Antedate | Bucky Barnes

Chapter Thirteen

I close my bag and sigh. It's been four long months here. Four months of faking idiocy, building false trust, and meticulously planning. Sarah and Maria have been going about their usual business, I've been taking care of our escape route. Today is finally the day, everything aligns perfectly. And thankfully, it shouldn't be nearly as torturing as my last escape. This time I have a solid plan.

I look around the tiny, cramped room one last time and mentally prepare myself, because after all, no plan will ever be perfect. In about five minutes, Tom should be leaving and then we should have about a two minute window before someone else arrives. I've timed it before, time and time again. Every time Tom leaves, someone else shows up two minutes later to watch over us. Usually, it's one of Tom's friends that comes over.

Listening carefully, I hear the familiar sound of Sarah and Maria's voices bid Tom farewell. He says goodbye and I grab my bag from the bed. I hurriedly grab Sarah and Maria's bags as well, not wanting to waste any time at all. I wait for the front door to shut, the heavy oak doors always make a distinct sound. I feel my palms start to sweat from the adrenaline and anxiety but ignore it for the time being. 

The door closes and I wait five seconds before I go out to meet Sarah and Maria. I hand each of them their bags and they go about collecting what else they need to. While they do that, I go to Tom's room and open the drawer of his nightstand. Just as I expected, there's a very large sum of money there. I grab the paper with shaky hands and shove it into my bag, not caring about organization. I close my bag once more and sling it over my shoulder.

I meet back up with Sarah and Maria in the living room, each of us nodding to one another with wide eyes. I take the lead and head to the back door and fling it open, we don't have much time to spare. We rush out and head to the right, running through multiple yards and thankfully nobody was outside.

The three of us run further into the city until we're certain we've made it far enough. It will be easy for us to disappear in this city, there are thousands of people. I breathe heavily as I find an empty bench to put my bag on. I open it and discreetly hand the girls money. They each have their own plans of what they want to do, though I offered to stick with them if that's what they wanted. 

Sarah plans on finding her family again, she hopes that they've been searching for her even though she's been missing for a year. Maria plans to find work in the city, she said since she's here illegally she doesn't feel comfortable going to the authorities in an attempt to go back home. Plus, she said there was nothing back in Colombia for her to return to. I asked Maria if she wanted to stick together, since we're both in the same boat, but she declined. She said she wanted to do this on her own.

After I hand the girls their share of the money and put my bag back on my shoulder, I give them both a curt nod. 

"I hope you two find what you are looking for." I say, keeping my voice low. 

"You as well, my friend." Maria says and gives Sarah one last look before she turns away, blending in with the crowd of people on the sidewalk. Sarah looks back at me, and I can see the fear in her eyes. I put my hand on her shoulder.

"Do you want me to walk you there?" I ask. Sarah nods and quickly wipes her eyes. She must be terrified. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't just a little nervous of the road that lies ahead, even if I do have a plan. Sarah and I start walking to the police station. She's familiar with the area because she grew up here. She told me her family lives about an hour away, but it's too far to walk and she's scared Tom will find her if she tries to make the journey alone. 

As we walk down the busy sidewalk, I remember all the late night talks I had with Sarah and Maria. They both planned as well, and they both were intensely terrified of trying to escape. But, they wanted their freedom badly, so they took the risk. Luckily, it seems like it's going to pay off. It had taken a little bit of convincing, but they were both tired of being prisoners, locked away in some wealthy man's home.