Chương 94

The textile plant came into view beyond the bend in the frontage road. Four black SUVs stood outside the front gate, and armed men moved between the lot and the main building.

"Keep going," Barlow said. Savannah stayed in the traffic lane and drove past the entrance. Gladice leaned forward between the front seats.

"That's Graves." Louis followed her gaze. An older man in a dark coat stood beside a folding table under the lights near the loading entrance. He held a pair of leather gloves in one hand. Men in deputy vests carried boxes and files out of the building. Others searched a cargo truck parked beside the loading entrance, its rear ramp lowered to the pavement. Once Savannah had turned the corner and the plant was out of sight, she spoke.

"What the hell was that?"

"That's Hargrove's field commander. They captured us once in Alabama." Angelique watched through the rear window.

"We need to get out of here."

"You don't say," Willa said.

"But how did they find the plant?" Donya asked.

"My guess is that they captured our friend Reese," Willa said.

"And made him talk." Barlow cursed.

"Damn. Should've known better."

"No point in blaming him," Louis said.

"He was protecting his mother."

"Yeah, but now we screwed." Barlow rubbed his face.

"They gonna be watching the roads, and my truck's sitting in that lot."

"Where should we go now?" Angelique asked. Barlow was quiet for a moment.

"Let's get outta town first. Head north. I'll come up with something." Savannah turned onto a state road and accelerated.

"What's our chance of crossing your checkpoint now?" Louis asked.

"If we move fast, chances still good. But we gotta get there first," Barlow said.

"Will they expect us at the border?" Donya asked.

"Maybe." Barlow nodded.

"We late. They might be waiting. But my guy at the checkpoint is solid. If anybody can get us through, he can."

"Let's hope so." Louis looked out the window.

"What do we do until then?"

"Stay off the main roads." Barlow leaned back and closed his eyes.

"We can take back highways. Old farm roads. Anything they ain't watching."

"That'll take longer," Gladice said.

"Better than being caught," Willa said.

"Right." Savannah nodded.

"So we move slow and quiet."

"I have to pee," Donya said suddenly. Gladice turned to her.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes." Donya shifted in her seat.

"I drank a lot of water today."

"We ain't stopping," Savannah said.

"Hold it."

"But—""Use a bottle," Angelique offered. She handed Donya an empty water bottle.

"Here." Donya looked at the bottle, then at Angelique, then back at the bottle.

"In the van?"

"Unless you want to go outside." Angelique shrugged. Donya's face reddened as she took the bottle.

"But there are men here." Gladice sighed.

"They've seen worse things today than a girl peeing in a bottle, Donya. Go on." Donya looked from one person to another. No one answered. She slid lower in her seat, pulled her pants down to her thighs, and tried to hold the bottle between her legs. Louis turned toward the passenger window and kept his eyes on the road. Behind him, steam struck the plastic, loud inside the van. Donya whimpered, followed by the sound of liquid splashing onto the floor. Louis looked back.

Her knees were apart, her pants bunched around her thighs. For an instant, he saw the dark pubic hair and the shape of her pussy as urine ran over her hand and onto the floor. He turned away at once, but his cock had already stirred. Heat rose in his face. He shifted in his seat, hoping no one would notice. He cursed himself for it. When the sound stopped, Louis looked back again. Donya was crying quietly, still holding the half-full bottle.

"Here." Angelique took it from her, screwed on the cap, and set it beside her foot. She handed Donya a wad of napkins.

"Clean up. It's alright." Donya nodded, tears running down her face. She wiped the urine from her labia, then from the inside of her thighs. Louis watched her blot the wet seat and floor before turning back to the windshield. Then she pulled up her pants. No one spoke until she finished. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Sorry."

"It's okay." Angelique patted her shoulder.

"You did fine." Gladice picked up the bottle and threw it out the window.

"I did worse in a church once." Donya laughed through her tears.

"That's so inappropriate."

"I know. That's why I said it." Gladice sat back.

"And on a ship too. Angel, Louis and I had to shit and piss in front of each other for days. It was awful."

"Glads!" Angelique rolled her eyes.

"Not in front of our new friends."

"What? Everyone shits and pisses," Gladice said.

"Get over it." Louis smiled.

"She's not wrong." Donya giggled.

"You are so weird."

"I know." Gladice grinned.

"But at least I'm honest."

"I would rather be dishonest than talk about my bathroom habits in front of everyone." Willa adjusted her glasses.

"Why?" Gladice asked.

"It's natural."

"It's also private." Willa crossed her arms.

"Some of us have boundaries."

"Boundaries are for the weak," Gladice said.

"I have no boundaries." Barlow laughed.

"You a wild one, aren't you?"

"I try." Gladice winked. Willa took the Athena phone from her backpack as it began to buzz.

"Someone's trying to call us."

"Who is it?" Louis asked.

"No idea. Unknown number." She answered and put the call on speaker.

"Louis Collins." Marcus's voice came through the phone.

"Marcus," Louis said.

"You alive. Good. How's my daughter?"

"Alive too," Savannah said from the driver's seat.

"We had some trouble," Louis said.

"Y'all made it to Virginia?"

"Not yet. We're north of Charlotte. Darnell Barlow was captured, but we got him out." Louis glanced at the man in the back of the van.

"We're heading to the border now."

"Then listen. My source says the border's closing. Not one checkpoint. All of 'em. Militia are moving north. County deputies are doubling up on the roads. The Army of the Covenant is reinforcing the main crossings. That state line ain't something you just pass anymore. Y'all too late for Virginia." Marcus paused.

"You should've been there hours ago." Louis's stomach sank.

"Why now? What happened?"

"Official story is they're stopping Dixie men from deserting. Real story is Hargrove tightening the noose. He figures y'all will try for Richmond." Willa cursed under her breath. Gladice said nothing. Savannah tightened her grip on the wheel.

"What do we do?" Louis asked.

"Darnell with you?" Marcus asked.

"I'm here," Barlow said.

"I'll leave 'em to you," Marcus said.

"Y'all need a different plan. Fast."

"What about the house?" Savannah asked.

"Is everyone safe?" Marcus exhaled.

"Your mama and brother are in Old Downtown. Bernice too. Most families from our side made it in before the county put up road controls. The neighborhoods took losses, but they held long enough for people to get out in stages. For now, they safer there than they'd be in that house." Savannah swallowed and kept her eyes on the road.

"And the block?" she asked.

"Occupied," Marcus said.

"Not by choice. The militia moved in during the afternoon. There's a prayer camp there now. White families in some houses, county patrols in the street. They're using the place as a warning." He paused.

"They took our house too." Louis thought of the kitchen where Jacob had stood and the hall where he had died. He did not ask whether Marcus had buried him.

"What's next?"

"Darnell know what to do," Marcus said.

"Take care of my daughter, Louis."

"Always." The call ended. Savannah kept driving. A siren sounded somewhere behind them, followed by another farther away. Barlow stared toward the windshield and said nothing.

"Well," Willa said quietly.

"I guess we're not going to Richmond tonight."

"But what about the men you bought off, Mr. Barlow?" Donya asked.

"Can't you still use them?"

"Can't use 'em no more," Barlow said, still looking at the road.

"If the state's closing the whole line, then the men I paid either got orders to shoot anybody who tries, or they got scared and ran. Either way, that route's done." Gladice crossed one leg over the other.

"Fine. Then what's next?" Barlow rubbed both hands over his face. Dried blood marked one cuff, and grease stained the heel of one palm. He lowered his hands and looked toward the front.

"There's one place," he said, his voice rough.

"We gotta go west now." Louis turned toward him. Savannah took the next turn west without asking where. Barlow leaned forward and looked through the windshield.

"It's up in the Smokies," he said.

"Old mountain resort. Been closed for years. The company that built it is long gone. I bought what was left through three other names and a tax auction. Been using it as a layover point ever since." Louis looked at him.

"A safe house?" Barlow let out a dry laugh.

"A damn comfortable one." He shifted where he sat, winced, and continued.

"Back when it was doing good, it was one of them mountain places rich folks drove to when they wanted to call fog, deer, and pine air an encounter with nature before going back to their real lives on Monday. Couple of the old staff stayed local after it folded. A husband and wife live there year-round in the service wing and keep the place from rotting. I pay 'em enough not to ask who comes through after dark." Savannah glanced at him in the mirror.

"You have been keeping an entire resort hidden in the mountains?"

"When you got too much money and too many enemies, you buy yourself options." He shrugged.

"I like having somewhere to go if the government comes after me or a deal goes bad."

"How far?" Angelique asked.

"Two, three hours if we stay on the back roads and avoid the main highways. Once we there, we can rest. Think. Figure out what to do."

"Will it be safe from the militia?" Donya asked. Barlow nodded.

"Ain't nobody official go out there no more. State quit funding the park service years ago. The rangers left. Roads are overgrown, and the gate stays chained. Only locals go in and out, and they ain't talking to the state." Gladice let out a breath.

"So we hide in a luxury cabin in the mountains while the world figures out what to do with us."

"Basically, yeah." Barlow leaned back and closed his eyes.

"From there, maybe we can find another way across the line. Western Virginia. I mean the west side of Virginia, not West Virginia. That place a nightmare." Louis watched the road ahead. He thought of the Dominion and his father. Both felt farther away than they had that morning.

"Alright," he said.

"Let's go to the mountains." Willa shook her head.

"I had a feeling we weren't getting out of this country with one simple plan. Things always get complicated."

"This is how things work here. You think you have a plan, then everything goes to hell, and you find another plan." Savannah looked at her in the rearview mirror.

"You learn to be flexible. Or you die."

"Thank you for the lesson," Willa said dryly.

"You're welcome." Savannah turned onto a narrow side road that ran parallel to the main road west. At the first cross street, Louis could see two sheriff's cruisers blocking a lane one block over while deputies in reflective vests turned civilian cars back toward the neighborhoods.

"Damn," Savannah said.

"They are stopping everyone."

"We stay off the main roads," Barlow said without opening his eyes.

"Trust me. I know this area better than most." Savannah nodded.

"Right." A convoy of militia pickups waited in the opposite lane at the next red light. Boys in youth polos stood in the truck beds with bundles of armbands. The light turned green, and the convoy rolled forward. Donya whispered a prayer to herself, her hands folded in her lap. Angelique put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay." Donya looked up at her.

"I am scared."

"We're all scared," Angelique said.

"But we're together. And we'll get through this." Donya nodded.

"I know." Gas stations along the road were closing. The interstate overpass ahead was lined with brake lights. Savannah passed beneath it and stayed on the older road west. Warehouses gave way to woods, then to fields and scattered houses.

"We're getting out of the city," Savannah said.

"Good." Louis watched the road ahead.

"Let's hope we stay out of sight." They crossed the county line without seeing a checkpoint. Charlotte's lights faded behind them.