Chapter 22
Late that night, they reached the outskirts of New York City.
She couldn’t believe what a huge difference the horses made in the time they were making.
Sarah didn’t want to stop, not even to rest, but from where they were—ten miles from the city limits—she could hear gunshots ringing out.
No matter what, they had to avoid the city and any chance of being found.
They moved slower through the forest to cover their tracks.
With the sun gone, they had no choice but to guide the horses with glow sticks on strings.
It was pure luck that she had them with her.
Knowing they had to find shelter soon, Sarah continued to push her companion and the horses.
The farther they could get into the forest, the better.
Suddenly, there was a noise behind them, and Adam’s horse spooked.
The otherwise docile beast lurched forward with such sudden force that it knocked him off and galloped away before either of them could react.
He hit the ground with a sickening thud.
Instantly, she was at his side, tying her horse to a tree before she helped him get to an upright position.
He grabbed his left shoulder and gave a low hiss.
Sarah could see that he was in a good bit of pain.
As Adam cursed under his breath, she heard someone approaching in the distance and sprang to her feet, pulling out the gun she kept tucked in her belt.
Whoever was coming didn’t stop their approach as she cocked her gun and prepared to fire.
Suddenly, George skidded to a stop, and she let out a breath of relief.
He’d returned to his friend. Sarah tied off the second horse and went back to Adam, still sitting on the ground.
“Are you okay, Adam?”
“Yeah, but my shoulder hurts like a son of a bitch. I never imagined falling off a horse could feel like I got hit by a truck.”
Sarah chuckled. “Yeah, well, you probably should have held on with your legs a little better.”
“Maybe, but I don’t think that would have stopped it from hurting like that.”
“Let me take a look.”
She quickly looked at Adam’s shoulder and felt around the area.
It didn’t take long for her to realize why the man was in so much pain.
Landing on his shoulder had caused it to dislocate from the socket.
Sarah knew he wasn’t going to like what needed to happen next.
It had been a long time, but when she was a teenager, she dislocated her own, and the doctor needed to reset it. It wasn’t a memory she was fond of.
“I hate to tell you this, but I’m pretty sure you dislocated it. I’m going to have to pop it back into place, or it’s going to cause you a ton of issues.”
Adam scoffed. “Great, sounds like it’s going to hurt.”
“Oh yeah, it’s going to hurt like a mother trucker. At least it’s not broken. That’s something I don’t think I could fix.”
“Have you done this before?”
“Maybe once, but I promise I know what I’m doing. It’s going to hurt like hell,” Sarah said. “It could be worse.”
“Fine, let’s just get this over with.”
“Just think about something else.”
“What else am I going to think about?” Adam asked.
“Anything besides what I’m going to get ready to do. As long as it takes your mind off of it, it’s going to work.”
Adam sighed. “Her, at least the horse came back to us, right?”
“Yeah, lucky us,” Sarah muttered.
As Adam started to chuckle, Sarah knew the moment had come.
She had only ever popped someone’s shoulder back into place once before, after her cousin had run his dirt bike into a tree.
It had been sloppy back then, but she had learned from her mistakes.
After that incident, she had taken several first aid courses and learned the proper way to set a dislocated shoulder.
With one quick shove, she jolted it back into place, and Adam let out a colorful string of curse words.
Sarah cringed, knowing it had to hurt worse than anything she’d ever felt before.
In the distance, she could hear the faint sounds of people approaching.
She didn’t know if they were looking for them or not, but they were close enough that Sarah could hear muffled voices.
Despite the pain Adam was in, they had to keep moving deeper into the forest until they could find shelter.
Then she would be able to do something about the pain.
They had some medications in the bags, but she couldn’t risk getting into them.
Plus, if the people saw their glowsticks, they would give chase without question.
Snatching them off the sticks they were using as guides, she quickly buried them under some leaves and helped Adam to his feet.
They couldn’t ride in the dark without anything guiding their way.
Sarah handed Adam the reins to his horse and motioned for him to be quiet as they moved forward.
For at least half an hour, they moved without speaking, with only the clouded moon to guide them.
She kept the sound of shots and the mayhem of the city to her right and the compass in her hand, using her lighter every now and then to ensure they were heading north.
Another half hour passed, and she saw what they were looking for, an abandoned hunting cabin in the middle of the forest. From the looks of it, it had been forgotten about long before the world went dark.
The vines had worked their way up to the roof though it seemed to be free from holds if it started to rain.
They quickly tied off the horses, and Adam took the lead as they stepped inside.
It was dusty and dilapidated but would do for the night.
“Well, it doesn’t look like much, but I think we can make do with this place for the night,” Adam said. "What do you think?”
“Anything is better than trying to make our way through the mess out there right now,” Sarah replied. “Are you hungry or anything? I can make us something.”
“Right now, I can’t think of much other than the pain. I don’t even feel very hungry at the moment.”
“I know. I just figured we could use something to eat. Here, take some aspirin. It should help with the pain, which I’m really sorry about.”
“It’s okay,” Adam said. “I’m just really happy you knew how to do that and were able to get it back into place. I’ve heard horror stories about what happens when you don’t.”
“The sooner it gets put back in place, the better chance you have of healing. I just hate that it hurts you as much as it does.”
“I’d rather deal with the pain than the alternative.” Adam chuckled. “Besides, how’d you get so smart, anyway? You always seem to know what to do.”
Sarah laughed. “You can thank my parents when we get there. They taught me a whole bunch of things growing up.”
“They were just looking out for you.”
“I’m glad they did. They always told me a woman should be able to take care of herself no matter what situation arose. I’m not sure I believed them back then, but I’m glad they taught me the things they did.”
“That makes two of us,” Adam said. “I’m really looking forward to meeting them.”
“It won’t be too much longer now. I promise you’re going to love the homestead.”
“Oh, the more you tell me about it and them, the more excited I get.”
As she went about setting up her bedroll for the night and getting out the horses’ feed, Sarah thought about her parents.
She never would have made it as far as she did if it hadn’t been for them.
They were everything to her. Once she was done getting herself ready for a few hours of sleep, Sarah grabbed the feed bags and headed back out to where the horses were tied.
They had to find water first thing in the morning, but Adam needed rest. There was nothing else they could do so late at night.
By the time she finally managed to doze off, Adam was already snoring softly on the other side of the room.
She was fascinated by him even after spending so much time together.
Whenever she was with him, she felt herself at ease in a way she’d only ever felt back at Harmony Homestead.
As the world started to fade around her, Sarah prayed her parents were safe and tucked in back at the farm.
Without them in the world, she wouldn’t know how to hold on.
Silently praying for her fears to dissipate, she listened to Adam’s rhythmic breathing as she succumbed to her exhaustion.