Escape of Western (North Carolina I)

Chapter 5

I could hear it and locate it perfectly. It was that of a woman, about a hundred feet deep into the woods on our left. I left the others behind in my dead sprint, I even dropped the extra bags I was carrying in order to go faster. I had only made it to the woodline when I heard another scream, same woman but only deeper in. I just ran in, not caring about the thorns, holes, or tree branches. I felt the need to save her. I could hear some of the others behind me running through the woods and calling my name. From the voice I could tell it was only Ky, Alexis, Cameron, and Justus. At least I had back up, even if it was only a little bit.

There was another scream, and it was only ten feet ahead of me this time. I could not see the woman, but she seemed to be in dire trouble. I had to slow at a wall of brambles and it allowed the others to catch up with me. We found a small gap in the brambles allowing us to crawl through and keep tracking the woman. However, when we got through the bramble wall we found something we didn't expect: a whole little community deep within the woods. We had barely gotten up when we were put at bow point.

We stood there like deer in headlights wondering what to do. It was only after they took all our weapons that they lowered their bows. Only once the leader came out did I gain hope. It was a lifelong friend of mine that I knew since I was five; Alex. He looked me dead in the eyes and demanded our guns be given back. We went on a hike, Alex and I, talked about his mom, my dad, even what was going on in the area.

"So what's going on here Alex, and why did I constantly hear a woman screaming? You know if I hear someone in danger I run towards it right? I mean it's great to see you, but everything just seemed weird around here."

"When the first wave had hit the house Brandon and I were sitting there playing BattleFront on the Xbox downstairs. I saw them coming and we ran upstairs and grabbed two of the AK-47s I had upstairs and held down the house. We started moving towards town when we were safe. We had met up with a local group that was helping with an evac of Hendersonville. During the evac the last three Hummers ended up breaking down and we were told that they would come back for us in five days. That was three weeks ago. Now we sit here and lure in predators with the sound of a screaming woman to get food."

"Don't you think there could be something easier, you hunted for your family back home. So why all the baiting?"

We can't risk leaving this area for too long incase they do return. They commanded us to stay here and wait. Now tell me this, what are you doing around here to hear the scream?"

"Long story short, I'm leading a group that was the last evac of Hendersonville about two weeks ago. We are moving out to Camp Lejeune in Wilmington and we were just passing through the area. Y'all can join us if you'd like, we could use the extra men. We have enough food, water, gear, guns, and ammo for all of you."

"That is much appreciated Wesley, but I think many would like to stay and wait for a real evac. We will take a democratic vote when we get back to camp. So, I noticed how you and that girl, Kyre was her name, were standing close together. Do you have a girlfriend now and we didn't know?"

"Alex I've had a girlfriend for the past four years. Well two actually, Ky is the second one. The first was called Sierra and she died while we were at Flat Rock in a mission for supplies. it was half a year before I met Ky and I thought the time was right for a new girlfriend. So there's the story. And not to mention, you never said what happened with Brandon or Ruthie during the evac."

"They were in the front of the convoy so nothing happened to them. I hope that they made it there fine. We better be getting back to camp now, it's getting late. Y'all can stay the night if you wish."

"We'd love to Alex, just let me call the rest of my squad in. They're carrying meats and berries we picked for soups to last us a couple days."

I called the remainder of my squad into the woods and returned to the camp to find Ky and a girl from the fighting. I thought that I could recognize the girl from somewhere. It was only when Ky pinned her and she looked up I was shocked. It was Sarah, Alex's sister.