Day 30
Darlene tilted her head and vomited again. Her legs and arms were bruised and sore, but she didn’t think anything other than a rib or two was broken. She’d be hurting for days… if she lived that long.
Tee, who she now knew as Thomas Sawyer, stood over her. She could see his face, a mask of evil in the faraway glow from the raging fire of the house, leering down at her.
“You seemed smarter when I met ya,” Thomas said. He had his rifle aimed at her face. “I thought for sure you’d figure out who I was. Sucks to be you, I guess.”
“If you’re going to talk me to death, it’s working,” Darlene said through gritted teeth. She hoped she didn’t have internal bleeding. She decided to play possum. Either he’d kill her immediately, or she could sucker him in closer. Either way, lying on the ground while everything was destroyed around her wasn’t an option for too long. Any minute now, another of the Sawyer scum was going to join in the fun and take her out.
Darlene wondered where her Desert Eagle was. She squinted and saw it in the waistband of Tee.
At least he’s not going to kill me with the weapon my father gave me, she thought.
“You got a mouth on you,” Thomas said. He smiled, and it looked ghastly in the glow from the fire across the field. “Get up. I want to take you to see Buck. He’s gonna be mighty happy to see what I caught.”
Darlene shook her head. “I can’t move my legs. I think you paralyzed me.”
Thomas sighed. “Get up and stop playin’ around. I ain’t got time for your games, missy.”
Darlene pretended to try to rise, keeping her legs straight and unmoving. “I can’t. You ruined me.”
Thomas grunted in disgust and reached down a hand, almost like it was an automatic move.
A move that Darlene took advantage of, pushing up off the ground and wrapping her legs around his neck as he bent down.
The move was fast and strong, and Darlene twisted her body and had Thomas pinned to the dirt, his rifle falling from his fingers.
He struggled and Darlene knew she didn’t have too much time before he began to call out for help. She yanked her body in a position that hurt her ribs and caused her to groan in pain, but it got her closer to his face. She covered his mouth with one hand and punched him in the temple with the other. Her thighs burned from fighting his squirming body.
Tee called out, loudly, incoherent words, but it would definitely alert the others.
After what felt like an hour, Darlene felt him go limp between her legs.
He might not be dead, but he’d be out for a while. She wanted to bash his head in with his rifle stock, but knew she was on borrowed time right now. She needed to escape the property.
She could hear someone walking across the field, a bobbing flashlight pointing out their location. They weren’t near her yet, but all it would take was a sweep of the light in her direction and she’d be caught.
Darlene had no choice but to slink off and live to fight another day. No way could she fight in her condition, and what little strength she had was drained from taking out Tee, even if only for a while.
The obvious way to go was to the fence line, but she thought she saw shadows moving to her right. It looked like at least three figures, maybe more.
Another flashlight appeared to her left, sweeping back and forth and heading right toward the stand where she’d been shoved from.
She had the rifle and tried to run but failed. Using the weapon as a crutch and favoring her broken ribs, she began to move away from the spot she’d hit the ground. If she could get far away and hide she might have a chance.
“Hey, I think I found someone.” The yell came from near the stand, and she cursed under her breath. She wasn’t even to the fence yet, and they’d already found Thomas. If he woke he’d tell them what happened and they’d spread out to find her.
At least four flashlights were moving around behind her. She hoped she was out of their range. Sounds echoed across the field, making it hard to determine if they were on her heels or far off.
Darlene got to the fence and she tried to stop her heavy breathing. She was in tears with pain, her sides throbbing.
It took her too long to climb over the fence, grunting in pain as her left side bounced against the top of the fence. She fell over onto the other side and covered her mouth so she wouldn’t call out.
As she caught her breath and flipped over onto her stomach, she saw two silhouettes coming closer. They were fifty feet from the fence.
Darlene slowly moved the rifle and took aim. She knew when she fired, it would call her position out. God knew how many of them would hear the call and come running. And firing.
“Who do you think it was? One of ours?”
Darlene didn’t recognize the voice.
The light swept back and forth again and she ducked her head, trying to sink into the dirt. The grass around her was high and the weeds on this side of the fence might block their view, but if they took a few more steps in her direction she’d be spotted.
She had the weapon trained on them but didn’t pull the trigger.
Another sweep of two flashlights before she heard them moving away, down the fence line toward where she’d seen the first group. They’d have teams out looking for survivors and stragglers.
Had it really come to this? The United States was under attack… but the Sawyer clan was fighting their own war against their former neighbors. Even during these trying times, petty jealousy, greed and grudges couldn’t be put aside. The enemy could be at the door even now, landing on American soil, but these jerks were all about controlling Herbert’s family because of some slight in the past.
The North Koreans or whoever else was coming might find piles of dead Americans by the time they landed, citizens killing one another and doing their dirty work. There’d be nothing left to fight for.
Darlene tried not to cry out as she crawled on hands and knees, her body hurting. She needed to get as far away from the fence and the property as she could.
It was slow going and she was out of breath by the time she got through the field and to the other side and into the tree line. It had looked a lot closer from the tree stand.
Darlene put her back to a tree and scanned the field for pursuit. It was still dark and she couldn’t see much, but didn’t hear anyone. No flashlights except in the distance on the farm.
At least two buildings were on fire. They’d destroyed the sanctuary. The only safe place Darlene thought they had.
She put out of her mind what had likely happened to Herbert, Pheebz, Rosemary, Austin and Aiden. John Murphy, too.
Darlene decided she’d kill Buck Sawyer and whichever of the Sawyer clan was left if she had to with her last dying breath, although she hoped she’d live past that.
One thing at a time, she thought, and began to move again slowly.
Darlene felt the pain as she moved, praying her ribs weren’t cracked and slowly cutting into her insides.
She took a break, leaning against a tree, listening to the gunshots back on the property, when she realized she never took her Desert Eagle from Tee.
Darlene groaned quietly from the pain and the frustration and kept moving.