Page 13 of Scarlet Wars
I gritted my teeth and forced myself onward. I only had to make it to New Hampshire. But when the first signs of movement appeared in the distance, my heart nearly stopped.
Military. Stationed at the state border. Soldiers in full gear, guards in uniforms.
Crap.
They lined the main road like a barrier, the entire border locked down. There was no way to slip past them unnoticed. My feet faltered as I stopped short behind a thick tree, peeking out to study them.
My pulse raced, and a wave of panic surged. There had to be another way through. I couldn’t turn around, not after walking for hours. But slipping past this many soldiers felt impossible.
I hid myself deeper in the trees. The soldiers’ gaze scanned the road ahead, probably expecting nothing more than a stray animal or an empty vehicle. They weren’t expecting me. But it wouldn’t be long before they were. It wouldn’t be long before people would realize what I’d done, and every military checkpoint would have orders to capture or kill on sight.
My hands trembled as I pulled the map from my bag again. I traced the lines with my finger, searching for something that could help. A river. A patch of forest. Anyplace where they wouldn’t be watching so closely. Didn’t take me long before I spotted it: a stretch of woodland parallel to the road, which crossed the state border straight into New Hampshire.
It was risky. There was no telling if there’d be patrols out there, but it was my best shot. I wasn’t getting through this checkpoint alive.
I shoved the map back into my bag, while my heart was pounding like crazy as I glanced up at the soldiers one last time. They hadn’t noticed me.Yet. I moved as quietly as I could manage, and navigated through the underbrush, while branches scratched at my skin and snagged on my clothes.
The sound of my thrumming heart filled my ears, loud in the forest’s silence. Every now and then, I glanced back, half-expecting soldiers to burst through the trees behind me, but all I could hear was the rustle of leaves.
I was so thirsty. My mouth felt thick, my tongue sticking to the roof of it no matter how often I swallowed. There was nothing left to swallow.
The pain in my feet had turned into a dull, steady throb, the blisters now open and bleeding inside my shoes.
I kept pushing, my pace quickening as the sounds of the soldiers at the checkpoint grew distant, until I could see a faint clearing ahead, a gap in the trees where the land shifted slightly.
New Hampshire. I had made it.
I slowed my pace, the trees parting as I finally crossed the state border. Relief washed over me, and the weight of the last seventeen hours crashed down all at once.
My vision blurred, my body screamed for water and rest, but I couldn’t stop here. I had to keep going, to put more distance between myself and the border.
But right as I took a few more steps, my foot caught on a gnarled root hidden beneath the underbrush. I stumbled, my ankle twisting painfully as I fell to the ground, and a sharp cry escaped my lips.
The world tilted, and for a moment, all I could feel was the white-hot surge of agony radiating from my ankle.
I gritted my teeth and forced myself to stand back up. I needed to move, but the pain was overwhelming, and I struggled to push through it.
Right then, a voice shattered the fragile quiet.
"You there. Halt."
FOUR
EMMA
Three days prior.
“You there. Halt.”
My entire body froze as adrenaline shot through me.
I slowly turned, my heart pounding so hard it hurt. A man in military dress stood a few feet away, old and haggard, his uniform wrinkled as if he’d been at this post for far too long. His face was weathered, the lines around his mouth deep, but there was no malice in his eyes.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked, sounding gruff but not unkind.
For a moment, I couldn’t speak. Every lie I had prepared fled from my mind, leaving only the raw fear of being caught. But when I saw the way he looked at me—almost disinterested, like he didn’t really expect much from me—I realized, he had no idea who I was.
“I…” I cleared my throat, forcing the words out before I lost my nerve. “My sister. She’s giving birth. I need to get to her, in New Hampshire.”
