her eyes and purposefully slowed her breathing.  When she opened them again, she could make out the clear outline of the man.

It was Eric.  The firelight was flickering and reflecting back in his eyes.  Taking a
nother deep breath, she stopped struggling.

********************

Eric was happy to find them, not that it was all that hard.  They made more than enough noise on an otherwise quiet island.  He saw Tom backhand Abby and nearly leapt from the cover of the trees then and there to charge him.  He took two steps before the thought occurred to him that it was a bad idea.  There were six of them, against Abby and Eric.  While he had learned that Abby was quite the little fighter, she was tied and beaten.  If he rushed from the trees, he would no doubt find himself in the same predicament, and that would be of no use to anyone.

He crouched down and waited.  Abby was facing him, and he thought he saw her catch a glimpse of him for a second.  Maybe she did, or maybe it was his imagination.  He liked the idea that she saw him.  He wanted her to know she was not alone.  She was a tough one, but in her current situation, she was probably a little worried inside.

Most of the others had their backs to him.  There was the redheaded woman standing next to Abby, also facing him, but looking at Tom, not the trees.  The three men looked tough.  Eric was strong, but he knew better than to take on the whole group by himself.  He settled in to wait.  Eventually they would split up or got to sleep, and that was when he would make his move. 

Seeing Abby like this made him furious.  It was obvious that he had been right about Sara, but it was not time for gloating.  He was disappointed.  He felt as though he had failed to protect her.  He chuckled a bit to himself.  The thought that Abby was someone who needed protecting was funny, considering how well she handled herself.  Even so, right now she needed his help.

It turned out that he did not have to wait all that long for the group to split up.

Sara had been doing most of the talking for the last few minutes.  He could not make out what she was saying, but she was very excited.  They all seemed to have reached an agreement on something.  Tom and Sara went off to the right, back in the direction Eric had come from.  A few minutes later the man who had been sitting on the ground in some kind of pain stood up to stretch and walk around a bit before he and the other big guy headed off to the left, through the trees, and out of sight.  That left two women watching Abby – the two they had already faced and beaten. 

It was time to make a move.  Eric thought about rushing in to take care of the two women and free Abby, but he could not reconcile the thought of hurting a woman, even if they might deserve it.  He also doubted that he could do it quietly.  There would be screaming, then the men would come running back from wherever they were.  He figured Tom and Sara were in all likelihood going off to look for him at the beach.  He wondered if maybe he should follow them. 

No, he decided to follow the two men first and see where they were going.  If he could catch them by surprise and somehow incapacitate them, that would be best.  Then he could circle back and free Abby.  If he could not take care of the men first, he would have to come up with a new plan.

Eric quietly started off in the direction the men had gone a few moments ago.  It was silent until he stepped on a dead branch that let out a snap that sounded more like a gunshot.  He froze and could not help but look back toward Abby, who started yelling at one of the women.  The other one, the redhead, stared into the trees directly where Eric was standing frozen in position. 
Does she see me?
 

She stood and looked
toward the woods, the other woman was completely occupied with Abby.  Eric swallowed and crouched low, making himself as small as he could.  Taking a couple of steps toward the tree line, she stood scanning the woods from a few feet beyond the fire.  Her eyes stopped right on the spot where Eric crouched motionless.  Sweat dripped down his forehead, and he blinked tightly to clear it from his eyes.  The seconds felt like hours.  She took another step toward the trees and stared for another moment.  The other woman turned and shouted something at her and the redhead turned around and walked back toward the fire.

Eric stayed motionless for another moment before continuing on, being extra careful to watch exactly where he was stepping.  He could hear what sounded like digging and decided to follow that.  He figured it must be the two men, unless there were more people out here than he had originally thought.  A few minutes later he reached the edge of a very large, moonlit clearing in the trees, and he saw that it was exactly what it sounded like: digging.  The two men were digging holes side by side near the edge of the clearing.  He watched for a few minutes, trying to figure out what they were doing.