I tried to leave the area today. The guard protecting our section advised against it. I have been too scared to openly speak with the other women here about what is happening; that changes tonight.
—The diary of Megan Jean
The darkness helped Mia focus on the road in front of her. At first she appreciated the setting sun because it let her know she was heading north. Now the night was better because it made it easier to silence her inner monologue. Flo is dead. You abandoned Andrew. You abandoned Rod. You abandoned your cause. Flashes kept making their way through Mia’s mind, but focusing on the headlights of the SUV quieted her thoughts.
Mia pulled over to the side of the road but did not turn the car off. She opened her phone and went to Andrew’s contact information, held down seven, and a map appeared. He was standing still. Andrew had kept his word; they weren’t chasing her down. She zoomed out of the map and saw her own red dot appear on the small screen. In a short time she had put almost forty-five miles between them, Mia realized she needed to slow down, she was traveling at almost 90 mph the whole time.
Not wanting to lose any advantage she had gained, Mia tried to think of any landmarks that could tell her where she was going. She zoomed out farther and saw that the map divided the areas. She was not far from the Midwest Area boundary line. Mia saw the city of Saint Louis on the map. She looked toward the west, remembering her trip into the big city, and saw the long highway. She scrolled north and saw the city of Schuyler, another spot from her previous travels. Then she saw the thick line between them. This was the highway that would lead her to her destination. Mia would have to check landmarks once she was close enough, but she didn’t want to lose the cover of darkness.
Double-checking the initial directions that would lead her toward the highway, Mia took off again. She had twelve hours until the sun rose and another two before people were out on the road. Mia didn’t have any idea if that was enough time, but she would take her chances. If she wanted to move on from her past life and figure out what type of person she was, she couldn’t think of a better place to start than where she’d begun.