The eruption of briskly moving water cut through her raspy breaths as Rain realized they were nearing what had to be a large river in front of them. She imagined it had to be the River Red, but there was no capacity left in her lungs for words. Running at full speed for hours had taken away all conscious thought, all ability to speak or think or pray. The only thing she was capable of at the moment was putting one foot in front of the other as rapidly as humanly possible. And judging by the pain in her muscles and the spasming in her feet, that possibility was about to dry up.
They were back in the forest now and had been for several hours. Behind them, the sound of explosions had faded away as they’d put more distance between themselves and Dafo, but every once in a while a light would reflect off of the shiny rifle slung over Mist’s shoulder, and Rain would get the notion that it was another bomb being hurled at their friends in Dafo. She h
Reality began to blur around her as the initial adrenaline rush faded, and the pain in Rain’s wounded shoulder began to radiate throughout her body. Whatever size caliber this bullet had been, it had caused some major damage. She tried to picture exactly where it was in her body and imagined if it were an inch or two lower, she wouldn't still be breathing.The pop, pop, pop of gunfire rang out in front of her. Rain struggled to keep her eyes open so she could fire her gun if need be, but when her friends came back in a rush, she dropped her weapon. Mist and Walt grabbed hold of her, attempting to move her. She cooperated the best she could, not sure what was happening and only slightly aware that Adam was gone. Where he’d disappeared to, she couldn’t say. The strain of lifting off of her bottom, of wrapping her arms around her friends’ necks, especially her left shoulder where the wound was, took her breath away.
Being on a boat for the first time would’ve been an adventure Adam could really sink his teeth into, if he’d been able to pull his eyes away from Rain. She was out now, unconscious from either the pain or the exertion of being moved to the unfamiliar vehicle while she was wounded, he wasn’t sure, but either way, he was concerned.“Let’s lay her down,” the woman who owned the boat said quietly. “It’s better if she rests now.”“Is she okay?” Mist asked from next to Rain’s knee. Adam didn’t pull his eyes off of the beautiful redhead to read the concern in her face, but he could hear it in the quiver in Mist’s voice.“She will be,” the woman assured them. “I’ve seen many a wound worse than this. With less medicine to fix it.” She moved Rain so that her head was resting on her backpack. “I’m Esther G
Adam nodded in agreement, as much as he hated that her statement was the truth. A Mother wouldn’t have hesitated to take out whoever she needed to in order to get what she wanted, even if it was her own child. Esther certainly seemed different than that sort of mother.They continued to fly down the tunnel for what seemed like at least a half an hour. The air was different in here. Cooler. Adam thought they might be headed down as they were cutting into the mountain. He never would’ve guessed something like this was possible. He only hoped no one was coming back their direction as they plowed ahead. If that should be the case, Esther wouldn’t have time to slow, whether her sons were on board or not.Eventually, the tunnel widened, the ceiling lifting, and they slowed. A large chamber with dozens of other boats and vehicles, lit by what appeared to be some sort of primitive electric torches, spanned as far as Adam could
Waking up and not realizing where she was or how she’d come to be there was something Rain was getting used to. As unsettling as that could be for someone who’d woken up in the same bed in the same room for almost twenty years, she wasn’t alarmed when she opened her eyes to find herself in a bed she didn’t recognize in a room she was fairly certain she’d never been in before.Trying to move was her first reminder of what had happened. Her shoulder was sore. It didn’t hurt at the moment, though she was suddenly aware that it had. The pain was a fresh memory, and as she pushed up to sitting, she could almost feel it radiating through her limb again.But it didn’t hurt, not like that. It was more of a dull throb in the center of her upper chest muscle. She was wearing a white nightgown and paused to question the origin and how it came to be on her body. Had Mist changed her clothes? Surely, Adam ha
Begin Volume 2--Rain's RunFalse sunlight filtered through thin lace curtains over the window next to Rain’s bed. It wasn’t her bed, though, not really. She’d left her bed far behind when she’d left her home in Gretchintown almost three weeks earlier. It seemed like months, maybe years, had passed since the last time she lay in her own bed. How the world had changed since then. Or maybe it hadn’t. Maybe all of the changes had been on her end.It wasn’t just the faux sunlight that stirred her. The sound of two male voices, one familiar, one becoming so, hit her ear and slowly brought her back to consciousness. The pain in her shoulder was mild now, especially compared to how it had been when Esther and her family had rescued Rain and her friends and brought them to the safety of their mountain home, Judea, buried beneath the landscape of Oklasaw.Eavesdroppin
“What about you? Do you have a girlfriend?” Adam asked Seth, changing the subject.Rain would be lying to herself if she said she didn’t care. There was something about Seth that sparked her interest, but not the same way that Adam did, at least not yet. She imagined, if she were to spend more time with Seth and less time with Adam, that she might be swayed to reevaluate her feelings, particularly if the reason Adam had made those statements about her feelings for him was because he truly wasn’t interested in her, but she knew exactly what conversation he was referring to.They’d been lying next to each other in the darkness in Dafo. She’d told him she thought he deserved to be happy. She had no idea he’d heard that he deserved to be happy with someone else. Right after she’d told him how she felt, he’d gone quiet--disturbingly so. The discussion had happened just a few days ago, wel
Adam and Seth continued to talk, with Seth asking questions about what it was like for him, just the day to day activities. Adam talked about the gym and other aspects--taking supplements, etc. Rain’s mind wandered. She should get up. She should let them know she could hear. But then, a third voice entered the conversation, one she didn’t recognize at all. One she instantly didn’t like.“Hey, Seth!” a male voice, higher pitched and grating but still masculine, called out. “This one of the rebs you pulled from the river?”“Yeah, Daniel. This is Adam.”“Hi,” she heard Adam say and then there was the smack of flesh on flesh that made her think they must’ve shaken hands or something.“How’s it going?” Daniel asked, his voice still irritating. “You likin’ it on the outside?”“
“Good, you’re awake.” Esther brought in a tray with soup and a sandwich on it, along with some ice water. She insisted Rain drink as much as possible, which would’ve been all good and well if it didn’t mean she had to get up to use the bathroom every half an hour, making it hard to sleep. Thank goodness there were plenty of bathrooms in this house and that one was attached to her bedroom.Setting the tray on the nightstand, Esther situated herself on the bed near Rain’s hip. “Any pain this morning?”With her lips pursed together, Rain shook her head, afraid opening her mouth would cause a gush of words to spill out, words she ought not say.Esther gestured for her to lean up so she could inspect the wound. Satisfied that it was healing nicely, she smoothed down the bandages. “I brought you a nontraditional breakfast. Figured the soup broth would help heal you, and t