Chapter 24
Sloane
With the last of the children coming through the fence Rip stuck his head through.
“You’ve got this, Angel. Take care of them, but most importantly, take care of you.
” He winked at me, then covered the opening.
He’d only been gone for moments, yet I wished he was with us now.
I knew that he had to be with the rest of his people. Had to fight Ethan and the others.
My heart sank. I wished it was someone else. I didn’t want him in danger, and I didn’t want him away from us. Not that I would say a word. This was who he was, a born leader and protector. He needed to do this.
I could understand that, so I focused on what I needed to do. My people needed me to be strong for them. Most of them were terrified, eyes wide and barely holding back tears. But they were here and that was the first step toward being brave and making new lives for ourselves.
“Let's go, I need you to sort of move up and down the line, keep everyone together,” Smokehouse told me. “They’re all scared and could bolt at any moment. They know you and trust you. Static will be at the front leading them out, I’ll be the last in line.
But you, just move up and down and talk to them, reassure them. Okay?”
“I can do that,” I told him, giving him a smile. It made sense. To get this far only to have everyone scatter into the desert would be a tragedy. They might get lost or killed. Having this job would keep me busy enough that I wouldn’t worry. Well, worry more.
“Everyone listen up, my name is Static, this is Dash, George, and Smokehouse. We’re getting you out of here.
Follow me in a single line. Dash and George will be in the middle and Smokehouse will bring up the rear.
It’s dark, we’re going to move slowly so no one gets lost, but don’t wander off. Stay with us and you’ll be safe.”
Everyone was blinking at him owlishly in the dark, but one thing my people were good at was taking direction. There was a low murmur of agreement and the men began to line everyone up.
I walked up next to him. “You can trust these men. Like I told you all before, they are friends of Derek. I’ll be right here with all of you.
” That seemed to ease some of the tension.
“Keep an eye on each other. We have to watch out for one another now, okay?” Heads nodded at me.
I turned and patted Static’s forearm. “They’re ready. ”
Static turned and headed off into the desert. I stayed where I was, patting shoulders and murmuring words of encouragement to everyone as they walked past. Everything was going fine until we heard the first gun shots.
My heart skipped a beat in my chest and I turned towards the noise, Rip at the front of my thoughts.
Fear and worry clogged my throat and as illogical as it was, I wanted to run right back through that hole.
I couldn’t fight. I didn’t know how to use a weapon even if I had one. Yet, I wanted to somehow help him.
You are helping him. By keeping everyone calm and moving them out, he knew he didn’t have to worry about us. I knew it was true. I just couldn’t convince myself that I shouldn’t be by his side.
Smokehouse moved in close to me. His hands dug into my shoulders, forcing my eyes to dart to his. He’d read the anguish and mixed feelings on my features. “Hey, they’re professionals. They’ve got this. Done it a hundred times. Go up there and reassure your people.”
“Okay,” I said woodenly, turning and heading up the line.
I knew Smokehouse was right, and that I needed to comfort everyone, but I was also glad for the distraction.
Maybe that's why he told me to do it. As much for myself as for them. “It’s okay, we knew this was coming. We just keep moving away from the village and we’ll be fine. ”
Now that we were moving, taking steps away from the place where most of us had been enslaved for years, if not our whole lives, determination was beginning to creep over the women’s faces.
Nate, Daniel, and Ben were helping women and kids pick their way past the cactus and carry their meager possessions.
We hadn’t taken much. It would have been too suspicious.
We each had a bag with a couple of changes of clothes and that was it.
I hurried my steps, trying to get all the way to the front. I stopped when I saw Static, and decided that right here was a good place. I could see everyone again as they passed me, and I could look down the line for anyone that was panicking.
There was even more gunfire now. Coming from all over the village.
I never asked how many of Rip's brothers were coming. It sounded like he brought a whole army. The fact that these men were putting themselves into danger for us was mind blowing for me. The men who were fathers and husbands to the people walking past me couldn’t even be bothered to care about their wives and children.
They didn’t really care if they lived or died, other than the inconvenience that it would bring when there was no one to bring them dinner and slake their lust on.
But these strangers were putting themselves into harm’s way to help us.
There was no incentive for them to do so.
I paused at that. Derek knew us, and they knew Derek.
Riptide. What must it be like to have friends and family that simply trusted you when you needed help?
To have no reason other than your friend asked for you to do something for him?
Rip asked them, and they all came. That type of love and loyalty, it’s something I’d never known. Until now.
These were good, decent men. They would have our loyalty and gratitude forever.
Knowing all this made it easy for us to follow them, even when the darkness swallowed us up and we weren’t sure where this ended.
We’d figure it out along the way and Rip would help us.
These men would help us and best of all, we’d finally help ourselves.
I looked down the line and could see everyone starting to falter. Panic would take hold soon. I kept doing my best to reassure them. We were so close to being free. We were closer now than I ever imagined we would be. I realized we were closer to ruin, too. We had to keep it together.
Smokehouse came jogging up to me. He pulled me aside and whispered into my ear.
“Listen, a few men have left the compound. They’ll be heading towards us any minute now.
I’m going to take Dash and deal with them before they get here.
I need you to stay with the group. It's going to get loud, and they’ll want to scatter. ”
My tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth, drier than the desert. I tried to speak, but nothing was coming out. He touched my arm gently. “Hey, I’m not going to let them get to us. They won’t hurt anyone. But the group needs to stay together. Rip told me how strong you are. You’ve got this.”
He turned, and with Dash in tow, took off into the dark. Rip believes in you. That thought had me moving. He trusts in me. I won’t let him down.
George passed me, taking up Smokehouse’s position at the back of the group. Static had slowed down enough to give him time to get back there and me time for a little pep talk. He couldn’t stop completely, not with our enemies bearing down on us, but he gave me a few precious moments.
“Don’t be frightened, just keep moving. Stay on the trail, stay in line,” I called out, just loud enough for everyone to hear me.
My tone shifted from gentle to more authoritative.
I never knew I had that tone. Even in my classroom, I lead with gentleness and kindness.
My people had enough anger and meanness directed toward them on a daily basis.
Not that I was being mean, just firm. They needed it right now to hold themselves together.
Gunshots echoed across the desert. They sounded like they were right next to us. “Smokehouse is there, he’s dealing with it. Don’t panic, just keep going. They’ll keep us safe.”
Everyone’s pace quickened. I could feel the panic nearing a breaking point.
I hoped that that was the end of it, but the gun shots kept coming.
I trusted Smokehouse. He was Derek's brother.
But there was just so much gunfire. How many men were he and Dash fighting?
Panic was threatening to overtake me, and if I let go, the whole group would break.
They would scatter, trample each other. Some would run back to the village. They might get shot. Ethan would kill us all for defying him. Going back only led to pain, despair, and death. They couldn’t go back.
You’ve got this, Angel, Derek's voice echoed in my head. My heart rate came down. I wasn’t going to panic.
I wasn’t going to break. Taking a stranglehold on my fear, I refused to let it loose.
“Keep it together everyone. Those gunshots mean our rescuers are fighting. That's the sound of our liberation. They’re fighting for us. You can’t give up on us before they do!
Keep moving. Don’t panic. We’re almost free! ”
There was that determination etched on the women’s faces once more. They’d heard me and knew they had to keep moving. Relief was white hot. We were going to make it out of this.
“Sister Sloane! Sister Sloane.” June came running up to me.
“Honey, I need you to stay in line.”
“But, it’s Tilly, Janice, and Audrey.”
My heart sank as a new wave of terror threatened to take hold. I didn’t dare let my imagination run wild. “What happened?” I asked, grabbing June by the shoulders.
“Abigail got scared when the gunshots started. She ran off. The girls went after her. They said they could get her and catch back up before anyone knew she was gone. She ran back toward the village.”
Dammit. They would be the ones, too. They were my little shadows.
I would be reckless enough to run after someone.
So of course they would, too. Especially poor Abigail.
She and her older sister, Trina were here with us, but her mother had refused to come.
She was so far gone she thought that if she took enough beatings from her husband, Dennis, that the great Earth God would grant her immortality.
It was sad, but in the end, I hadn’t been able to convince her that she was brainwashed.
I had managed to talk enough sense into her to get her to agree to let the girls come with us, but she’d stayed. Abigail was running back to her mother because she was scared. She was a bright, inquisitive child, but she was still only seven years old.
“Thank you, get back in line. I’ll handle this.
” I pushed her toward the line of people, marching like a line of ants, and looked up.
Smokehouse and Dash were still gone. I couldn’t leave my girls, but I couldn’t leave the group either.
“Mae!” I shout whispered. A tap on my shoulder almost had me jump out of my skin. I turned around.
“What do you need?” Mae was there.
“Some of the girls ran off. I’m going to get them.
Keep everyone in line, keep them moving.
Tell Smokehouse as soon as you see him.” Static and George had to keep this group moving.
We couldn’t afford to stop, and I couldn’t distract them.
Once Smokehouse and Dash got back, if I hadn’t returned, they could come find me, but until then, it was up to me to get the four girls.
“Okay.” I could tell she was worried, we all were. But she would keep them moving. The gunshots were further away now. We were getting away from the village and it sounded like Smokehouse was almost done. At least I hoped.
“Sister Sloane,” a tear filled voice sobbed through the darkness. I turned to Trina. There wasn’t time, but I couldn’t leave her like this.
“It’s okay, Trina. I need you to stay with the group. I’m going to get Abigail. It’ll be fine. We’ll be back before you know it.”
“I’m supposed to take care of her,” she said sadly.
“And you will.” It was a big ask of a seventeen-year-old girl, but it had been that or leave Abigail behind with her mother.
I had no idea if any of the women who’d refused to come with us were even alive right now.
There was so much noise coming from the compound there was no telling what was going on.
I knew Rip and his brothers would never harm them, but that didn’t mean Ethan’s men wouldn’t.
They weren’t above killing their own wives and kids.
“I’ll be back. Stay here with Mae. Okay? ”
Trina nodded and fell back into line. I let out a sigh of relief.
The last thing I needed was another girl out there running around in the dark.
I bit my lip, knowing that all the guys were going to be pissed at me, especially Rip.
But I couldn’t allow my girls to be hurt.
They were my responsibility, I promised to keep them safe.
I gave Mae a hopeful hug, then ran back toward the village.