The Life of the Wife

Chapter twenty seven

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

DET. MORRIS

'Bend your knees, and roll if you need to when you land.' I whispered to George, who was going to jump first.
We waited long enough in the tree and had climbed to the end of a branch that twisted over the fence. Without hesitation he dropped his body from the branch and he hit the ground hard and fast. I looked around to make sure no one heard the thump and then readied myself for the jump. As I looked to the blurry ground covered in dirt and leaves I reassured myself that this was the only way out. I held my breath and leapt forward, the fall although short, felt long as the sensation of my lungs trying to escape hit my throat.
The landing was hard, and painful. My shins burned in agony as I tried to steady myself to stand.
'Something's wrong with my arm, I can't move it and the pain won't stop!' George's whisper screeched through my ears and I hushed him while looking over to him. His shoulder had popped out of place, and it looked visibly painful.
'I will fix it when we get somewhere safer, but first we need to move.' I placed his dislocated arm into his other and he held it to his chest, gritting his teeth.

Looking around I could see trees and nothing else, but George said he had some idea of where to go and lead the way as we ran through the forest, the fences of the cult slowly becoming less visible.
We stopped to catch our breaths on some large rocks and looked around, with my wheezing and the cold wind hitting my face it was hard to see anything at all, and everything was a blur. As George sat down I positioned myself and pulled at his arm, placing his shoulder back into place and quickly muffling his screams by shoving his shirt into his mouth.

'I can only see more trees!' I heaved through my short and sharp breaths.
'No, I'm pretty sure there is a road somewhere here, we just have to keep looking.' George assured, wiping his sweaty brow. 
'They would have found that were not in the commune by now, George, you need to be right, no guessing.'
'I know! Just trust me, keep going west.'
'West? We have been going south!'
'We have?'
'Ugh, yes.'
'Oh god, were lost, oh god, were gonna die!' George muttered and started to hyperventilate, dropping to the ground.
'We have to keep moving.' I sighed, picking him up and pushing his first few steps before jogging west.

Every tree looked the same and every step felt useless. My body felt like jelly and my lungs roared in screaming pain and I finally collapsed into the dirty leaves on the ground, bringing George with me.
'We need to keep moving.' George pulled his last bit of energy to speak.
'I'm so tired, we've been running so long.' I closed my eyes to catch my breath, heavily pushing air in and out.
'Stay awake! Detective? Wake up!' Georges hoarse voice faded as I passed into a heavy sleep I couldn't force away.

I awoke to my body stinging all over. When I opened my eyes the smooth stone from a cave shaded the light from intruding. I sat up to find myself by a small cliff in a small cave like hole amidst it.
'Hello?' My tired voice, echoing and bouncing off the walls of the cave.
'Don't make any loud noises.' George whispered from behind me.
'What happened?' I whispered back, crawling closer to him.
'They were looking for us, I heard them in the distance so I picked you up and ran. I didn't really look where I was going so I found myself by the cliff, so I found this and hid us here.'
'How long was I out?'
'You've been asleep a whole night, I've had a few hours, but mostly sat here listening.'
'You should sleep, I'll keep a look out, and ear out for them this time.'
'No, they're close. I've heard them above us twice already. I need to stay alert.'
'Then I do too.' I nestled in closer to George and listened to the wind and the sound of an ATV circle trees from above us.
'Where are you from?' I tried to distract us from the fear of possible death.
George gave me a strange look at first, but realised what I was doing.
'I'm from the same city as you, detective. I was taken from Colin Street in February. Aiden had me chained in his cellar for weeks before I was sent to the commune.'
'I know that street all too well. What was your choice of poison?'
'Cocaine that night, but usually it was prescription pain killers.' He chuckled.
'I guess the commune did one good thing, I'm drug free thanks to them!' He continued, giggling a little, with me joining in.
'Who are you looking forward to seeing when we're safe?' George asked as he grew more comfortable.
'I started to see someone exclusively before coming here. She's amazing, made me forget the whole world around me, it's like nothing existed when I was in her presence. Kind of silly, huh? Some one at my age falling in love like a teenager.' Georges eyes glazed over as I talked about Sasha and sadness overtook his face expression.
'Unfortunately I know all too well.' He sighed.
'You really love her?'
'Yes, I do. The worst is she is just brainwashed, she's not a bad person.'
I automatically grunt and think about the times I had seen her. First covered in a strangers blood, repeatedly stabbing, and second before my partner was murdered.
'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude.' I apologised to George after he looked offended by my grunt.
We laid our backs on the cool, smooth wall of the cave and linked arms listening for any more engine noises or voices.
Hopefully we could make it to the town, or find someone to help us before we were killed, but we didn't know where we were, or how long the cult members would look for us. for now we had to wait.