Hunted

Chapter Five

Elmwood, South Carolina

I didn't like driving.

The added stress of surviving a kidnapping attempt and hijacking said attackers car also didn't do much to supplement my mood on the subject. Not to mention driving the dang thing. It felt as if everything that could possibly hinder my escape was doomed to happen.

Case in point, the car. Generally, one would think that a police cruiser would be kept in relatively safe condition. It would have proper air conditioning, seat covers, and a working radio. Maybe even some snacks tucked in the middle console. Most importantly though, the car would have gas.

I looked briefly away from the road to eye the little red line of doom sinking rapidly to the empty side of the gauge.

To be fair it'd lasted well enough, hovering near empty for the majority of the ride. There had been about half a tank of gas left when I'd started off, but the back country roads of South Carolina were brutal to the little cruiser. There were hardly any turns and the hills that stemmed from the nearby Appalachian  Mountains siphoned up the majority of the gas before I could blink.

As the gas gauge clicked ever closer to death, I kept my eyes peeled for somewhere safe to pull off and traverse by foot.

It wouldn't be here though, that's for sure. The two-lane road toward Elmwood's city limits was rife with trees and vegetation. I also wasn't certain how far I'd have to walk to make it into the city, something that would leave me vulnerable to inspection due to my makeshift uniform. Fingers twitching on the steering wheel, I tried again to come up with a plan forward.

First things first, I needed to get rid of the stolen car. It had been a means to an end during my escape, but now it felt as if I was riding through the country side with a neon "Wanted" sign strapped to my back. Because nothing said criminal quite like a stolen cop car. A change of clothes would also be a necessity, maybe a shower too if I could afford it.

It was after that point that my plans came to a standstill.

I wasn't sure where to go from here. My immediate destination had tentatively been pinpointed as Elmwood, but once I got there, what would I do? I had no idea what had happened once I'd been taken— no clue if I was listed as a runaway fugitive or something worse. Worry nestled in my throat at the possibilities awaiting me. Before everything had fallen apart, there had been a murder charge hanging over my head and there was no certainty that if I turned myself back in that I wouldn't be immediately whisked away to prison.

Or worse, given over to the mysterious Academy who'd worked so hard to abduct me.

That brought about another concern. I needed to understand why. Why had they gone through so much trouble to break me out of holding, impersonate a police officer, and travel half way across the state? That was more than a simple kidnapping and while my mind jumped straight to sex trafficking, the effort my kidnapper went through didn't mesh with that modus operandus. It would have been better to take me from inside my house and leave no trace— letting my disappearance fade into the shadow of my mother's murder.

So why hadn't they? The best hypothesis I had currently was that they needed leverage. They needed a method to keep me from running, to make me listen, and dangling a fugitive label over my head was a sure fire way to do it.

My fingers clenched on the wheel, foot pressing down a bit too heavily on the acceleration at the thought. If they'd been successful in their abduction, I would have nowhere to run to but back into their arms.

While that problem might still apply now, at least I was able to run. I may still be hunted down by local law enforcement and the mysterious Academy, but I wasn't in their clutches yet. I had time to learn and adapt.