When they arrived at the road, Lisa was disappointed to find it was a very narrow dirt road, with ditches on either side. It wasn't well-traveled at all, and probably no one had been by recently.
"Let's not camp too close to the road," Kira said, her expression anxious. "I don't want him to find us. I escaped from him once. I don't want to have to do it again."
Lisa agreed so they went into the forest, far enough that they could see the road if they stood up, but could hide in the deeper brush so that no one on the road could easily see the tent.
"This looks like a good place," Lisa said. "Let's set up camp."
They opened the pup tent and unrolled what was left of the sleeping bag, Kira removing her shoes and leaving them outside so they could at least keep the interior dry. Lisa, having no shoes, sat down on the sleeping bag, untying the material wrapped around her socked feet.
"I wish we could start a fire," Lisa said. "I'm so wet and cold."
They huddled together inside the tent, keeping the zipper unzipped so they could see out in case someone drove by.
"If someone drives along the road at night, we might see the lights coming," Lisa said. "We could run onto the road and maybe flag them down."
"Not until we know whether it's him or not," Kira said.
"Okay. You try to sleep if you can. I'll keep watch."
The sun finally went down behind the treetops, and so Lisa knew it was late. Maybe as late as eight o'clock. She doubted anyone would be on such a deserted road so late.
Miraculously, Kira appeared to fall asleep and Lisa was tempted to, but she yawned and stayed alert, listening and watching in case anything appeared on the road.
Sometime later, she wasn't sure how long, having lost track of time a while ago, she heard a strange buzzing. It didn't sound natural, like bird call or wind in the leaves. It sounded mechanical. A high-pitched buzzing that seemed to get closer and closer.
She shook Kira's shoulder to wake her up.
"What?" Kira said with a gasp.
"Listen," Lisa said. "I hear something. I don't know what it is, but it sounds like a drone."
Kira sat up in the tent beside Lisa and the two of them waited, the only sound besides the buzzing was their breath. "It's him. He found us. He must have a drone.”
"Shhh," Lisa said. She reached down and removed the screwdriver from her belt. She held it in her grip, waiting at the ready in case Eugene had found them and was outside the tent. Maybe he had a drone and was watching them using IR vision. If so, he could see them as two green blobs in the darkness due to their body heat.
"We should have covered the tent with leaves," Lisa whispered. "Maybe we should. I'll go out and cover it up. Wait here."
"Don't go out there," Kira whispered, her voice desperate. "If he's out there, he'll get you."
Lisa stood and left the tent, then gathered up leaves and fallen branches to cover up the tent. It was small enough that the top was soon covered with leaves. The sky had cleared and the light from the moon helped her see in the darkness, enough to be able to pick up branches and lean them over top of the tent. It took about ten minutes, and when she was finished, she stopped what she was doing and stood there, listening.
She didn't hear the buzzing sound any longer. Maybe it was a far-off helicopter or plane. Maybe it wasn't Eugene with a drone after all.
Of course, she was wrong.
She saw a dark form coming towards them from the road.
"Run!" Lisa called out and immediately, Kira jumped up and took off running. Lisa was still in her wet socks and couldn't run as fast. The forest was almost dark, and it was hard to run, given the underbrush, but Lisa followed her as fast as she could manage. Lisa thought they should split up, so maybe one of them could get away.
"Hurry!" Lisa called to Kira. "Let's split up so he can't get us both.”
"Where should I go?" Kira asked, her expression fearful.
"Run," Lisa cried out, waving her hand.
Lisa heard the crack of twigs being broken by someone -- or something -- running behind them. She glanced back but didn't see anything moving. Wherever he was, he was far enough away to be hidden.
Then, Lisa saw something in the distance -- it was him and he was closer.
"Run!" she cried and pointed in his direction. Kira must have seen and started running again.
Lisa ran, dodging tree trunks and fallen logs, the branches whipping against her face.
Then she heard Kira scream out loud and Lisa stopped running, not wanting to leave the girl alone with Eugene.
She ran back and watched Kira fall forward, face down, not moving. Had he shot her? Lisa didn't want to leave Kira, but she wanted to live.
If he had a gun...
She watched from behind a large tree trunk and saw Eugene bend down to Kira. He appeared to be removing something from her body.
It angered Lisa that Eugene had shot her -- it was so unfair that he had been free all those years, hurting girls the way he had hurt her, causing her to be sold into slavery had now captured a new girl, a totally innocent girl, and possibly killed her.
Part of Lisa wanted to keep running, but another part of her -- the brave part -- wanted to go back and rescue Kira. While Eugene's back was turned and he was carrying Kira to the van parked on the side of the road, Lisa crept through the forest and hid behind a tree. She watched while he practically threw Kira into the back of the van, then went inside of it and removed something. He brought it out and placed it on the ground. It was the drone.
He had his back turned to her, his focus on the drone, which was now rising up, the motor running, the small propellers buzzing like some gigantic mosquito.
He was looking for her.
She was filled with so much anger it almost choked her. Her fear was gone, replaced by white hot rage. Without even thinking, she rushed towards him, grabbing the screwdriver tucked into her belt loop at her side, and jumped on him, bringing the screwdriver blade down into the middle of his neck.
She felt the screwdriver blade tear through his skin and then pierce his flesh, sliding beside his spine and plunging deep into his neck.
He bent forward, onto his knees, his hands frantically reaching around to try to grab the screwdriver, but he was unable. Then, he fell forward, his face smashed into the dirt with her on top of him.
She panted, her hand still on the screwdriver handle, pressing the blade into his neck.
She heard him gurgle and cough, his face turned to the side, blood spewing out of his mouth onto the road.
Then he was still.
She climbed off him and stood up, leaving the screwdriver in his neck. It took a moment, but she realized she'd killed him.
He was dead, his eyes opened and staring straight ahead, his blood a dark stain growing larger on the dirt beneath his head.
"Oh, my God," she cried out when she realized they were safe. "Oh, my God!"
She held up her hands in front of her face and they shook, her whole body trembling.
She'd stabbed him. She'd killed him.
He was dead...
She stepped over his body, afraid even at that point that he might reach up and grab her, like in horror movies, but he didn't move. She went to the van and crawled inside, finding a knife so she could cut Kira free.
First, she removed the duct tape and gag, and Kira gasped.
"What happened?" she said, barely able to speak. "Where is he?"
"I killed him," Lisa said, cutting the zip-ties that bound Kira's hands and ankles.
"You killed him? How?" Kira sat up and glanced out of the van.
"I stabbed him with the screwdriver."
Kira rubbed her wrists and then her ankles, her mouth wide open in shock.
"You stabbed him with the screwdriver?"
Lisa nodded. "I did. It went into his neck. I think it might have severed his carotid artery."
"He's dead? He's really dead?"
"He is," Lisa said, finally smiling.
Then, Lisa's tears started, and she sobbed, emotion finally overwhelming her.
Kira burst out crying as well, and the two of them wrapped their arms around each other, holding on tight.
After they'd laughed and cried for a while, Lisa wiped her eyes and glanced at Kira. "You are so brave for a girl your age. You escaped from him. You rescued me."
"I wasn't brave," Kira said, shaking her head. "I was so mad that he'd kill me and I'm only twelve."
Lisa smiled and stroked Kira's hair. "You're my hero."
"You're my hero. You killed him."
They hugged again and Lisa pulled back.
"We should find his cell phone and call police."
"Yes," Kira said.
Lisa crept forward into the front of the van and searched around but there was no phone inside the van.
"It's probably in his pocket," Lisa said and left the van, walking over to the body where it lay on the road, still face down. "I don't even want to touch it, but we need to find his cell."
Lisa reached into Eugene's pockets and then pulled out a cell. "Here we go," she said and swiped sideways. "It's locked, but I know you can press the emergency button and call 9-1-1."
She did and nodded when the call connected. She put the cell on speakerphone.
"9-1-1, what is your emergency?"
"Hello, this is Lisa Tate," Lisa said. "I'm on a back road somewhere near Mt. Rainier, I think. I was abducted by Eugene Kincaid, the escaped prisoner. I'm with Kira," she said, and glanced at Kira. "What's your last name?"
"Hubbard," Kira said. "Kira Hubbard."
"I'm with Kira Hubbard, who was also abducted. Eugene Kincaid is dead. We need police and an ambulance sent to our location."
The 9-1-1 operator took their information and promised to send police and an ambulance right away. She stayed on the line with Lisa and questioned her about both of them, how they were and what had happened.
"The ambulance and police are on their way. We have your GPS location and should have someone there with you in forty-five minutes, depending on traffic."
"Thank you," Lisa said.
They huddled together, waiting for the police and ambulance to arrive, battered and bruised from their ordeal, but alive.