Check out The Prophecy By: lspearson it's awesome

The next morning and headed to the front lobby, there was always someone manning the desk because people tended to come in at all hours. Instead of the little old lady, there was a younger dark skinned woman, with curly hair and beautiful brown eyes. She looked up at them with her big doe eyes when they approached her.

"May I help you?" she asked politely.

"Yes, I left a phone up here when I came in the other day," Kyla responded, sitting her backpack on the floor.

"What's your name?"

"Kyla."

"Okay, give me a minute I'll have to go check in the locker," she said standing up.

"Thanks," Kyla said, before taking a seat in one of the three chairs in the lobby.

Jen and Josiah came to sit beside her, "Are you as nervous as I am?"

"I'm trying not to think about it," Kyla answered.

The curly haired woman came back to the desk, cell phone in hand, "Here you go," she said handing it over.

"Thank you. Do you mind if we sit here while we wait for our ride?"

"Of course not," she responded.

Kyla returned to her chair and dialed the number for the taxi service. They told her one would be there in about fifteen minutes. She relayed the new to Jen then stared at the floor and fiddled with her bag strap.

A short while later it pulled up at the front door. They stood up, shouldered their packs, and headed outside. They tried to stay low and hidden behind the taxi without looking too suspicious in case her fiance was watching. At least if he was, he was expecting a single woman not two women and a child.

It was about an hour ride to their destination, an old rundown gas station in the middle of nowhere. The driver asked if they needed him to wait on them, but Kyla assured him someone was waiting on them inside the store. They paid him and he left without a backwards glance. Kyla hoped he'd quickly forget them in case Mark came across him later.

A little unsure what to do now they stood outside checking out their surroundings. The dirt, trash, and cigarette butts was unimpressive. When Josiah's tummy rumbled they decided to go inside the gas station and search for some form of breakfast. To their surprise the store actually had a small kitchen, and even though it was still a bit early they were already serving food. Kyla ordered them two bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits and one sausage from the tall man wearing a hair net. Jen went in search of something to drink while he got their orders ready.

"Should I get something to drink?" Jen asked over her shoulder, as she headed towards the coolers.

"Yes, three gatorades and three bottles of water unless y'all want something different."

"Sounds good to me, but I'll probably get Josiah an orange juice."

"Okay," Kyla said, smiling back at her. She was starting to feel a little more at ease now that they were so close to freedom.

Kyla collected their biscuits and followed Jen up to the register to pay.

"Are you okay to walk and eat or do you want to sit?" Kyla asked, as they exited the store.

"Ummm, Josiah probably needs to sit," Jen answered, pointing to a couple of picnic benches that looked close to falling apart.

"Sure," Kyla answered and headed towards them.

While they were eating, a very nice looking red truck pulled up. It caught her attention because it looked completely out of place here, with it's street tires and mostly clean paint job. Kyla watched the driver get out and go into the store. She quickly stood up and glanced in the windows to check for passengers. When she didn't see any she casually walked towards it and dropped her phone into the back on her way to the trash can. Now if her fiance tracked it he would hopefully be led on a wild goose chase.

"What'd you do that for?" Jen asked, standing up to throw away her and her son's trash.

"In case Mark tries to have it tracked. His brother is a computer hacker and he's had it tracked before."

"Oh, smart," she said, with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Give me just a sec and we can go," Kyla said, before going back into the gas station.
She went slowly down each aisle looking for things that would be filling enough to hopefully hold them over for about a week until they could get the hang of finding food on their own. She knew it was quite possible it would take them longer than a week but she was praying that it wouldn't. She made her selections carefully and carried her arm load up to the counter along with another backpack to put it in. They had about a mile to go and she didn't wanna do it carrying plastic bags. The guy ringing her up looked at her with a raised eyebrow but didn't say anything. He was clearly interested in what she had going on but apparently decided it wasn't his business.

She pushed open the glass double doors and headed back towards Jen and Josiah. Jen watched her as she unpacked the plastic bags and loaded the stuff into the new backpack, but when she started to put the bag on to carry it in front of her she stopped her.

"You don't need to do that, if you over burden yourself you could go into early labor or even miscarry," she said, the worry clear on her face.

"But I have to carry it out there somehow, we need it."

"No you don't. Yes we need it, but you don't have to be the one to carry it," Jen said smiling at her and reaching out for the bag.

Kyla smiled back and handed it over, "Thanks," she said.

"We're in this together now, right?"

"Right!"

"Now show us where we're going, 'cause I have no idea," she said with a nervous chuckle glancing around. There were woods in pretty much every direction with occasional lonely houses in large pastures here and there.

"This way, we have to cross the road first," Kyla said, heading to the edge of the parking lot.

"Are you ready for a big adventure?" Jen asked Josiah, looking down at him and smiling.

He smiled back up at her and nodded. She reached down and took his hand in hers before following after Kyla. They looked both ways and then they crossed the road, leaving their old world behind.

"How far is it?" Jen asked, after they'd been walking for about fifteen minutes.

"Like a mile I think, so we're probably about halfway there."

Jen looked down at her four year old worried he might get tired before they got there but he seemed to be okay. He was always so quiet now and his smiles had become rare. It ate at her because she knew the cause of it was partially her fault. She should have left his dad a long time ago and for that she would always be sorry.

"Mommy, mommy look horseys!" Josiah said, pulling her by hand in closer to the fence they'd been walking beside.

She looked out into the small muddy pen to see a beautiful blue roan mare and a dirty buckskin with white socks. At the sound of the little boy's voice they raised their heads and looked in their direction. The roan trotted over to the fence. Now that it was closer she could see how skinny it was and the sad look it had in its eyes. The horse reached it's head over the fence and nickered.

"Mommy can I pet it?" he asked excitedly.

She looked to Kyla asking her opinion, shrugged in a manner that seemed to say why not. Looking at the sparkle in her son's eyes she didn't have the heart to refuse him. She led him cautiously up to the giant horse. It seemed much bigger than most horses she'd seen, but then she hadn't seen many living in the city. They'd never really interested her so she didn't know much about them.

"Do they seem a bit big to you?" Jen asked Kyla.

"See that long hair around their feet? They're gypsy vanners, they're supposed to big," Kyla said, looking at them longingly.

"You mean like a clydesdale?"

"Yeah, just not as tall."

Josiah reached up to pet the horses, she eagerly shoved her nose into his waiting palm. The poor thing seemed starved for both food and attention. There was little to no grass in her small pen but the grass was tall where they'd been walking. Jen reached down and pulled up a handful and fed it to the hungry horse that seemed very grateful to have it, Josiah reached down eager to do the same. The buckskin who'd been watching from afar suddenly gained an interest in them now that they were doling out grass and came over to join them. They spent about ten minutes feeding and petting the horses before Jen told her son it was time to go. The excited light went out of his eyes but he nodded and started walking. It really upset her to see him be snuffed out like that. She truly hoped this idea of Kyla's would work and that light would come back to stay.

The buckskin gave an irritated snort when they started walking away. The little boy stopped and looked back at him, the horse raised its head and turned it to the side to peer at him curiously. Josiah sighed, kicked the ground, and continued walking. The horse snorted his annoyance again but this time the boy didn't look back. The horse got angry and started pawing the ground. He didn't like the only person to show him any kindness to now be leaving him behind, it wasn't fair. He turned his back on the fence and kicked one of the wooden posts once, twice, after the fourth kick the post gave way and part of the fell down. He started over it then looked back at the mare, she hadn't moved he went back and nipped her flank to get her moving. She squealed and trotted over the fence nervously.