Chapter 40
Sarah woke hours later groggy and aching but not nearly as bad as it had been before.
Right away, she was aware of the fact that she no longer had a fever.
Her heart started to race instantly, though, when she heard the muffled voices of people around her.
One side of her body still felt warm, but one was fine.
Opening her eyes, she had to blink against the harsh light of a campfire.
At least it explained why she felt like she was on fire over half her body.
She tried to move but could barely sit up without the world starting to spin around her.
The whispering stopped, and she saw a figure approaching from the other side of the fire.
She tried to get away, but it was no use.
She was still too weak. All around her, the camp had fallen silent.
She didn’t like that she was now the center of attention.
That could only mean one thing with a gang of roving, lonely, dangerous male inmates. She had to find George and get away.
“Hey now, take it easy, Sarah. You’re with a friend,” the figure said.
Her eyes slowly started to focus and adjust to the light. When the familiar face came into view, Sarah sobbed with joy. It was no monster coming to violate her. Without giving her wound any consideration, she lunged forward and wrapped her arms around her friend.
“Oh, honey. It’s okay now. You’re with friends. Whatever happened to you out there, it’s not going to be able to get you in here.”
“I’m just happy it’s you, Becky,” Sarah said. “How did we even get?—”
The realization struck her that they were still in danger. Whoever had been searching for her had to know where they were. Two women and a horse would be a perfect target for some of the evil people of the world. Sarah knew she had to protect her friend from whatever had been hunting her down.
“We need to run, Becky. There are people looking for me, and I don’t want them to get to you.”
“It’s okay, Sarah. We’re hidden away here, and there are miles between us and the jail. They won’t be able to get to you here. I promise.”
Sarah sighed with relief. Although she was still worried about their safety, she knew Becky wouldn’t lie to her just to make her feel comfortable.
The pain was still there but nowhere near as bad as it had been when she had lost consciousness.
Whatever happened at the prison was still at the forefront of her mind.
She suddenly realized that while Becky was there by her side, she hadn’t heard or seen Alan.
“What about Alan and the kids?” Sarah asked. “Is everyone all right?”
“They’re all here and safe. We’ve been thinking about you, and we’re happy to see you’re alive. We didn’t know if you made it to your parents’ homestead.”
“I made it and got them prepared for the winter, but I made a promise to check in with Meredith, but when I got there, the inmates were in control. I need to find out where she?—”
“She’s here, too,” Becky said. “Meredith is here with us.”
Sarah was too blown away to speak as the tears started to roll down her cheeks.
From the other side of the fire, Meredith appeared along with Alan and all three kids.
She couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
Meredith was at her side in an instant, carefully wrapping her arms around her friend from the prison as she softly cried.
Even in the dim light, Sarah could see the bruises on Meredith’s cheeks.
She felt a surge of rage coursing through her despite the persistent pain in her side.
“What the hell happened to you?” Sarah asked.
Meredith glanced back at the children and shook her head. “We can talk about that later. What matters is that you are safe with us. You’re alone. Did something happen to Adam?”
“No, he’s at the homestead with my parents. I came back down to check on you.”
“So, that’s where the wound came from. I was wondering if that was the case. I’m happy that’s all that happened.”
“When did they overthrow it?” Sarah asked.
Again, Meredith glanced back at the children.
Sarah could see she didn’t want to talk about the events at the prison.
She mentally kicked herself for asking about it again.
There was so much more she needed to know.
To start with, it was still too dark for her to recognize any of her surroundings.
If she was going to get them all back to the homestead, Sarah had to get her bearings.
She tried to sit up again and did so with a little more success the second time around despite Becky and Meredith both telling her to lay back down.
It didn’t matter how far they were from the prison; she wouldn’t feel safe until they were in Maine.
There were questions she needed answered.
Thankfully, she could hear George softly nickering a few feet from where she was lying near the fire.
At least she knew he had made it out of there with them as well.
Sarah could never forgive herself if the beast somehow had gotten left behind.
“How did you all end up together?” Sarah asked.
“Well, some of it started about a week ago,” Alan said. “It’s kind of all a mess at this point.”
“What do you mean?”
“A group of thugs came rolling through our area roughly a week ago. It didn’t take long for them to overrun the whole place. We made a run for it, and I thought the prison would be a safe place. After all, Meredith had a good plan for running it.”
“I’m sorry you lost everything,” Sarah said. “How’d you meet up with Meredith?”
“People have lost more, that’s for sure. Just as we got a little closer to the prison, Meredith caught us and told us what had happened. We’ve been moving ever since.”
“I’m really glad you all found each other. It’s not easy being alone out here.”
“That’s for sure,” Alan said.
“We don’t have any idea where we are going to go. Everything has been taken over by thugs or groups of people who want nothing more than to treat people like garbage,” Becky said. “We just know we have to stick together now.”
“We’ve got each other,” Alan said. “That’s the important thing. Like she said, we have no idea where we’re going to go, but you’re welcome to join us in our search.”
“Well, one thing I know for sure is that I’m glad we’re all together. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever see any of you again.”
“We’re all here now. We’ll find a place that is safe.”
“There’s no need to go searching for anything. I know of the perfect place, and that’s where we’re going to go together,” Sarah said. “The homestead has plenty of room for you all.”
The group was blown away by her revelation, but she’d planned on them joining her from the first moment they’d moved RVs.
Somewhere in her heart, Sarah had known they would all come back to the homestead with her.
She only regretted not asking them to join her sooner or at least not forcing the issue.
From the wounded look in her former boss’s eyes, Sarah didn’t know what she had been through before escaping the prison and finding the others.
An hour later, as Becky and Alan tucked the kids in around the campfire for a few hours of sleep, Meredith moved to where Sarah was sitting just out of earshot from them.
“Hey, how are you feeling?” Meredith asked.
“Better with a registered nurse keeping watch on me,” Sarah replied. “What about you?”
She sighed. “Still recovering mentally, but I’m physically okay.”
“I’m so sorry for whatever happened to you, Meredith. I should have stayed longer. This is all my fault.”
“Don’t blame yourself, honey. There is nothing you could have done. If it hadn’t been for John, things would have been worse, but he got me out before they did more than get in a few sucker punches.”
Sarah gasped. “John made it out with you?”
Meredith cringed and shook her head. “A few of the other guards were still there, being held by the inmates. He stayed behind to get them.”
“We have to go back,” she whispered. “We have to help?—”
“Sarah, we can’t. It’s overrun. There are more than just the prisoners there now.
Others have joined up. They’ve taken control of the forest ten miles around the prison, and they’re moving into the cities.
John is the only one who can stop them. He’s on the inside, and the leader’s second in command.
Winter is setting in, right? Your family… ”
“They need me,” Sarah said with resounding confidence.