Eliza spun around to stare at the broken window, her heart racing.
"What is it Eliza?" asked Robyn worriedly. She was at her friend's side in an instant.
"I, I thought..." The girl's eyes were wide as she stared at, but as she glanced around, she couldn't see anything in the dark gloom. She thought she had seen a shadow in the trees. Was her mind just playing tricks on her? "Uh, nothing."
She turned away then, her mind and stomach reeling. The smell of Trevor's blood and the death she had just witnessed made her want to throw up and cry her eyes out, but she had to keep moving. It wasn't safe here. She needed to get away.
Robyn touched her arm gently and the two of them joined Luke and opened the back door cautiously. The man glanced out, assessing the darkness outside, and then nodded to them. The three of them quietly crept out and skirted the edge of the cabin, their eyes darting to the forest.
Eliza was crying silently now. Tears streaked down her face as if a faucet was suddenly turned on and broken so that it was impossible to turn off. One agonizing thought kept ringing in her mind: Trevor's dead... Trevor's dead... Trevor's dead....
Luke glanced back and saw Eliza. A sad look came on his face, but he did nothing else to comfort her. There was no use telling her that everything was going to be okay, because they all knew that that was unlikely.
Once they reached the far side of the house, Luke stopped. Rain was pelting down on them hard and Luke's long brown hair was plastered around his face, appearing black in the night. His clothes were soaked and now the girls could see the muscular build the see-through white shirt revealed. They didn't know him well, but they suddenly felt very safe with him.
"We can't go back to the car," he said matter-of-factly, his face grim. The girls already knew that. If anyone was waiting for them, they would be there.
"Then where can we go?" Robyn asked. She was shivering next to Eliza, for she too was soaked to the bone. The wind blew viciously through the trees, and Luke hoped that the weather would aid them in keeping them concealed.
"There's a cave near the mountain. It'll be safe there."
Eliza squinted in the night and spotted the loom of the large rocky hill above the trees. It was close, but it would take a long time to get there. "Do you think we can make it without them seeing us?"
Luke was still staring out at the mountain, lost in thought, "I don't know. But we have to try." He turned around to face the younger woman, her hair black because of the rain. "We can't go back in the house, but we need something to use to protect us. Do you have a garden shed nearby? Anything?"
Eliza nodded gravely. "Yes. I have a shovel inside that I think would work."
Robyn and Eliza watched Luke for a moment as the thought, and then he nodded. "Alright, show me too it,"
Eliza crept back a little and skirted a few dark evergreens. The three of them traveled deeper into the woods, their eyes straining in the darkness, until they reached a small shed. Luke pushed through and grabbed the handle. As quietly as he could, he pulled it open. It creaked, and the three of them clenched their teeth, but soon Luke had it open and stepped in.
It was dark and cramped, with pot and soil bags pilled on the ground. The man had to tip toe his way carefully around the things so not to hit one with his feet or trip. The girls were peeking through and watching him maneuver his way in. "The shovel is in the back next to the weed-whacker," Eliza hissed. Her hands clenched the side of the door and her ears and eyes were alert for any movement of noise around them.
Luke saw the shovel and exhaled in relief. He reached out and delicately grabbed it, careful not to hit it against anything. With as much care as if handling a new-born child, he held it and crept back out of the shed. Eliza silently shut the door behind him, and the three of them looked at the shovel in relief. It was short, but had a very strong wooden neck and a very sharp and hard shovel end. It was shaped like a pentagon, so the end was a definite point, perfect for defending yourself with. Luke held it closely, and he nodded to us and turned around to face the way of the mountain.
They hurried out, flanking the trees and trying to avoid the leafy ground as much as possible. If anyone was around, they didn't want the crunch of the leaves to reveal their position. They ran on in silence, their eyes flickering around them, alert for any sign of life. The wind howled by; covering their sound, and thunder clapped above. The three of them had never been so thankful for a storm in all their life. It seemed that the earth itself was on their side.
They were about twenty minute in and climbing a hill when they heard it. The wind had carried the sound to them, and the sky was still when the gun shot rang out. It was quiet and muffled though, and they knew that it was far away -- back at the house -- but they stopped and glanced back.
"What was--"
"A gun shot," Luke said, answering Robyn. He was staring the way they came, his shovel held firmly. Eliza's mind was reeling. Who would they be shooting at...?
"I don't know," said the man. Eliza realized she had asked it out loud. "But we can't stay standing here any longer." He lightly grabbed Eliza's arm, and steered her away. They continued their rush for escape, climbing higher until they reached the crest of the hill and glanced down.
Fields spread ahead of them, the moonlight illuminating the wide expanse of land. They had reached near the edge of the forest then, and were staring ahead of them nervously. They all knew that once they left, they would be exposed.
"We have to keep going. Only once we reach the cave can we be safe for the night."
The girls didn't say anything, but they thought the same. They made their way carefully down the large hill, and soon were skirting the first field. The rain was harder here, and the wind battered them painfully, sending chills down their spines. They felt miserable, but they kept pushing ahead, their quest giving them faith.
The moon had risen high in the sky when they were at their last field. Just a little farther and they would be at the base of the mountain where they would be sheltered by the trees again. Then they could begin searching for the cave entrance.
Suddenly, a light flashed in the corner of the travelers' eyes as lightening forked and struck a tree near them. A heartbeat later the sky clashed in thunder and the three of them jumped. Eliza felt as if her heart had leapt out of her chest.
"That was close," Robyn said while staring at the tree in fear. She hurried forward next to Luke's side. Eliza suspected that the girl liked Luke, but now wasn't a time to be thinking about crushes. Eliza hurried too, and soon they were walking side by side, Luke in the middle with the shovel.
At long last they reached the cover of the trees. Relief hung heavy over the three. Luke told the girls where he thought the cafe might have been, and they began to search for it together.
It was foolish for them to let their guard down -- to believe that they were safe. If they had been listening for the small snaps in the woods, and the silent crunch of leaves, then maybe they could have saved themselves. Maybe if they hadn't forgotten to hide behind trees and to watch the darkness around them they wouldn't be in the position they found themselves in. If Luke had reminded them to keep watch, or had not allowed Robyn to stray a little deeper in the woods, then maybe they might have noticed something was wrong. But they didn't and soon this happened.
"Okay, if I remember correctly, the cave should be near a large boulder. I think it was that way," he said, pointing left. They were deeper into the forest now and were facing the large hill and its sheer rocky face. Luke seemed to be more relaxed now that they were sheltered. The three of them had been traveling for about two hours. They were exhausted, and the only thought that must have been on their mind was to find the cave.
The girls followed Luke as he made his way through the trees. The ground here wasn't as heavy with leaves, since it was mostly pine and evergreens. The needles acted as soft cushions and made little noise as they treaded on them, but the branches were higher and the forest sparser. It gave little cover.
A few leaves could be found though, and most of them were deeper in. The wind had calmed as the storm was beginning to pass. The thunder clapped on in the distance, moving away from the mountain and the travelers. They though it a relief, but they shouldn't have. The wind and the rain and the storm no longer acted as a cover; protecting them from the enemy. It left them, and with it hope for concealment. Beside the black of the night, they were dangerously exposed to those who might have been in the woods with them.
Robyn straggled away from Luke and Eliza in her search for the cave. She didn't think she'd gone far. She could still see their silhouettes in the loom of the moon, ambling through the trees. She glanced away and searched the sheer face for any sign of the cave. She was only three minutes in searching when it happened.
Eliza had been with Luke, their voices quiet but not quite enough in the night.
"Why is it you helped us Luke?" Eliza asked. She was staring up at the man questioningly, but her eyes shone gratefully in the night. Luke was holding the shovel loosely, and was staring down at it contently.
"Because I too am on the run from them. I knew you brother, Eliza -- Mike. He told me that you were in trouble, and I decided to help you out. People like us got to stick together, you know."
Eliza nodded. She had grown fond of Luke, and was thankful for all his help. She trusted him completely now, and would travel to the ends of the earth with him if she had to.
"Thank you." she sighed. Luke looked at her and smiled. He opened his mouth to tell her that it was no problem when suddenly a gun shot rang out, extremely close.
It all happened so quickly. Eliza's heart jumped, along with Luke's as they snapped their heads around to the source of the noise, their eyes wide and their breath caught in terror.
In the loom of the trees they saw Robyn crumble to the ground. Her beautiful long red hair fell out of her face as she collapsed backwards. Time seemed to stand. In the moonlight, she looked like a dying angel. Her mouth and eyes were open in shock as the bullet made impact with her chest. In her last dying attempt, she sprawled out her hands to catch her fall, but the strength seemed to leave her and she hit the ground hard on her side. Her hair draped across her face delicately, and her slender hands rested on the ground next to her head. She looked like she was sleeping, but they both knew she was not. She was dead.
They stared in utter horror. Even Luke seemed immobile and surprised by the death. It was so unexpected.
No... no.... Eliza couldn't think straight. All that streamed through her shocked mind was that this was all just a terrible trick. She would blink and all this would be gone. This wasn't happening... it couldn't be happening....
Then three men stepped out of a cave in the mountain base a little ways ahead. A large boulder rested next to it. It was the place they were looking for that whole time -- the cave. The one place they thought they would be safe, and it turned out it was the exact place they wouldn't. Some of them had been waiting. How did they know they'd go there?
The man who killed Robyn turned his gun on them. Eliza panicked and dived for a nearby tree. Luke did the same, and the bullet flew by, it's bang ringing through the night.
"Get them!" The man ordered the other two, who were looking at him excitedly. They pulled out their guns and ran down the slanting ground towards them. Another gun shot rang out.
"Run!" Luke shouted to Eliza, pointing towards the forest behind them -- their only escape. Eliza bolted with him at her heels, running faster than they had ever ran before, fainting and zigzaging through the trees to avoid the bullets.
On they ran, running through the pain it their chest and the screaming of their tired legs. On they went, not looking back, dodging behind trees and running to the next. The gun shots kept coming, each one missing, until they suddenly stopped all together.
They didn't look back. They kept going and going, never pausing. Their breathing was heavy and labored, but they fought through the pain. They had to.
It felt like they had been running for hours when Eliza tripped on a root and fell, clutching her chest as she tried to steady her heart. Sobs broke out and there she stayed, not getting up. Luke stopped too, and crouched down next to her, murmuring words meant to comfort her. Their pursuers were long gone. They were deep in the woods, farther away from the mountain and beyond the fields. They were in the real forest, far away from civilization. They were safe, or at least they prayed they were.
"What do we do now?" Eliza asked through broken tears, her voice thick with pain and emotion. Luke looked down sympathetically at her, but shook his head.
"I don't know, but we can't give up. They'll just keep hunting us."
"Luke," she whispered, her eyes wide and sad, "Are we ever going to be safe?"
Luke looked away and at the dark walls of the forest surrounding him. They seemed full of shadows and menace. His eyes clouded, and as he spoke gravely, a new wistfulness came to him. "If we give up hope, then we never will. That will be when we are truly caught and killed. We must never lose faith, for faith is the only thing that can keep us alive now."
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