You Are My Sunshine

Chapter 71 - A Sense Of Security

"We certainly don't yet know all the answers but the universe is about to be pried open." - Lisa Randall

The plan Jax, Opie, Happy and Juice had hoped to come up with together ended up with them stupidly hot wiring a car from the motel lot and heading toward the clubhouse. Piney had been prepared with maps and addresses but it did them very little good; the four of them were not exactly world travelers.

"Fuck this," Happy grunted from the back seat. "We gotta stop."

"And what? Ask for directions to the IRA? I don't think they have headquarters, Hap."

"Fuck you," Hap slapped Juice upside the head. "Better than driving around like this."

"Shut the fuck up," Opie roared. "Jesus Christ."

"It looks like there's a church, a couple stores and bars and some shit down this road, make a right," Jax squinted as he read the map in the dim console lighting.

"Jax," Opie sounded scared, or shocked, as he slapped at him from the driver's side. "Brother," he said again more urgently as he swung open the car door.

"What?" He asked, annoyed to be distracted from his work. Jax looked out the windshield to see the outline of two women, huddled together, off the side of the road. The women were clearly trying to hide from them, having no idea who they were, but Jax knew immediately it was Amelia, Mae and Alice. Amelia's ginger hair shone like a red beacon in the headlights as Jax followed Opie out of the car.

--

*A Few Hours Before*

"Where are we going?" Mae asked as Amelia peeled down the road away from the rectory.

"I don't know," she hissed. "Those maps are useless, I can't read em' for shit."

"Slow down," Mae begged. "We have no car seat for Alice."

With wide, angry eyes Amelia glared at Mae in the rearview. "We need to get the fuck away from them, Mae."

Mae bit her tongue and didn't speak again. She sat in the back holding Alice tight and gripping the seat during every turn.

"Our gas is low," Amelia growled, her hands beating the wheel. "We'll drive until it runs out, see where it gets us."

Nodding silently, Mae peeked out to see nothing but tall grass and trees. No lights, no lodging, and no sign of anyone. She was terrified. The next turn, a sharp right, proved too much for the old, worn tires. With a loud pop and a jarring, violent swerve, the girls lost the front passenger side tire.

"Is she okay?" Amelia turned back as they came to a stop in a shallow embankment.

"She's fine, I was holding tight, she didn't even wake up." Mae assured her, moving slightly for Amelia to see.

"Thank you," Amelia sighed. "We gotta move, don't you think?"

"Yeah," Mae threw the diaper bag over her shoulder. "Amelia you gotta breathe."

She shook her head and crawled up the muddy hill back to the road and turned to help Mae. "If I stop, I'll panic and then, then I'll just freeze in fucking fear and I'm not doing that to Alice."

"Yeah," Mae nodded. "You're right."

"I can't even think of them, what they'd do if they found us," Amelia's voice faltered. "I'm not some kickass chick," she began to cry. "I'm fucking terrified, Mae, but Alice, I had to get her outta there."

"Stop," Mae said as she too began to cry. "We gotta go."

Amelia nodded and the two hugged for a moment before Mae handed Alice to her mother and they headed up the road. It wasn't until they saw the headlights from the car the guys had stolen that they dropped and huddled in the tall grass.