19 Miles to Safety

Grace thought that her and Hunter's journey had gone pretty well. Sure, they had dealt with creepy bartenders, a false lead, falling down a mountain of rocks, and some very uncomfortable travel arrangements, but overall things worked out.

But now, their luck had just run out.

If anyone in their group had spotted the militia patrol first, maybe things would have been different. But one minute they were walking along an old, cracking asphalt road, cautious but not paranoid, and the next they heard a truck coming up behind them.

Grace and Danielle were the first to turn around. At their worried faces, everyone else did too. The Tanakas gripped their son's hands, and Hunter put himself in front of Anna.

"Just stay calm," Danielle said. "Don't pull out your I.Ds yet. See what they want, first."

Despite Grace and Hunter's warnings about the I.D. cards, Underground 109 still decided it was a good idea for everyone to carry one. Hopefully, if they were asked to show them, whoever was asking wouldn't check them against their database. Grace, Hunter, and Anna all had fake names on their forged cards.

The group moved back to the side of the road as the truck approached, and Grace hoped in vain that it would pass them by. It didn't. Grace took Hunter's hand. They were supposed to be a couple, after all.

"You all just pass over the border?" a woman asked. She had several weapons attached to her belt.

"We came from up north." A large group like there's would have had no reason to get permission to cross the border, so Danielle played it dumb. "We didn't cross any borders as far as I'm aware."

"What are you doing out here?"

"Camping."

"Camping?"

"We used to go camping together, before. Our two families recently found each other again, so we decided to go. Nostalgia's sake."

The woman narrowed her eyes at Danielle and then skirted her gaze over the rest of the group. "Identification?"

Grace bit her lip as she pulled out her card from her jacket pocket. Glancing down at it, the name 'Rebecca Williams' stared back up at her.

The woman collected all the cards and then went into the cabin of the truck to converse with the driver. A few others leered at them from the bed of the pickup. Grace tried not to look too nervous, but also not too calm. She guessed that most people would be nervous in this situation, but not 'nervous because I'm an imposter' level nervous.

"They seem to be in order." The woman handed the cards back.

Grace almost thought they were going to get away with it.

"But unfortunately, we've had a trouble lately."

Grace felt like the air was sucked out of her body at the words.

"So I'm going to need to have you all come with me. The closest town has a copy of the record books. We'll just need to verify that you are who you say you are, and then you can be on your way."

As much as Grace wanted to ask how far the nearest town was, she bit her tongue. Rebecca Williams would probably know the answer to that.

"The nearest town, Dustwind? Four miles?" Danielle came to the rescue.

"Just about, yeah. Should take about an hour, hour and a half, since you'll have to walk." There wasn't any room in the pickup, but Grace didn't mind. She would rather they shoot her on the spot than get in a vehicle with them.

"Alright." Danielle agreed, but only because she had to. The men with large guns glaring at them from the back of the truck made that perfectly clear.

They started up again, and everyone was paranoid now. The Tanakas looked like they were about to cry, and Hunter hadn't let go of Grace's hand. Not that she wanted him to. She appreciated the support as much as he probably did. She couldn't see Anna on Hunter's other side, but Grace would guess that the other girl was probably terrified.

The only one who seemed relatively calm was Danielle. "Please tell me you have a plan." Grace moved her mouth as little as possible as she spoke, relying on the noise of the truck in front of them to hide her sound.

"Working on it," was the only response that came.

15 Miles to Safety

Almost two hours later, Grace and the others found themselves sitting outside of what looked like used to be an old town hall. The section of stairs where they sat was roped off, armed guards all around. The people walking along the street in front of them all stared, but not for long. After a split second, passersby would put their heads down and keep moving.

"We're sitting ducks, here," Hunter whispered. "We're seconds away from being discovered."

Grace eyed Danielle. She hadn't said anything else during the journey. She seemed to think that going along with the militants was the right play, but Grace couldn't understand it at all.

"Bring them in." A man appeared at the top of the stairs, giving to the order to the guards who immediately jabbed their weapons at the group, forcing them to stand.

Danielle took the lead and led them into the town hall. An open lobby stood just on the other side of the front doors, which slammed shut behind them.

"You." The man who called them in pointed at Danielle. "Come with me." He turned on his heel and headed deeper into the building.

Danielle gave a glance back at her travel companions and then followed.

"You six." A woman appeared from the shadows and beckoned them forward. "Come with me."
"I don't like this," Anna whispered. Hunter shushed her. Right now, the less anyone spoke, the better.

They were ushered into a small room and stood with the backs against the wall. Grace's heart was pounding. It was a plus that they hadn't all been shot on sight, but not knowing was killing her.

"I don't liars, and I don't like time wasters." The woman who they had followed into the room stood in front of them, two armed guards on either side of her. "Which means I don't like you."

Grace kept silent and prayed that everyone would do the same. The last thing they needed right now was to incriminate themselves.

"None of these," she threw their identification cards down on the table, "are for real people. Except for this one." She picked one up. "There is a Rebecca Williams who lives here in the valley. Except according to our records, she's in her 60s." The woman glared at Grace. "You are not."

No, there was no way Grace could argue with that one.

"Now you have two minutes to make an argument in your defense," the woman said.

Grace knew that whatever they said wouldn't be enough. But she had to try. "Listen, I don't know why we're not in the records," she pleaded. "We've lived her for years. Our families were just going camping together and were heading back. That's it."

"Going camping with a known rebel?"

That threw Grace off balance. "What? A rebel? We don't know anything about rebels."

But it was no use. Even Grace could hear how unconvincing she sounded.

"Those who cross our borders without permission and with forged documents are used for labor," the woman said coldly. "You'll wait in prison until we can find a place for you."

Grace felt her skin grow cold. But with armed guards, there wasn't much anyone could do.

"Now, follow them and get out."

Grace took the lead and led the group out, following one of the armed men. He led them back out of the town hall, Danielle was nowhere to be seen, and out into the street. Walking behind the town hall, Grace felt like throwing up as she saw cages sitting on the ground, and gallows that looked like a permanent fixture.

"Get in."

A million thoughts ran through Grace's mind as she and her friends were forced into one of the cages. They had lost so much in so little time, and she had just let it happen.

"Grace, what do we do?" Hunter sounded hopeless, and as Grace scanned the others, they all seemed to feel the same.

"I don't know." She almost felt shame in saying it, but it was all she could do at the moment to keep from completely breaking down. Memories from her first excursion into the valley pressed at the edge of her mind.

Ren and his parents were all crying. They hadn't said much, and at this point seemed too traumatized to do anything but stare mutely at the noose swinging in the wind. Anna held her brother's hand so tightly his fingers were white, and she was deathly pale.

Grace looked at Hunter. Despite everything, his eyes looked back at her steadily. He nodded toward the gallows. "That doesn't bring me much comfort."

"Neither does the fact that Danielle is gone," she said. She inspected the locks that kept them imprisoned. "Honestly, right now, I would say to save your strength. If we're going to get out of this, it's not going to be while we're locked in here."

The six of them sat locked up as the sun moved higher in the sky and began to sink over the horizon. Grace tried to get some rest, but at the slightest movement or noise, her brain snapped back to full alert.

As the sky turned gray, everyone jumped at the sound of a bell. It wasn't the time—there hadn't been one all day—so Grace could only guess what it meant. But she didn't have to speculate for long.

Crowds of people began to gather in the courtyard where their cages and the gallows sat. Everyone avoided looking at the imprisoned group, but everyone also looked incredibly on edge. Grace wondered just how many of them actually enjoyed living here. Given how many looked like they were about to throw up, she was beginning to guess that few agreed with the current regime.

"Grace." Hunter's voice was hoarse. He had his eyes fixed on someone moving through the crowd, and as Grace focused on the figures, she also felt like throwing up.

Danielle, with her hands and feet chained together, was escorted by several guards. To Grace's horror, they were heading toward the gallows.

"Grace, what do we do?" Hunter wasn't looking at her, but stared at Danielle.

"I don't know."

"Grace."

"I don't know."

"Holy shit."

Grace couldn't bring herself to even be worried about how the others were handling this. Her brain was blank, her body numb. This couldn't be happening.

The man who took Danielle into the town hall stood on the platform with her as two guards fit the noose around her neck. She wasn't standing on anything, and the platform had a handle. It must have been designed for the floor to drop out from under the condemned.

"Today," the man spoke out to the crowd, "we have apprehended a dangerous criminal to our state."

The crowd was deathly silent.

"Danielle Agata, once a protected member of our government, has committed treason. She has actively gone against the will and wishes of the people, committing acts of violence against us. For her crimes, she will be hanged."

More silence.

"This is sick," Hunter muttered through gritted teeth. Grace glanced over for a brief moment; Anna had her face buried in his chest, and the Tanakas huddled together. Only she and Hunter could bear to watch.

"We send this out as a message to those who wish to harm us," he finished. "These crimes will not be tolerated."

He put his hand on the lever, and Grace gripped a bar of her cage.

He pulled the lever.

Danielle dropped.

A gunshot went off, and the crowd started screaming.

Grace couldn't see what happened, she could see anything. Then someone dashed to the front of their cage, undid the locks, and wrenched open the door. Grace stared in shock. It was the woman from the group who stopped them just at the border, the one who looked at their I.D. cards.

"Move," she hissed.

But Grace couldn't. None of them could.

The woman grabbed Grace's shirt and dragged her forward, jolting her into action. "I said move," the woman said. "We don't have much time."

"Hunter, get everyone out." Grace found her voice and took charge. "Go!"

That launched Hunter into action, and Grace followed the woman out of the cage, through the panicking crowd and back into the town hall. As they ran, Grace heard a few more shots go off, although she couldn't see anyone injured.

"All your stuff is still in there." The town hall was empty, but Grace could still hear the yells from outside. The woman pulled out their bags from a storage room and handed them out. Grace took both her own and Danielle's. "Now let's keep moving."

They left through a side exit and ran toward the edge of town. "They'll be getting people lined up to account for everyone," the woman said, panting as she ran. "Which means I don't have much time; I have to get back. But keep running. I won't be able to help you again."

"Why—" Grace started to ask, but the woman held up a hand.

"Don't ask me why, don't ask me my name. The less you know, the better." She came to a halt at the edge of a road. A small grove of trees stood on the other side. "Now, go. The trees will provide you cover for a short way. But just run south, and don't stop."'

"What about Danielle?"

The woman gave Grace a push. "Go!"

The woman turned around the took off back in the direction of the town.

Grace looked at the group. Sweaty, dirty, and terrified, they stared back. "Let's go," Grace said firmly, trying to put Danielle out of her mind.

They had only gotten to the other side of the road and a few feet through the trees when a figure came around a tree. Grace jumped back with a shriek, but as the person came out of the shadows, she almost started sobbing.

"Danielle?" Anna asked in disbelief, her voice small.

Danielle's neck was bruised, she was covered in scrapes, and a worryingly large patch of red was spreading at the bottom of her shirt. "Move," she ordered, and no one thought twice.

12 Miles to Safety

Finally, after running for what seemed like hours, taking breaks in whatever small hideouts they could find, the group stopped. It was pitch black, and they were back in the trees. And Danielle was struggling.

"Here, sit." Grace helped Danielle down on the ground, and despite the fact that her legs felt like jelly, she kept moving, gathering the small amount of medical supplies she had left in her pack.

Danielle lifted her shirt, wincing. "Damn bullet just grazed me," she said.

Grace went about cleaning and patching up the wound before asking any questions. "So, any insight as to what happened back there?" she asked. The injury needed greater attention, but Grace had done as much as she could.

Danielle looked over at the rest of the group. The other five had huddled together, eating some of their rations. "Sorry I didn't tell you." Danielle dropped her voice to a whisper. "That town has a few undercover resistance members."

"The woman on the border patrol, she was one?"

Danielle nodded. "But she couldn't let us go without arousing suspicion."

"How did you get out of noose?" Grace eyed the bruising.

"That was the first shot," Danielle told her. "Another resistance member shot through the rope just as I dropped. Then I fought my way out. A guard with shit aim injured me. But, I knew you would be brought to that orchard so I just got myself there and waited."

Grace let out a breath. "That was too close."

Danielle nodded. "We wouldn't have made it if we were taken to another town," she said.

"I guess we still have a bit of luck with us."

"Let's hope so," Danielle said. She winced as she shifted herself into what was hopefully a more comfortable position. "We still have a long way to go."