Second Chance

Chapter 95

I hurry back to the cottage, feeling the pressure of finding Maria setting in. I don't think I necessarily thought my plan through when I provoked Morgan. I have to get the hell out of here before Jasper finds his girlfriend unconscious in the grass. He would probably assume the worst of me, and come hunting me down, which is something I do not want to deal with at the moment.

I burst through the front doors, and as casually as I can, walk back into the kitchen. Surprisingly, everyone is still here, except for Jasper. I make my way over to Maria, but before I can say anything, I'm instantly bombarded with congratulations from Alex and James. I don't really know what to say, so I mainly just smile and nod. Although, I do ask where Jasper went, and James tells me he's gone to find Morgan. Shit. Once they wander off, I grab onto Maria's wrist and start leading her back towards the stairs.

"Justin, what's the hurry? We don't have to leave this second." She protests, looking back at where we just were.

"Well, unless you want to see Jasper slice me open, I suggest we get the hell out of here as quickly as we can." I snap, basically pulling her up the stairs.

"Why? What did you do to Morgan? I thought you were just going to talk to her." Maria demands, stopping at the top of the stairs, and refusing to move any further.

"I tried talking to her, but once I told her about getting you pregnant, she went off the rails. She tried to kill me, Maria. I had no choice but to knock her out. However, once Jasper finds her, he's going to assume I did something else much more fucked up." I tell her impatiently.

"Okay, yeah. We should probably go." She agrees, which is a relief.

In a blur, we pack our things, which is barely anything, and head back down the stairs. We manage to slip out the front door without anyone questioning us, and Maria starts to head for the truck, but I stop her.

"I don't think that's a good idea. I can't drive, and you shouldn't either. Plus, that's Alex's truck. Those two need transportation as well." I insist, feeling strangely guilty for running away like this.

Maria looks between the cottage and the truck, then finally nods. "Okay, but we need to find something soon. Just because I'm with child doesn't mean I can't do anything. I can drive, at least for a while."

Before I have time to protest, she runs off into the trees, and I have to hurry to catch up to her. For a while we just run as far away from the cottage as we can get, and once I finally feel like we're a safe distance away, we stop to catch our breath.

"So....where were you....even....wanting to go?" Maria asks in between gasps.

"I don't know. I just wanted to get away from there before everything went to shit." I answer unhelpfully.

"Nice plan, Justin." She comments sarcastically. "How about this; we find the nearest building and hope it has a car or something. After that, we find a safe place to stay for a while."

"That's better than my plan." I agree, grinning at her. "Let's go."

—-

It's nearly nightfall by the time we see what looks to be a campsite up ahead. When we get closer, it appears as if it's still in use. Although, there doesn't seem to be any food. There's only a tent, campfire and one of those foldable chairs by the campfire, which has just been recently put out, as it still smells charred and fiery.

There is one really good thing about this though, and that is the motorcycle propped up against one of the nearest trees. I may not know how to drive a car anymore, but I was pretty damn good at riding a bike, so hopefully that skill hasn't gone to shit too.

I turn to look at Maria, who is eyeing the tent nervously. Something tells me we're not alone here, and someone is in that tent, so I motion for her to come over to the motorcycle. She still looks a little uncertain, but she obeys and sits on the back. I slide in front of her, and am happy to see that whatever moron left their bike out here, they also left the keys with it.

I turn on the motorcycle, which makes a loud rumbling sound, then start to roll forward. Just as I'm about to ride away, some old guy with a gun similar to Jasper's stumbles out of the tent.

"Hey! That's mine." He yells at me with an alcohol laced voice.

I completely ignore him, then twist the handlebar, which makes that roaring engine sound. I step on the gas, and basically floor it out of the campsite. The old guy shoots after me, but completely misses.

Maria wraps her arms tightly around my stomach, and I realize she's probably terrified. I'm not the best driver regardless of what I'm driving, but I think I'm better with motorcycles than cars. I just want to get out of the forest, or at least somewhere with more space, then I'll finally stop terrorizing my girlfriend.