The Escape

Chapter 1

This is my first story. I have never written before, but thought WTH, why not give it a try.

Here goes. Let me know what you think.

Chapter 1

She knew what she had to do. She had to escape. Escape the pain, the humiliation, and the bruises. She had to escape the abuse she received at the hand of the person who was supposed to love her and cherish her through thick and thin, in sickness and in health; her own husband. Amanda had come to that realization after waking up on the bedroom floor after yet another beating that left her unconscious. At least she was asleep through most of the beating, but the pain coming later would be worse. Her husband, James had come home from work and she was not quick enough to meet him at the door as she was expected. She knew the punishment she would be receiving, and made her way to the bedroom where her punishments usually took place. One punch and she fell and struck her head on the corner of the dresser, and was out cold. But the bruises on her arms, legs, stomach, and chest meant it didn't stop at one punch. James was no where to be found, so she could only assume he was either in his study downing a few beers or at the bar. Amanda quietly made her way to the study, but found it empty. The garage was empty as well which meant he was not home. She ran up the stairs as fast as her bruised body could take her and threw what she could in a small bag that would not slow her down if she needed to make a run for it. A couple changes of clothes, toothbrush, toothpaste, the disposable cell phone that she secretly bought on her last grocery run, and the stash of money she had been saving for the past two years, it wasn't much but it should be enough to get her far enough away from here. Fifteen minutes after waking up, she was running out the back door. She decided to stay out of direct view avoid the main streets in case James was on his way home to continue the beating since she had slept through most of it. She thought she was getting a nice quiet country home when they had bought their home, but in reality it was so no one was around to hear her screams. Now she just had to think of a plan to get out of this town. She had no car, no friends, and no family she could turn to. He would find her at the homeless shelter, and had too many friends at the police station. Her only choice right now was to try to get a bus ticket to freedom. She didn't care where she went, just had to get away.

She finally came to the bus station and saw that the next bus leaving would be to Cheyenne, Wyoming. That would be a change of scenery from upstate New York. The best part is that she had enough money for the a ticket, and the bus was leaving in 20 minutes. She tried to stay hidden in the shadows to avoid being recognized.  James had friends everywhere watching and reporting back to him of everything she did.

At just after 8:00 P.M the bus pulled out of the station.  She was on her way to her new life.

She was awoken when the bus stopped for the first time.    She looked out the window and saw they we at a little diner / convenience store.  She decided to grab a snack.  She was still too nervous to eat much.

"Where are we?"  she asked the bus driver as she got off the bus.

"Buffalo. "  The burley driver replied.

 "How long before we get back on the road?" She asked. 

"About 30 minutes ma'am.  You are welcome to stay on the bus if you would like."  He replied while staring at the bruises on her face. 

"I'm going to grab a couple things, but will be right back." She replied.   She kept her head down, but was vigilant of her surroundings.

After a stop at the bathroom and buying a water, and some snacks she made my way back to the bus. She didn't have any makeup to cover the bruises since she wasn't allowed to wear any , so they were on display for all to see.  She saw the looks of pity that others gave her, but thankfully no one asked her about them. She just wanted to get back on the bus and hide until she made it to Cheyenne.

The next stop was just after 3:00 AM in Cleveland.   They had to change buses, so this would be almost an hour wait before they were headed off again.

"At least I'm out of New York." She thought to herself. 

" I hope you make it to where you are headed safely." They bus driver told her as she went to the next bus.

"Thank you" she replied with misty eyes. She was grateful that he didn't say anything else.

There was a few more quick stops before changing buses again the next morning in Chicago. She started to relax a little the farther they got from New York. 

 Finally, at 1:30 PM two days after her journey began, she stepped off the bus in her new home. She had counted the money at the last stop and only had about $500 left.

"Now I just had to try to find a place to stay, and a job." She said under her breath. 

"What was that?" she heard a voice behind her say