Michelle, and all of them collapsed together
again.
“Shhh. Shhh! ”
Ebony told them. “The what-ifs will keep us all up all night if we let them. Tonight
we’ve got to rest and save our energy. Then we’ll figure out what to do. All
right?”
The women
all quieted at that, and nodded silently. To Ebony’s relief, they began to
settle down together and prepare to rest. And then, later on tonight, once
both the men and the women were asleep, she’d get away on her own.
If she
was lucky, she could make it back to the city and send help this way for the
other women. She could find Adrienne and her husband, Captain Dezec Zeta, and
they would help her. Dezec could enlist others to come and rescue them all. He
was smart. He would find a way and he would find them. Adrienne would
certainly encourage him to go and free a group of women captives--women that
she knew herself.
And if
she wasn’t so lucky--well, she could only hope that Fallon and his rebel men
weren’t as horrible as the stories said they were. She replaced the broken
seashell within her ragged clothes once more, lay her head down, and tried to
sleep.
***
Sleeping
came easy. Waking up was a different matter altogether.
It was
the cacophony of snoring from the men that finally awakened Ebony. She wasn’t
sure who was the loudest, or if they were having a pissing contest in their
subconscious, or what, but luckily the dregs of her exhaustion had worn off
enough that she could rouse herself from slumber.
On one
side of her, Damon lay on his back. To her right lay Fallon. Both seemed
deeply asleep, if the roaring and snuffling out of their mouths was any
indication.
Ebony
popped her head up. A quick glance around the camp by the faint light of the
three moons showed her that everyone else was asleep, too, and no guard had
been set.
She
almost laughed. The men must have assumed they would not be discovered out
here if they were all willing to sleep at the same time. And, even better,
they must have been equally confident that the women could not get loose--or
would be too frightened to run if they did get loose--or perhaps they thought
the women did not have any desire to escape in the first place.
That was
good enough for her. Feeling confident, Ebony carefully stood up--not easy
with one’s wrists tied together--and tiptoed over to the far end of the
shelter, on the other side of the sleeping women.
She
slipped the seashell out of her underwear and went to work on the ropes that
bound her. It took her a while, but she kept patiently whittling with the thin
piece of shell--and finally she tore through the rope enough that she could
snap the binding with brute strength.
Finally
free at last, she rubbed the raw skin circling her wrists. She was tempted to
go back and just smother Fallon and Damon in their sleep, but she was pretty
sure they’d wake up and snuff her lights out. Ebony crept surreptitiously from
the shelter and stepped into the darkness of the woods.
She
hadn’t made it twenty feet from the camp when she heard a snap of underbrush.
Whipping
her head toward the sound, her eyes widened and her mouth gaped to see Fallon
standing in the dark, stalking her with a furious expression on his face.
The urge
to shriek strangled in her throat when he launched himself at her. Ebony tried
to leap backward, but she stumbled over a fallen log and landed on the ground
flat on her back.
Instantly
Fallon pinned her to the ground with the full weight of his body.
Her lungs
whooshed like a bellows as he crushed her into the loam with his weight. She
tried to speak, but could only gasp for breath.
At last
he grunted, and rolled a little off to one side to keep from squashing her like
a bug. But he remained on top of her enough to keep her pinned down, and his
anger was evident in every furious breath as he tried to hold
again.
“Shhh. Shhh! ”
Ebony told them. “The what-ifs will keep us all up all night if we let them. Tonight
we’ve got to rest and save our energy. Then we’ll figure out what to do. All
right?”
The women
all quieted at that, and nodded silently. To Ebony’s relief, they began to
settle down together and prepare to rest. And then, later on tonight, once
both the men and the women were asleep, she’d get away on her own.
If she
was lucky, she could make it back to the city and send help this way for the
other women. She could find Adrienne and her husband, Captain Dezec Zeta, and
they would help her. Dezec could enlist others to come and rescue them all. He
was smart. He would find a way and he would find them. Adrienne would
certainly encourage him to go and free a group of women captives--women that
she knew herself.
And if
she wasn’t so lucky--well, she could only hope that Fallon and his rebel men
weren’t as horrible as the stories said they were. She replaced the broken
seashell within her ragged clothes once more, lay her head down, and tried to
sleep.
***
Sleeping
came easy. Waking up was a different matter altogether.
It was
the cacophony of snoring from the men that finally awakened Ebony. She wasn’t
sure who was the loudest, or if they were having a pissing contest in their
subconscious, or what, but luckily the dregs of her exhaustion had worn off
enough that she could rouse herself from slumber.
On one
side of her, Damon lay on his back. To her right lay Fallon. Both seemed
deeply asleep, if the roaring and snuffling out of their mouths was any
indication.
Ebony
popped her head up. A quick glance around the camp by the faint light of the
three moons showed her that everyone else was asleep, too, and no guard had
been set.
She
almost laughed. The men must have assumed they would not be discovered out
here if they were all willing to sleep at the same time. And, even better,
they must have been equally confident that the women could not get loose--or
would be too frightened to run if they did get loose--or perhaps they thought
the women did not have any desire to escape in the first place.
That was
good enough for her. Feeling confident, Ebony carefully stood up--not easy
with one’s wrists tied together--and tiptoed over to the far end of the
shelter, on the other side of the sleeping women.
She
slipped the seashell out of her underwear and went to work on the ropes that
bound her. It took her a while, but she kept patiently whittling with the thin
piece of shell--and finally she tore through the rope enough that she could
snap the binding with brute strength.
Finally
free at last, she rubbed the raw skin circling her wrists. She was tempted to
go back and just smother Fallon and Damon in their sleep, but she was pretty
sure they’d wake up and snuff her lights out. Ebony crept surreptitiously from
the shelter and stepped into the darkness of the woods.
She
hadn’t made it twenty feet from the camp when she heard a snap of underbrush.
Whipping
her head toward the sound, her eyes widened and her mouth gaped to see Fallon
standing in the dark, stalking her with a furious expression on his face.
The urge
to shriek strangled in her throat when he launched himself at her. Ebony tried
to leap backward, but she stumbled over a fallen log and landed on the ground
flat on her back.
Instantly
Fallon pinned her to the ground with the full weight of his body.
Her lungs
whooshed like a bellows as he crushed her into the loam with his weight. She
tried to speak, but could only gasp for breath.
At last
he grunted, and rolled a little off to one side to keep from squashing her like
a bug. But he remained on top of her enough to keep her pinned down, and his
anger was evident in every furious breath as he tried to hold
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