Chapter 5 - The Red Ridge
The sound of the gunshot felt like an iron fist slamming into Sarah’s chest. She wanted to scream Marcus’s name, but survival instinct choked the sound in her throat. Clasping Lily tightly against her ribs, she scrambled through wet pine needles and sharp brambles, slipping on the slick mud.
Lily was crying silently now, her tiny arms locked around Sarah’s neck. ""All done,"" the little girl pleaded into Sarah’s ear. ""Go home, Mommy. All done.""
""Just a little longer, Lily. Just a little longer,"" Sarah panted, her boots sliding down the muddy slope.
Through the veil of driving rain, the boxy silhouette of Marcus’s old rusted flatbed truck came into view, hidden under a dense canopy of pine branches. Sarah reached the passenger door, praying Marcus had kept his promise. She pulled the handle. It swung open with a screech.
Reaching blindly under the steering column, her fingers touched the spare key taped behind the ignition wire, just as Marcus had told her years ago when David first started working offshore. She placed Lily on the bench seat, climbed behind the wheel, and twisted the key.
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The engine sputtered, cough-wheezing twice before roaring to life with a rattle of exhaust.
Sarah threw the truck into reverse, spinning the tires in the wet loam before gaining traction. As she crested the dirt road leading toward the highway, high-beam headlights flared in her rearview mirror. One of the black SUVs had tracked the tire ruts and was accelerating fast behind her.
