Held (Gone #2) (26 page)

"So you think praying is the answer then?"

"I don't know. It wouldn't hurt to try, I guess."

"Maybe. But if there was a God, why would he have let this happen in the first place?"

Alex thought about everything he'd heard from the people bringing meals to their house. "They said he doesn't interfere with free will, even if it brings heartache. But if we ask for help, he'll provide."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"It kind of does."

"Good luck with that. Let me know if you try." Zoey twisted her hair around and pulled an elastic band from her wrist, tying up her hair into a masterpiece.

Alex stared in amazement at her hair. How had she done that without a mirror? Even the way a few random strands hung loosely, it looked like a work of art, framing her ears and face.

She gave him a curious look. "What?"

"You're beautiful."

"Oh, stop."

"No, really. You are." He reached over and pulled a strand behind her ear. He let the back of his hand slide down her cheek, neck, and down to her stomach. Alex felt a slight bump on her stomach. His eyes lit up. "Is that…the baby?"

She nodded.

He slid her shirt up, exposing the bump. Holding his breath, he ran his hand over it. Finally, he breathed. "That's amazing."

"I guess."

"You don't think so?" He looked into her beautiful eyes, not moving his hands from her belly.

"It's hard when I feel so gross. I just feel bloated."

"Do you feel it moving around?"

"Nope. Doctor says it's too early."

Alex put his ear to the bump.

"I don't think you'll hear anything." Zoey laughed.

He kissed it and then sat up. "You never know."

"It's weird to think we'll be parents. Even if we don't keep it, we'll still be the parents."

"Do you want to?" Alex rubbed the bump again.

"Keep it?" Zoey asked. "I'm not sure. I keep thinking about what happened to your aunt and uncle. I don't want to do that."

Alex's aunt and uncle hadn't been able to have a baby, but they were all set to adopt a baby. Then after the baby was born, the mom had changed her mind. His aunt and uncle went home to an empty nursery. It had destroyed them and they eventually divorced.

"So, you want to wait until you give birth to decide?" Alex asked.

"Possibly. I know we're young and everything, but people raise babies in high school. You know there's a daycare in the back of the school, don't you?"

"I didn't."

"What do you want to do?"

"Me?" Alex asked. "It's up to you."

"Not entirely. Even if I wanted to give it up, you could still decide you want to raise the baby."

He let out a slow breath. All of a sudden, thirteen felt so young. "We have lots of time to figure this out. Maybe by then, Macy will even be able to give us her opinion."

Zoey didn't look convinced. "Maybe."

Fire

Macy paced her room, sweating. She had on several layers of white clothes, not knowing how long they would be outside. It was sometime in January, but she didn't know when since the community didn't celebrate holidays or even keep the same calendar.

It had to be close to the end of January, because at the meeting that night Jonah had gone on and on about anointing Chester as a prophet. Chester was supposed to become a prophet before spring. All that was left was that he convert someone from the world, and they had apparently met someone with potential earlier that day when they were out in the world.

Chester would be pissed when Macy escaped. That would probably ruin his chances at becoming a prophet. Not only would she have run away, but part of their precious fence would be gone, allowing anyone to leave if they wanted.

At the meeting, Luke kept making eye contact with her. He was as ready as she was to get out of there. Possibly more, since he had been planning this since long before Macy ever became part of the community.

She put her ear to the door, making sure that no one was up. Rebekah and Chester had finished their nightly ritual nearly an hour before.

Macy looked out the window. Where was Luke? She was going to have to remove some of her layers soon.

What if something had gone wrong? Her heart dropped at the thought. What if he had been caught and was locked away somewhere? What if he would never be seen again? Then it would be all her fault. If he got hurt, it was on her. She would have to live with that for the rest of her life.

Even though he did want to escape, this hadn't been his plan. He was willing to wait decades if that was what it took. But it was easier for him. He was at least with his mom. Macy was with a psychopath who she hated more every moment of every day.

Something hit her window, startling her. She looked out the curtain, but didn't see anything. It was too dark. But it had to be Luke. Who else would it be? Unless he had been caught and this was a trick. Macy narrowed her eyes, still not seeing anything. A porch light would have been helpful, but she would have to take her chances.

If Luke had been caught, he wouldn't have ratted her out. She took a deep breath and then walked to her door. Her heart pounded in her ears. That was going to make it hard to hear if Chester was up. She pulled the door open and it didn't make a sound.

Macy held her breath and tip-toed down the hall. She peeked into the living room, half-expecting to see Chester sitting on the couch. It was empty. In fact, she could hear him snoring down the hall.

She walked through the room and stopped in front of the door. "Please open quietly." She turned the knob, almost expecting sirens to wail, even though she knew there was no electricity for miles.

Macy went outside and closed the door as slow as possible, in disbelief that she was actually outside on her own. She couldn't see anything, but followed the path by memory. When she got to the edge of the property, someone grabbed her arm.

"Luke?"

"Yes. Let's hurry. I haven't seen anyone, but that doesn't mean we won't. I know a path we can take that doesn't get used often." He moved his hand down her arm and caressed her palm. Then he slid his fingers through hers. "Come on."

Macy followed him as best she could, trying to keep up in the dark.

After a few minutes, he said, "Here's the path."

"How can you see anything?"

"I stood outside for a while until my eyes adjusted. It helps that I know this place well. We're going to go a bit further until we get to a spot that's far enough from any homes that no one will hear the fire until we have a chance to get away."

"Are we just going to run to the highway?"

"Better than that. I've got my mom's car keys. I hope it still runs after all these years. If it doesn't, then yeah, we'll run."

"Do you know how to drive?"

"No. Do you?"

"I'm only fifteen."

"Well, I've driven a tractor for Farmer Jeremiah. It can't be all that different."

"Let's hope. What about Dorcas? She didn't want to take part in it?"

"She's actually acting as our lookout while we start the fire."

"Is she going to go with us?"

"If she can. If not, she's going to cover for us and continue the plan to go out with the prophets one day. She said that either way, she's happy for us."

"Okay." Macy followed him in silence as they made their way through the path. She found that the moon and the stars were actually helpful in helping her eyes adjust. "How much further?"

"We're almost there."

Macy swallowed. Her throat was dry and her heart was steadily increasing speed. Was she really going to be free from Chester? It was almost too much to think about.

"There's the fence."

She narrowed her eyes, looking for it. She saw something in the distance, but wasn't sure if it was the fence or not. It had to have been, it was the only thing she could see that wasn't part of the path. They made their way through the path and ended up face to face with the tall structure, the wire at the top gleaming in the moonlight.

Luke dug through his pockets and pulled out box of matches. "It's the moment of truth. Are you ready?"

"More than you know."

"I'm sure you are, Macy." He gave her a sad smile. "Let's get you to your family."

"What about you? What are you going to do when get to civilization?"

"Don't worry about me. I'm almost eighteen and I have a lot of skills. I can get a job and possibly a formal education."

A branch snapped in the distance. Macy froze, staring at Luke. "What was that?"

"Probably just Dorcas. She's looking out for us, remember?"

"I haven't even seen her. Are you sure?"

"Yes. She knows the drill. If anyone approaches, she's going to blow a whistle. Then you and me, we run."

Macy took a deep breath. "Okay. Let's go. I just want to get out of here."

He nodded and then took a step closer to the fence. Looking around, he pulled a match from the box.

Another branch snapped. Macy wasn't so sure that it was Dorcas, but she was afraid to speak her doubts.

Luke held the match to the bottom of the fence.

Macy had imagined the match causing an instant, huge fire, but it wasn't catching at all. Another branch snapped and she jumped toward Luke, nearly crashing into him. He didn't seem to notice.

"Can you find some twigs?" he asked. "We'll need to light some of those first to get the fire going."

"Sure." She found some not too far away and handed them over. "Let me light some of those."

He passed her a match and then the box. She struck the match and gave him back the box. She held a twig up to the match and watched as it lit up. Luke stuck his lit up twig at the bottom of the fence and Macy followed suit. He gave her another match and then added more twigs to the bottom of the fence.

She watched, hoping that one of them would ignite the fence. The more time that passed, the more nervous she became. Beads of sweat broke out on her forehead despite being able to see her labored breath. If they got caught before they could escape, they were going to end up in all kinds of trouble—if not dead.

Luke blew on the twigs, so she bent down and did the same. One of his twigs' fire caught and a tiny part of the fence lit up. It was practically nothing, but she gave him a high five.

He bent down and blew on another twig. "Let's get the rest of these lit up. This is taking too long."

Macy lowered herself to the frosty ground and blew on the twigs nearest her. One of them caught on the fence, the flame moving ever so slowly up the tall beam. She moved to the next one and before long, a length about five feet of the fence was engulfed in flames.

Another branch snapped. This time, right behind them.

Heart pounding, Macy turned around. Chester stood, staring at them. The small flame reflected in his glasses.

A choked sound escaped from Macy's throat. Luke turned around, fear covering his face.

"What are you doing?" Chester demanded.

Luke grabbed Macy's arm and ran, pulling her along with him. She ran, all too aware of Chester's footsteps behind them. How had he found them?

She looked back and saw that he wasn't far behind. Macy picked up her pace, her legs burning. She didn't care, she had to keep going. But how were they going to get away now? Were they going to have to kill him? Was that even possible?

Luke took an unexpected turn in between a couple of buildings. He pulled her along as they zigged and zagged through more buildings. They needed to lose Chester or neither of them would see the next day. Macy had no idea where they were or how to get away.

They continued darting in between different buildings and then ended up down another path and eventually headed into a field of corn. There were small, narrow paths and their shoulders brushed the corn stalks as they ran. Macy thought she heard Chester behind them, but she couldn't be sure. It was hard to hear over the stalks scraping against her clothes.

Her throat was even drier than it had been before. Her legs were on fire, burning all the way up and down and even making its way up to her chest. That too felt like as though engulfed in flames. She'd had no chance to exercise over the last couple months and it showed. She pushed through, forcing herself to keep up with Luke.

"I can hear you two!" Chester shouted. He sounded pretty close.

Luke stopped and Macy ran into him. He put his hand up to his lips and then he sat on the ground, pulling her down too. They sat and Macy gasped for air, trying to breathe without making a sound.

"If he can hear us," Luke whispered, tickling her ear, "we're better off staying put. He'll have a harder time finding us, plus you need to rest."

She nodded, afraid to speak. If Chester found them, he might kill them—if he still had his gun or knife. Had he been able to get them past the prophets when they moved in? If so, they were definitely dead. If he went for help, that would give them a small window of time to get away.