Page 58 of The Cult

He begins to laugh almost maniacally, and I can’t help but join in. It’s the sound of freedom, the sound of triumphing over the evil we’ve experienced here. They didn’t break me. They didn’t break him either.

We survived.

“I see it! Just a few more steps and we’ll be there,” he says with so much confidence that I want to jump up and down and congratulate us.

There will be time for that, though. Now, we just have to make it a little ways more.

27

Nash

Lightning crackles across the sky,and then a few seconds later, thunder booms all around us, startling me so I squeeze Lara’s hand. The weather’s been so hot these past few days that a storm is long overdue, but it couldn’t have chosen a worse time. I’d planned on the cover of darkness to hide us as we escaped.

As all of this runs through my mind, a gunshot rings out, warning me the sentry guarding the perimeter of the compound knows someone’s gotten out. Pulling Lara along, I hope to God my legs don’t give out before we reach somewhere safe.

“I can’t keep up!” she cries out when I tug her forward once more. “I don’t have legs as long as yours.”

Another sharp crack of lightning lights up the darkness, and when I look back at her, I see real fear in her eyes. “Just try. We need to cover more ground if we expect to make it.”

We run our fastest down a dirt road that I silently pray to God connects to a main road somewhere close. My shitkicker boots aren’t made for this kind of thing, but I push on as hard as I can. If they catch us now, I have no faith that Micah won’t have the two of us killed.

“Do you know where we can call to get help?” she breathlessly asks.

I don’t want to tell her there’s no one who’s going to open the door to two strangers in the middle of the night. She might give up, and I can’t have that right now. Not when we’re so close to getting away.

The sound of men behind us tells me we’ve got precious few minutes to reach the main road. At least there we’ll have a chance to flag down a car. Not that I think we’ll have any better luck with that than with knocking on someone’s door to get help, but I can’t focus on that now.

“We just need to get to the main road,” I say, tugging her forward to stay with me. “Keep running! We can’t let them catch us!”

I don’t want to frighten her, but the sound of my voice is probably doing that for me. Thankfully, she can’t see my face because if she could, she’d know I’m as terrified as she is.

“Nash, there are people following us! What are we going to do?”

At that very moment, a flash of lightning illuminates the sky, and I see the road up ahead. A car drives by, buoying my hope that someone will pick us up to take us the hell away from here.

Not that I have any idea where to go. I’ve been with The Golden Light for years. I don’t know what it’s like out in the real world. Lara does, though, so I can only hope in exchange for helping her get away that she’ll help me out in the beginning.

My legs ache from running in these boots, and it takes everything I have to not groan in agony. I don’t want to let Lara know I’m struggling, though. I don’t think she’ll keep going if she thinks I can’t.

“Nash, they’re getting closer! What are we going to do?”

The panic in her voice makes my stomach clench. I can hear them running behind us, their shoes pounding against the ground as they rush to catch us. It’s only a matter of minutes, if that, before they reach us.

If only we can get to the road in time.

“Come on! It’s not far now,” I say in my best cheerleading voice. “We’re almost there!”

She has a burst of energy and nearly runs away from me, pulling my arm as she does. “We’re going to make it!”

A gunshot echoes through the darkness. Terror courses through me as I push my body harder than ever before. Behind us, a deep voice barks out, “Stop! If you don’t stop, we will kill you. Stop now!”

Lara tightens her hold on my hand, and I sense the genuine fear in her without her saying a word. I can’t let them catch us. They will kill me, but I don’t know if that’s what Micah will do to her. Another woman dying might be too big a problem for him. My death won’t be, though. I have no connections outside of the group, so nobody will miss me.

As for her, she might not be killed, but her fate will be no better if he makes her one of his girls. Kept hidden away and used for his pleasure, they’re forced to be little more than slaves.

I turn around hoping to see how far away the men are, but there’s nothing but darkness without the lightning. Their voices threatening us come through loud and clear, though.

They’re gaining on us.

---