Page 119 of Being Lost

“I, er, I closed his eyes,” the tall woman says hesitantly. “You, he. He was your friend?”

I suppose it’s obvious.

“Who are you?” another one asks.

“Hush. They don’t like it when we speak,” a younger girl says, looking around the others in warning, holding a finger to her lips.

“These are different,” one says, softly. “They don’t smell the same.”

I’d noticed she’d had more help climbing the ladder than the rest but hadn’t noticed much else. Now I examine her, I can see she’s blind. Her experience must have been doubly terrifying for her.

We need to get them out of here. I need the women gone, so we can get back to support Dart.

“Go to the trucks.” Smoker’s body, the sight of the blind woman, the whole damn thing has made my voice sharp. I hate it, but the women jump.

We’re not here to make friends, I remind myself, nothing more we can do to help them but get them somewhere safe and away from here fast.

“Different but the same,” the tall woman snaps. Her back straightening, and any sympathy she might have had for me, gone.

At a signal from Grumbler, the brothers start herding the women toward the trucks. As they approach, most automatically hold out their hands, the youngest one starts weeping. It’s then I notice the chains and handcuffs which are waiting for them.

Grumbler tilts his head toward me, I stare for a moment at this new reminder of how badly these women have been treated.Guns and tasers,Shark’s words echo in my head.

I clap my hands together, getting their attention on me. “I’m going to have to ask you to get into the trucks one last time. But no chains or fuckin’ handcuffs, okay?”

A couple raise their eyes to me, but most stay staring at the ground. It’s clear they have no idea they’ve been rescued. And why the fuck should they? All the men around them are masked.

“We’re going to drop you off at a hospital, okay? There you can contact your folks and speak to the authorities. They’ll get you home.”

The taller woman’s face comes up as I say that. Her brow creases as though she’s having a hard time comprehending. After a moment, she speaks, “Is this for real?”

“It’s a trick,” the one who warned them against speaking tells them.

“No trick. Your nightmare is over,” I confirm, trying to convey my earnestness with just my eyes and voice.

“You’re playing with us,” she says. “Thisisa trick.”

“No trick, sweetheart.” Pennywise steps up beside me.

She glances at the other women who seem to accept her as spokeswoman. “How can we trust you?”

“What option have you got?” Truthfully, I could throw open the door and let them make their own way to where they want. But there’s danger lurking in every corner for a group of women left alone walking the streets. I also don’t want them to be able to describe this place or its location. Not until I’m sure nothing can link it with us and our activities here tonight. And surely, dropping them off where they can receive medical attention if they need it, seems the best solution.

“Come on,” Pennywise encourages her, pointing like I’d done to the two trucks.

It’s easy to understand their reluctance.

The women huddle together for a moment, I let them talk.

Inside I’m brimming with frustration, wanting to hurry them up. It won’t be long until someone realises the women aren’t being escorted back through the tunnel, and I expect that someone to come looking for them.

“Who are you?” the one assisting the blind woman asks. “And why are you masked?”

“Friends,” I tell her. “Friends who don’t want to be recognised or who need thanks. Who just want to right a wrong.”

“People don’t act like that,” someone else sneers.

“We do.” Dart’s come to stand beside me, but they don’t seem convinced.

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