Day 969 – Midday

Annie

After bringing in the water, Bonnie and Annie sat in the front room of the house, waiting with bated breath for the radio to send them a message and find out who was on the other side.

Bonnie's eyes studied the filthy device fiercely as it sat on the coffee table between them. Annie assumed that the woman was taking in the controls so that she knew what to do when someone started talking.

The seven-year-old was trapped deep in thought, wondering what state Wyatt and the others were in. Had the Sanctum guards killed them? No, Vince and Wyatt had surrendered. They had knocked Becca unconscious but if they were planning to kill her Annie was sure they would have done it while she was around.

Bonnie had helped Annie wash the blood from her arm, not judging her scars or even looking twice at them after initially spotting them. Annie was thankful that Bonnie understood her need to hide them and the shame that she went through if anyone saw them. She knew that Becca and Wyatt didn't want to judge but she also recognised that they couldn't help it.

Bonnie ran a hand through her straw-like red hair and picked up the radio. "Here to help." she muttered, reading the mud-stained note taped to the back of the device in her thick, southern accent. The lettering was smudged by rainwater, causing the ink to flood and create faded patterns on the paper. "Hopefully they ain't lyin'." The woman got to her feet and placed the radio back on the coffee table. "I've got some food if you're hungry. You want some?"

Annie nodded. "I'll have anything."

"All right." The woman headed into the kitchen of the house to retrieve a backpack filled with her food. As she disappeared Annie heard a high-pitched whine that started getting lower and lower. She could not work out where it was coming from and jumped back when the radio emitted a popping noise. "Bonnie!" she called. "The radio is going off!"

The woman dropped what she was doing and ran into the front room, grabbing the walkie talkie and holding it aloft. She did not speak, waiting for the person on the other end to get to a safe position and talk first.

"H-Hello?" Came a voice on the other end – male, generic and indistinguishable as well as slightly panicked. "Anybody home?"

Bonnie pressed a button on the two-way radio and spoke into it. "Who is this?"

As she released the button, the man on the other end hesitated. "You're crackling a bit. Who I am isn't important. You have the girl, right?"

"Yup."

"Get her to say something – I need to be sure."

Bonnie pointed the radio at Annie and held down the button, whispering "Say something."

Annie paused for a moment, and then muttered. "...Hello?"

"Good. You do have her."

Bonnie's brow furrowed. "What do you want with us – with her?"

"Listen, don't talk. I don't have a whole lot of time." The man told her. "I've been watching Sanctum for a hell of a long time now. I know what they are, and I know what they do to people. They don't know me, but I know them, and I know they're not going the right way about things. What I'm gonna do is take these fuckers down, but I can't do it alone. I'm gonna try and get the guys on the inside out of there, but I need to get them to trust me – and for that I need the kid's name. I don't know if it'll work, but if I can get close enough to them without anyone knowing then I can damn well try."

"How are you gonna get in there?" Bonnie asked. "I can only assume that the place is locked down tight.""

"I've been spying on the place for months, I know their routines. They don't even know I'm here." the man answered, not entirely convinced himself. "Give the radio back to the kid, and get her to tell me her name."

Bonnie pointed the walkie-talkie back at Annie. "Just give him your name."

"Annie." The seven-year-old announced confidently.

"Shit, that ain't gonna work. The place keeps track of names, anyone with the right information would know your name. Listen, kid, I need something only your friends would know. Something you didn't get from Sanctum."

Annie stuttered, trying to figure something out. Bonnie gestured to her forearms but Annie shook her head violently, not wanting to tell the man on the radio about her scars. Sanctum probably already knew about that, too, so she needed to give them something else. She reached up to scratch her head and then smirked when realisation passed through her mind.

"Anything..?" the man asked. "I'm pressed for time."

"My hat." Annie told him. "A man called Daniel gave it to me after he was stabbed by a bandit."

She could almost sense that the man was grinning on the other side of the radio. "Good work," he told her. "Hat – Daniel – Stabbed – Bandit. Making a note of it now." He hesitated. "You should probably make your way back to the settlement. I'm watching them and I know that they've given up the search for you, so you might be safe in the general area so long as you keep quiet and hide. There's a farmhouse not too far from the place, east of the front gates of Sanctum – I'll meet you there and tell you how things went with sneaking in and talking to your friends. And for the love of God, don't approach the place from the front, their guy on the gate will spot you a mile away. Take the woods."

"Okay." Annie replied. The radio cut off with the same high-pitched whine it had started with and they were left in silence. Bonnie rested the device on the table and sat back down in her chair. "Do you trust him?" She questioned.

"I... I think so." Annie stuttered. "But what can we do in case he's bad?"

Bonnie raised her pistol. "I think this is our only way. We'll need to keep an eye out, too."

"When should we go to that farmhouse?"

"Now." Bonnie commanded. "Hopefully we'll get there before he does, then we'll be in control." The woman darted into the kitchen to grab her backpack. "You keep hold of the radio, I'll take all the heavy stuff." The sight of such a large backpack over such a skinny woman's shoulders was almost comical, but Annie was too concerned about her friends to joke about it – plus she didn't joke about other people, because she thought it to be rude.

She followed Bonnie to the front door, holding the radio tightly, and they walked out of the house onto the dirt path. "Do you know the way?" Bonnie asked.

Annie nodded. "We just need to follow the train tracks that way." She pointed to the right. "It's about an hour away but it took me longer to get here from there because I kept going in circles."

"You don't need to worry about that no more," Bonnie told her, "I'll make sure you get there in time."

"I'm glad they're not coming after us any more." Annie sighed, relieved. "It was scary because I could hear them getting really close sometimes, and I'd hide and they'd run right past me."

"It's okay," Bonnie said soothingly, "You've got me now. Anyone gets in our way, I'll... I'll... pop 'em."

Annie squinted at Bonnie, knowing that she was trying to sound 'cool'. "Killing people isn't good." She said, "We should just hide. The only people you should kill is the dead ones because there's no saving them."

"Well, aren't you a paragon of virtue?" Bonnie smirked.

Annie was puzzled. "A pentagon of what?"

"I didn't think you'd understand," Bonnie told her, "It just means that you're a good person... I think. Truth be told, I don't really know what it is either. Someone I used to know said it a lot – he was pretty old, had grey hair and a mustache and he kinda lost it towards the end. Always spoutin' big words like that."

"I think I used to know someone like that, too." Annie told her.

Bonnie sighed as they set off down the train tracks. "Let's not dwell on the past, huh? Let's just focus on finding out who our guardian angel is and whether he can get your friends out."

"Okay. That sounds good to me."