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"I'm coming back for you," I promise, using his facial recognition to unlock his phone to tap out a note to him in case he wakes up. Please, God, let him wake up.
I lay the phone on his chest, press a kiss to his scruffy jaw, and scurry out. By the time my feet hit the ground, I'm running. I race as fast as I can down the overgrown driveway and out onto the narrow trail.
In the light of day, it's easy to see what we couldn't last night. This isn't a road at all but a logging trail of some sort. One that clearly hasn't been used in a long time.
My lungs and my legs burn as I jog—stumble, really—down the trail, following our footprints from last night. I have to stop a few times to rest, but I make it back to the car in twenty-five minutes.
If anyone has been there, I can't tell. I quickly start it to charge my phone as much as possible while I search for paper and a pen to write a note. I find an old envelope in the glove compartment and a pen in the trunk.
I leave enough detail for anyone who finds the car to understand the urgency of the situation and where to find Atlas. I also leave my phone number and Jordan's number. If they aren't looking for us by now, hopefully they will be soon.
With my note written and my phone charged enough to allow me to call out when I get somewhere with reception, I lock up and head out, running again.
Chapter Eleven
Gabbi
The walk out takes far longer than the drive in. I follow the same path, sticking to the middle of the road to avoid anything in the woods. Branches snap and pop in the woods. Brush and leaves rustle.
I ignore them, chanting to myself that it's just normal forest sounds. I'm not entirely sure I believe it, but it makes me feel better. I spend the walk alternatively crying and praying, terrified that I made the wrong decision leaving him back there alone. Wracked with guilt that he's in this situation because of me.
I should have backtracked instead of continuing on. That's what my gut said to do, but I didn't listen. I decided I wanted to be the kind of person who takes risks…and this is where it led.
To the man I love unconscious in an abandoned cabin in a forest somewhere in Texas. Maybe Jordan and Roman were right to hover for so long. Being independent and doing things my way isn't going so well.
I just want Atlas to be okay. That's all that matters to me.
It takes two hours to reach the fork in the road. I stop to catch my breath and take a sip of the bottle of water I grabbed from the car. I try my phone but get the same No Service bar as before.
Once I shove it back into my pocket, I start retracing our route down the road, stumbling along with my phone in hand to keep an eye on the reception bar. Half an hour into the walk, determination turns to worry as my phone still refuses to pick up a signal.
How long did my mind drift before I noticed the Wi-Fi in the car was gone? I don't know. And I don't know how long our cells were out of range, either. I silenced mine when Jordan wouldn't quit calling me. It never left my pocket the whole trip.
I keep going, refusing to give up. I'm so focused on the phone, it takes longer than it should for the change in ambiance to register. The sounds of the forest still sound ominous around me, but there's another sound too. Like the distant hum of a motor.
I stop in the middle of the road, unsure if I'm only hearing what I want to hear or if I actually hear it. As the sound grows louder, so does my confidence. There's a car close by, and it's getting closer.
I plant myself in the middle of the road, refusing to allow it to pass. One way or another, I have to stop it. Atlas is counting on me stopping it.
The truck comes into view down the road, quickly closing the distance between us. It's moving fast, eating up the half a mile or so between us at a rapid pace. I start waving my arms over my head and jumping up and down like a crazy person.
The truck doesn't slow.
It's heading right toward me at a high rate of speed.
I close my eyes and pray.
Chapter Twelve
Atlas
Pain rattles me away, plucking me from sleep and body slamming me into reality. I can't even tell where the fuck it hurts worse. My head feels as if it's going to split open. My forehead and right eye are on fire. My back throbs.
What the fuck happened?
I search my mind, trying to remember. For a long time, nothing comes. Nothing except Gabbi, anyway. She's emblazoned on my memory like a brand.
Gabbi.
