No Place for Females

Chapter Sixteen

Ben nearly fell off the bench. "It's her! She's alive."

Carter's eyes widened. LaFrenier looked surprised. Ben realized neither one of them had really believed that Lena was alive.

"Baby, where are you?"

"Oh my God, I can't tell you how happy I am to hear your voice. Everything is just--"

"Lena, please. We don't have much time. Tell me where you are, so I can send guys out to get you."

"Aren't they already on their way?"

"What? Wait, what do you mean?"

"I got a call from the translator. He said they were on the way."

"You mean Maria?"

"No. It was definitely a guy."

What was she talking about? Maybe she was delirious.

"We haven't sent anyone out yet. We don't know where you are. We didn't even know you were alive."

"But the translator said Maria told you where I am. She talked to the kids I'm with. In any case, I don't know where I am."

"Just stay where you are. And stay on the line--we'll get someone else to talk to the kids."

"I can't. Some other man came here and tried to kill us. I—I had to shoot him, Ben. I had to kill him."

"You did the right thing. You protected yourself. That's the right thing to do."

"My phone is about to die. I don't have much juice left. And I'm injured."

"How bad is it?"

"I was hit by a bullet. It's a superficial wound, but I think it's infected. I feel dizzy and sick. I don't have any medical supplies. I don't know what to do."

She sounded weak. Tired. As if she might give up.

"Lena, you're strong. You're so strong. Don't give up now. You got this. Let's just take this one step at a time. Is there any way you can get away from that place?"

"I have this truck—from the guy I killed. The little girl is badly hurt, too. But I don't know how to find the base."

"Can you work out which way is west?" Regardless of where she was at, she could be east of the base due to the location of the original house she was at.

"No. I don't have my compass."

Crap. He concentrated for a moment, trying to figure out how to help her get back to the base.

"Can she see the mountains?" said Carter.

Ben glanced up at her.

"If she can see the mountains, that's east. She just needs to try and head in the opposite direction. If she can do that, she'll be headed towards us. All roads east head towards the base."

Ben nodded and mouthed thank you. Carter's smile was slight, but she seemed pleased. Ben knew she had taken a huge risk in bringing him the phone and the number to Andrews's phone. She told him she'd intended to ask LaFrenier to come to the tent, but had changed her mind at the last minute. She'd copied the number to the phone instead.

"Too many ears in there. We need to be quick about this," she'd said as she handed the phone to Ben.

He just hoped it would all pay off.

"Lena, look for the mountains, and head in the opposite direction. Stay on the roads, and they should lead you to the base. I'll send people out there to look for you."