I have been in a cat and mouse game since I left the armory bunker. I know I wanted to spread my wings and prove to myself that I’m a capable woman like Charity, my sister, but I noticed I had someone or some people following me as soon as I snuck away in the middle of the night. There’s a group following me, but I am not as worried about them as I am the man that is playing a cat and mouse game with me. I know he is never far away, but he never approaches me. How do I know it is a man? It is just a feeling? Even though I am only seventeen, I knew the only way to smoke these people out was if we used someone as a decoy. That had to be me. I have been careful, and I kept in touch with Charity for three days, but I knew it was time to cut my lifeline to Charity and Brody off. I know I shouldn’t worry my sister and her fiancée, or Brody could be her husband by now. The guilt I feel is almost unbearable at times. Charity doesn’t deserve to worry about me. My thoughts are a jumble, and that is a luxury that I can’t afford right now. I know it’s time to find a place to hide and sleep. I would love a hot shower and a bed but that is also something else that can’t happen. I need to stay off the grid. I found a place to hide to get some sleep this afternoon, so I can travel without being detected in the dark of night. It’s an old feed silo right outside of town. The location isn’t the best since I have asthma, but it will have to do. I have my inhaler in case I have an asthma attack. It’s just a chance I will need to take even if it’s foolish. I walked into town to get water and a few things I needed to restock on and I also had to pick up a burner phone and then I found a library, so I could use their Wi-Fi to activate my phone.

I make my way back to the silo and I crawl into the empty musty place. I hope I covered my tracks, so no one can follow me. I sit on the floor of the silo, and I pull some peanut butter and crackers out of my backpack and my bottle of water. I eat the small meal slowly. I put the wrappers back in my pack and pull out my vitamins and take them. I also pull out my toothbrush and use the last of this bottle of water to brush my teeth. I’m sure to cover up where I spit my toothpaste out of my mouth with the remains of grain on the floor. I get up and walk over to the other side of the silo and sit down and put my backpack under my head, so I can get as comfortable as possible. I know I should be getting the precious sleep I need, but it’s hot, so I take my shirt off, and I’m left in a tank top. I lay back down and my mind wanders.

I miss Charity, but I know she is safer with Brody. I wonder if Charity and Brody are married by now. They were supposed to be married by the end of the week I left. I wanted to stay, but I knew I needed to use the confusion of everyone leaving the bunker to get away undetected. I hated the thought of missing Charity’s wedding or missing one day of her pregnancy, but this way, Brody and the Demented Revengers MC can concentrate on keeping Charity safe. The last week we were at the armory bunker together every time we were let outside I felt eyes on me. I mean I know the Demented Revengers MC, was watching us to keep us safe, but I felt an evil watching me, and it sent chills down my spine. I couldn’t shake the feeling. That and the fact I couldn’t take my eyes off Con, anytime he was close to me is the reason I put my plan in motion.

The community where I was raised had leaders that were crazy, my Pop, being the leader. I know Pop isn’t walking this earth anymore, but his legacy lives on by the other men in the community and then there is the matter of the Hell Keeperz MC. They wanted me when Pop traded Charity in my place. I just hope they’re following me and not still watching Charity. I know unless the community is put down completely that neither Charity or I will be safe, and neither will Charity and Brody’s child. The community lets no one escape unless it’s under their terms and they get a big payoff. They want Charity back under their thumbs but for some reason they want me more. I haven’t figured that part out yet. All Pop said was I was trainable, but I don’t think he was telling me the entire truth. I have asthma and even though, I have learned to live with it, it is a weakness. When Pop said trainable, he meant that I could give my husband children and teach the children to dedicate their lives to the community. My asthma made me less pleasing since I could give it to my children and the community only wanted strong healthy children. There was something more and I hope when I get where I’m going that I get the answers I’m looking for and form a more solid plan of how to cut the community off at the knees. I just need to stay one step ahead of the people following me and figure out who they are. I’m going to a home I never knew. It’s the place the community was located when I was conceived. I have been putting together memories I have of stories that were told when I was a small child and bits and piece of things that I overheard when I was a child and then when Charity was gone. The last week I was at the bunker when Charity and I would have time alone I would ask Charity about the things she remembered. Never giving too much away. I just played it off as flashes of memories and Charity would give me information. I was always asking questions as I grew up, so this came to no surprise to Charity I would be asking questions.

Then I formed my plan. Saltillo is a small community right on the edge of two counties in northeast Texas. It’s a small place with one gas station, post office, and an adult sex toy store. I googled the place and if you blink, you might miss the place except for XXX, yes, the real name of the of the adult store. Not very original but I guess it works to get the message out what it offers to its customers. It has taken me two weeks to get here. I have doubled back and went in circles but always catching glimpses of Hell Keeperz MC cuts or one of the people from the community. I rest during the day and walk at night. I only go into stores when it’s necessary, and I stay off the grid. I cover my tracks, and I have taken these douchebags in circles. The only person I have seen that I know for sure is my Ma. That shook me to my core and I hid. I don’t know why I let her scare me so much, maybe because she married one daughter off for a price, she traded another one off to a motorcycle club to do with as they pleased, and then there is me who she kept feeding drugs to make me have asthma attacks, and she was ready to marry me off for a price. I know my Pop had his hand in it, but I cannot as a woman, even think of not protecting your children. I would die for Charity’s child, so I can’t imagine if it was my own. I just don’t understand it and, I don’t know how she could be a part of it. It’s like a haze lifts in my head and I get the feeling that my Ma had more of a hand in it than any of us has thought. My Ma isn’t a follower except for my Pop, so who is she following now? Or are they following her? I know a lot of the men are dead now, is my Ma the newest threat? I rub my eyes to try to focus on the questions I need answered, but I know I need my sleep. I can’t let myself fall prey to this group again. I can’t keep from yawning. I’m still so very hot, but I’m fighting my sleep to try and figure a few things out in my head. My eyes close and I start to drift but then the image of Con, slips into my head. I will not let that biker consume my thoughts and then my tired body wins and that is the last thought I have before I fade to sleep.