Page 18 of Sanctuary

“We don’t care if you stole from him. It won’t change our choices. We will kill him if you ask us to.”

Something freezes inside me. My mouth is dry. I look over at Aidan quickly. He’s still watching me. Quiet. Like he’s waiting.

“I don’t want you to kill him,” I manage to say, holding his gaze. “I don’t like him, but he doesn’t deserve that.”

“As you wish. But we won’t move on while he has any sort of advantage over you, so he must leave the area.” She looks back at Aidan, not angry but stone cold. “Now.”

Aidan doesn’t hesitate. He lifts himself up to his feet in a smooth move, even though he’s still out of breath like me. He glances down at himself as if to assess his condition. His gun is still in his holster, and he’s got a big knife in another. He doesn’t reach for them. He had no pack with him. No possessions other than what he’s wearing. He must have left everything else with his cart.

He nods toward the woman who’s been speaking, as if acknowledging that she’s granting him a kind of mercy, and then shoots a quick look over toward me.

He doesn’t say anything. He starts walking. A few of the women move out of the way to make room for him to get throughtheir perimeter. After a minute, he’s out of sight in the long grass, moving back toward the woods where we started.

Only then do I slowly stand up, wincing as the muscles stretch in my legs. I smooth down the loose strands in my braids. Look back at the leader of this group. “Thank you for your help.”

“You’re welcome. You were fighting well. We saw some of it. But men will always have an unfair advantage in this world, and our goal is to shift the balance.” She holsters her weapon. As soon as she does, all the other women around me do as well.

They’re very impressive.

“I’m Maria,” the woman says, stepping closer to me. She’s still not smiling, but she doesn’t look as hard as she did before. “You’re welcome to join us in our camp for breakfast if you’d like. Are you hungry?”

“I am hungry.” I smile at her. Then at the others. I’m still kind of shaken, but I want these women to know that I’m friendly. I definitely don’t want to go up against them. “Thank you. I’m Breanna. I’m assuming you’re not from around here. I’ve never seen or heard about you before.”

As we walk back to their camp, they answer my questions. They’re not from this region. They’re from farther west—working a region centered in what used to be central Kentucky. But they’ve been gradually traveling farther out, including through all of West Virginia. They’ve only gotten as far as Virginia a couple of times, but they’ve been hearing stories about a criminal stronghold and have traveled out this far to check it out.

I know exactly what they’re talking about.

As we prepare and then eat a delicious breakfast of roasted ham steaks and potatoes, I tell them everything I know about the former hotel a few days south of us that several gangs of thugs have turned into an armed fortress. I tell them about getting kidnapped last year and that the men who grabbed me were partof that community. They were taking me there when Del and Cole managed to rescue me.

Del and Cole went back to check the hotel out several months ago. Cole’s brother is there—voluntarily—and he still has hopes of saving him from that life.

Personally, I’d have no hopes for anyone who’s been part of that world for any length of time, but I can understand why Cole refuses to give up on his brother.

Maria asks a lot of questions, obviously taking mental notes and putting details together in her mind.

Eventually I realize that she’s actually intending to take down the whole stronghold.

I’m shocked. Astounded. Never in my wildest dreams would I expect a group of people from so far away to even consider laying siege on a place that’s only a threat to the immediate region.

Finally, I have to come right out and say something. “I don’t understand. Y’all are from so far away. Why would you even…” I trail off, not sure how to put the question into words.

She looks at me with faint confusion. “Because it’s what we do.”

Another woman—a softer, friendlier one named Rose—adds, “At first, we only worked to keep our own territory safe, but it’s better developed now. The communities there do most of the work to maintain safety, so we can travel farther and help out other areas.”

“Oh. Okay. That makes sense. And it definitely looks like you know what you’re doing, but it’s going to take bigger numbers to take down that place. It’s huge.”

“Yes. That’s becoming clear,” Maria says. “But it doesn’t mean we won’t do it. It means we’ll have to rally more help.”

“I see.” It sounds so obvious when she articulates it, but none of the communities around here would ever dare to risk so much on such a huge target. “Well, when you decide to make a move,I’d like to help. I have more reason than most to want them gone.”

Maria nods. “We will be glad to have you. If you’d like to join us now, you’re also more than welcome. Many of us, like you, have suffered at the hands of men. What we do here is our answer to that.”

I swallow hard. “Thank you. And honestly I’m tempted to join you. I’ve been restless lately. Wanting to do something. Needing more. But having no clear sense of what that is. But I can’t join you immediately. I have…” My voice breaks strangely. “I have family in a town east of here. My sister. I can’t leave her without a word. I need to finish the job I’m on right now and get back to her. Talk to her and decide if… if joining y’all is right for me.”

“Of course. I’m glad to hear you still have family. Your sister is welcome to join us too if she’d like.”

I huff in amusement. “She has a man. She’ll never leave him.”

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