Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 84752 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84752 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Besides, everyone was exhausted so walking through the night wouldn’t have been feasible.
She’d listened to Millie talk about up north, and for the first time since all of this had happened, Sasha was starting to feel optimistic.
She listened to Millie’s story, how the camp was basically nothing more than a bunch of dictators using women as vessels, building up their own army to try and control the territory. That wasn’t unexpected, given the fact that the world and civilization had collapsed, so it was every man for himself. But to think about all those women in there, prisoners, helpless, unable to fight back because they had no power, was heartbreaking.
And as much as Sasha wanted to go and help, as much as she wanted to storm into that camp and break all those assholes’ legs, realistically, they couldn’t. There was no chance for them, not even any hope that they could get across the bridge before they were shot down. And when she looked over at Lucy, the very thought of her little sister being subjected to that had her stomach twisting and disgust filling her.
She moved closer to Lucy and wrapped her arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer and staring at the flames. Millie continued talking about her life before she was captured, how she had been a veterinarian’s assistant, how she loved her job, and how she was dating a guy who worked at a bar down the street.
It was almost mesmerizing listening to her talk about how he’d treated her well, how they’d had plans to get married and have kids. But then he’d gotten sick, passed away from the virus, and she’d stayed at her house as long as she could, until her supplies were gone and she was forced to leave.
And she lasted a while, longer than she thought she would before the men found her, before they promised her safety and security ... before they took her and raped her and abused her.
Sasha didn’t want Lucy hearing this, but then again, she did. She wanted her to know the horrors out there, the ugly world they lived in.
As the time ticked by, she could feel Lucy nodding off beside her, her little head bumping into Sasha’s shoulder before she righted it. Then the whole action repeating.
“Come on, Lucy,” Sasha said softly and helped her up, taking her over to the tent and tucking her in just like their mom used to do. And Lucy was out before she even left the tent.
She stood there for a moment just staring at her, thankful that she was here and safe and healthy, and telling herself that they would make sure to get to that safe place up north—if not for anything else, for Lucy.
She left the tent and zipped it up, then walked back to the fire. Millie was still talking about life before all of this, and Tree Man was listening intently.
“I’m going to clean up a bit,” she said softly and walked over to the little creek they’d set up camp beside. They’d been lucky in the respect there’d been water close to them during this trip.
Or maybe it hadn’t been luck. Maybe Malachi had planned this, to stay close to running water. Either way, Sasha was thankful.
The creek was within view of the tent, which Sasha was also thankful for. Although they’d been traveling with Tree Man for a while now, and she trusted him to a point, she didn’t trust anyone but Malachi with Lucy’s safety.
She stepped over the little rocks that lined the creek until she was on the other side and now facing the tent. Sasha could see Tree Man and Millie still talking, Millie’s hands moving up and down as she spoke about all the things she missed; ice cream, hot, fresh pizza, and those little circular pieces of ice in her drink when she went to restaurants.
Sasha focused on the water and scooped some up, splashing her face and running her hands over her neck and nape. It felt good, cleansing. She’d grabbed a small rag before she left the tent and dipped it into the water to clean under her arms, her upper chest, her breast, and her stomach. She worked around her clothes instead of just taking them off, still so shy of her nudity.
And wasn’t that a little bit silly? Wasn’t it kind of crazy that she was shy about her nudity when her main focus these days should just be about surviving?
She looked down at the rag, well, the scrap piece of material she’d torn off a shirt that had a few too many holes in it. She soaked it in the water and wrung it out, then placed on the back of her neck, just sitting on a rock and closing her eyes, letting the coolness move through her body.