Did I Ever Mention

Chapter 12

It wasn't long before Red and Acclie reached the end of the tunnel. Acclie collapsed when she tried running to the barred end. Red let out a cry of joy.

Acclie stumbled over and hugged Red as hard as she could. "We made it, Red!" Acclie was smiling through her tears.

Red returned Acclie's hug. "I know," Red whispered. She bent down and grabbed a metal pick from her backpack. "It's locked," Red stated. "I'm gonna have to pick it."

30 minutes later, Red yelled: "YES!", and Acclie heard the barred tunnel door creak open. "Come on Acclie!"

Acclie jumped up and grabbed the care-package crate. "Thank you, God."

Red slung her backpack over her shoulder and they climbed the ladder up and out of the pit. Red pushed up against the hidden door at the top of the ladder, revealing a starry night sky. Red pulled herself out of the hole. She turned around and helped Acclie out after she was stable. "Leave the crate down there unless someone else needs it! We did..." Red said.

Acclie placed the crate back down in the pit. She stared into the pit for a minute before Red closed it back up. The tunnel was underground, and the pit was covered by a 5 or 6 layers of Styrofoam that fit into the pit's hole. The Styrofoam had covers of grass and leaves to conceal it. Acclie couldn't even tell anything was there as Red stepped back.

Red looked into Acclie's eyes. "You'll be safe right?"

Acclie started crying a fell into Red's arms. "Yeah," she sobbed. "It's you I'm worried about." Acclie looked up into Red's understanding green-brown eyes.

"Don't be. Get out of here. We're in..." Red looked around carefully, taking in all of her surroundings. "San Diego. If you're heading back to Sacramento, hitch a ride. It's about 8 hours. Go on now. Be safe."

Acclie wiped away her tears. "Thanks for everything Red... I hope someday I can repay the favor." Acclie squeezed Red one last time.

"You'll see me again somewhere, someday. Helping people is what I do. I would want someone to do the same for me. Don't cry, Acclie. You're safe now, go on." Red was crying too. She leaned down and kissed Acclie on the forehead. Red took off her sweatshirt. "Have this. You don't need to be drawing attention to yourself." Red dug around in her backpack and pulled out a pair of athletic shorts and a hair-tie. "Pull your hair back into a low ponytail, and tuck it underneath the hood. Put on these shorts and give me your hospital gown."

Acclie did as Red said, and they hugged for one final moment. Red pulled away. "I'll see you. Run now."

Red turned around and started running into the shadows of the trees. Acclie was alone. Alone in every sense. Acclie turned and ran the other way. She needed to find the Interstate that would lead back to Sacramento. Acclie ran through the city and finally saw the Interstate propped up above her. She needed to find an exit so she could climb up there. She saw one. Acclie ran to the little slope that led up to the Interstate. She started walking as she held her thumb up for a ride.

She was sure she was walking North.

Acclie's mind wandered off to think about Red. Where was Red going to go from here? Was she safe? The realization that Acclie would be dead if Red hadn't found her, hit her. But then again, maybe dying was better than the torture she had endured.....

Your thinking crazy again for shit's sake.

Of course Acclie wanted to live... Just not like this.

She would never be able to live the same again.

A honking semi made Acclie jump. She realized the driver had pulled over behind her. She stopped walking and waited until the driver pulled up next to her.

"Hey! Over here!" Acclie waved her arms around.

"Hop in!" The guy told her, and she did.

"Thanks," Acclie said after she had crawled into the passenger side.

"Yeah. Where to?" The guy had a Okie twang to him.

"Sacramento, please." Acclie avoided making eye contact with him, in case he was a creep.

"You're in luck! I'm heading up there to Redding. I'll drop you off on the way!"

"Great." As the trucker started up the semi again, it brought back horrifying memories of how that semi slammed into her, nearly killing her.

Acclie shivered. She gazed out the window. In 8 1/2 ours, she would stroll back into her condo, eat more than she ever had before, and then sleep for a couple days.

The trucker turned up the radio. It was some George Strait song. Ugh, great. Acclie wanted to plug her ears, but didn't want to seem rude.

Acclie dazed into a sleep, dreaming about Red. She missed her already.