June 11th, 50XX219Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX0MDXvrHCT
Friday
"Breath, Julian. God, please if you are out there. I know I've never believed in you before!"
She thrusts hard into this chest and breathing into his mouth. He coughs hard, rolling over and expelling water.
"Julian?!"
He looks up to see Franny. "You're okay!" She cries, throwing her arms around him and he hugs her back.
"Baby, I was worried you would drown!"
"I was worried you would drown! Yes, I was half-asleep, but the water woke me up fast and you slammed into a rock, hitting your head.
It's still lightly bleeding your head, but I think it will be okay. Our situation on the other hand is not okay... I managed to drag myself and you out a river and we have no supplies really, your phone is broken from water log and I don't know where the girls are.
What happened, Julian?"
"Uh... Sadie had your gun. Hannah knew you we're a Cop. She was going to kill you, no doubt Kyle knew to and his the one who put her up to it.
I never knew her for being a killer."
"Neither did I. Where are our girls?"
"I don't know."
"Julian, I can't do this anymore. I can only take so much pain. If Kate and Sadie are dead, I-I won't know where to go from here."
"I guess there is no easy answer. But do you think you could try to keep going, baby? If not for yourself, for me? We'll find out, ask if anyone has seen them."
"And if we do and no one has? Where do we go?"
"I don't know."
"Julian, just hug me. I'm cold."
"Sure, baby. Let's rest till we feel warmer. I'll try and make a fire, will rub some sticks together, try and scrape a rock.
It's dark out, we can't wander around the bush. We'll try and come up with something in the morning."
"Ok."
---
Julian and Franny wander through the bush once it's daylight. They're clothes are still a tad damp, but nowhere near dripping.
They tried to head back to the place they all we're together, but it wasn't possible cause of how far, they ended up swept by the river so they sadly walked along a rocky path.
There is a mountain shop supposedly before the lookout, Sadie was heading to meet her girlfriend at and they we're going to craft a raft as the river supposedly passes the border and isn't blocked off by a wall.
Probably means it's risky though and almost a guaranteed death trap so the government doesn't monitor it or if they do...
Well, she doesn't want to think about it. They could head up there and wait a day or two and see if Sadie shows with Kate in tow.
Walking up the mountain shop, entering, the owner looks straight at them.
"Are you folks okay?! Your clothes are torn and look damp."
"We fell in a river from a cave." Franny tells him.
"Stay right there, both of you. I'll get you some dry clothes, on the house and you can have a feed too in my diner."
His nice enough to help our couple out, they change into dry clothes and he guides them to the diner, asking what led to them falling into a river.
They keep the topic fairly locked down, but mention there was an accident.
"Hey, Josie. We got two folk here who had a hiking accident. Can you serve them up some breakfast? On the house." The owner asks a lady who's standing at a booth table, filling a young female teenagers mug full of coffee.
"Sure, Daryl. I'll be right with you folk. Take a look at the menu and let me know what you want."
Julian and Franny focus on the girl there.
Torn clothing, dirty shoes, grey rustic looking backpack with some drawings done by pen on the floor beside her, she is wearing black framed glasses and on the table is a headscarf folded up.
She's freely showing her rainbow hair.
"Kat Anderson, 17 years old?" Franny finds the words.
"Yes?" The young female responds. "It's actually Katrina, but Kat is fine."
"I'm Franny and this is Julian. We we're with Sadie Bridge. She was on her way up here."
"Where is my girlfriend?!" Kat responds, looking like she is about to break down on the verge of tears. "Is she dead?! Please don't tell me she's dead!"
They take a seat at Kat's booth and explain what happened and they don't know where Sadie and even Kate is.
"She said she had a younger girl hanging around her, said she was the most adorable thing in this world." Kat responds. "So, they're dead?"
"We're don't know the answer to that." Julian tells her.
"This world can be full of the most evilest people. What am I going to do now? Because I left my strict conservative parents for her.
I can't go home, they will send me to conversion therapy and kick me out of their house and I can't go back, go through that... I can't try and make it across the border alone, I need someone with me!
I could just hang around till I turn 18, I turn 18 soon, but I still wouldn't have a place to call home and I have little money left!"
"If Sadie and Kate don't show in a few days, Kat. Do you want to just cross the border with us? I know it's not the same, but..."
"You want to cross the border, Fran?" Julian says shocked. "Why not." She shrugs.
"Nothing left to lose and we see what is on the other side or... We die trying I guess."
"I'm okay with that." Kat responds, looking very heartbroken. Her hand wraps around half a golden heart around her neck.
Sadie had half a golden heart necklace she wore.
"Hey, folks." Says the owner and the women, who is likely his wife.
"We can drive you up to the lookout and give you supplies and canoes."
"Thank you." Franny tells them. "But I have to ask, why help?"
"Why not." He smiles. "We'll take you folk up there in a bit. For the moment, eat up."
Our two, plus Kat catch a lift up there from the owners, set up camp and wait a few days. There is no sign of Sadie and Kate.
"It's been two days, Kat. They're not coming." Julian tells her, hand on his shoulder.
"Okay. Let's escape then and leave our old lives behind and hopefully this is the start of a new chapter in a new book."
They we're given a double person canoe and a single person canoe.
Gearing up, Franny and Julian take the two person one and Kat takes the single. They push off and begin to go along the river and see a hole in the wall up ahead of them, seemingly unsecured. The sun is strong and none of them can see what is on the other side as they head into the sun that blinds them.
This is it.
219Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡie83IJ9kbP
