Chapter Thirteen

The Rescue

Sadie sighed as she stopped in her tracks, glancing around her, trying to get her bearings in the dark, which was impossible. It had only been dark for thirty minutes, yet it seemed as though she had been wondering blindly for hours; the trees were so thick around her that the slice of moonlight did little penetrate the canopy. There was no way of knowing where she was going, or even if she was heading straight and hadn't somehow gotten herself turned around and was going back the way she had come, back toward the disfigured hillbillies. With another, more desperate sigh, Sadie dropped to her knees and leaned against the trunk of a pine tree; if she wasn't so afraid, she figured that would be able to sleep, but that didn't seem like an option.

If she had a flashlight, then she could continue onward, trying to find shelter and her friends. But there was no flashlight, no moonlight and seemingly no hope. Sadie closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the trunk, wishing that everything would simply disappear for a couple of hours.

* * *

Chris wished that he had thought to plan ahead, thought to bring a flashlight, a gun, some food or even water, but he and Jessie had been in such a rush to get out of the apartment that he could think of nothing more then getting to the woods. It was dark and he and Jessie were lost in the woods, more so then they had been the first time they were trying to escape the Mountain Men. Jessie had long since lapsed into silence, stumbling along wordless, lost in her own thoughts; she was feeling terrible for having dragged Chris along into the woods and felt helpless to save her sister.

Yet, despite all of these things, Jessie couldn't stop walking, as though the farther she walked the closer she got to finding Sadie.

* * *

Ramsey glanced over at Richard, amazed that he was able to actually shut his eyes and not see Kyle being murdered and those monstrous guys that had killed him; he was, however, able to do so because there he was, leaning against a tree with his knees drawn up to his chin and his eyes shut, apparently sleeping. She had finally giving up running, unable to continue on without stopping for a break, but she was not even close to being able to sleep, or even shut her eyes. Ramsey was tired and she somehow knew that resting for twenty minutes wasn't going to cure her exhaustion. She just couldn't run anymore and she found that she didn't even care anymore whether those hillbillies caught her or not.

Ramsey looked past Richard and stared into the woods, looking for signs of the mountain men that were chasing them; she knew they were out there, somewhere, just waiting until the perfect moment to finish them off. Kill them like they had killed Virginia and Sadie and her beloved Kyle. The woods were still, yet she knew it was just a façade, she could practically feel them breathing down her neck.

"I can't take it anymore!" Ramsey yelped suddenly, leaping to her feet and startling Richard, who no longer looked sleepy. "They're out there, watching us, just waiting to kill us. It's a game for them!"

Richard studied her strangely, as though he couldn't even make sense of what she was saying. "Ramsey, if they really are out there, then you just gave us away." He snapped, wishing that she would cease her yelling. They had finally found a place to hide for the night, but now their hiding spot was no longer secret.

Ramsey whirled to face him, fear and desperation flashing across her face. "I don't care! They're going to find us anyway and I'll be damned if I'm going to wait for death." She had been pushed too far, something inside of her had snapped. She was no longer the perfectly primped homecoming queen who shopped bargain but told everyone her clothes were designer; she was no longer the Ramsey that gossiped about other girls in the bathroom. She was now the girl that understood desperate measures and what made people take them; she was now the Ramsey that took desperate measures.

Richard was about to ask her just what she meant when he saw her unbuckle her belt and begin unthreading it. "Ramsey, what the hell are you doing?" He snapped, jumping to his feet and heading toward her. He reached for the belt, which she was concentrating on looping.

"Get away from me." She snapped, jerking herself out of his reach. She was no longer the girl she used to be, she was nothing like the old Ramsey any longer, that much was clear to Richard as he stepped back, stunned. "I'm going to die either way, I am not going to get chopped into a whole bunch of pieces!"

It was obvious what Ramsey was planning on doing, yet Richard was too mentally and physically exhausted to really process what was going on. Ramey wrapped her powder blue Limited Too (though she told the cheerleading squad she had got it from American Eagle) around her neck and pulled it as tightly as she could. Without a finally glance at Richard, who was watching the whole scene unfold with a detached fasination, she scampered toward the nearest tree and attempt to try and scale the thick oak. She had often heard that most people have suicide a second thought before leaping off the building or pulling the trigger but to Ramsey, suicide seemed like the best option at the moment. The one thing she was giving a second thought was whether or not her cheap belt would held her weight when she jumped.

She had been so driven to end the hunt for those murderous rednecks that Ramey hadn't really figured out how she was going to secure the belt to the branch before leaping. It didn't matter anymore, as long as it held and got the job done... Richard seemed almost interested in what was going on, watching as though only a man who had lost his sister and girlfriend could.

Ramsey attempted to secure the reminder of the belt around the first tree branch she could reach, glancing out into the woods once more, as though testing her theory that the disfigured bastards were out there, watching her. She nearly screamed when she saw the skinny, pinkish man grinning wolfish at her from the thick brush. Ramsey slipped when she saw the redneck raise his twisted arm, a jagged knife held tightly in his fist; she fell from the tree, hearing the belt begin to unravel itself from the branch. For a moment, she was glad that the belt hadn't held, because she did, after all, have a chance to escape from her redneck pressures.

The thock that the knife made as it embedded into the trunk of the tree, penning the end of the belt in place, was so unmistakeable that even Ramsey knew just what it was. She didn't have time to think about what that sound meant, for the belt was suddenly without slack, and her fall was ceased. The belt tightened around her neck, the metal biting into her skin as she gagged, clawing at the fabric and praying that it gave lose; she gazed upward to see that the knife had gone through the belt and penned it deep into the trunk. The only way Ramsey would be able to free herself was to undo the knife, yet she couldn't even reach up far enough; she was beginning to become short for breath, feeling as though her windpipe was being crushed. She struggled to scream but could do no such thing, she couldn't even breathe; the vessels in her eyes popped, blinding her as she continued to choke and gag.

Richard tried to grab for her, pull her down or somehow free her, but he couldn't get a good enough hold upon her legs, for she was trashing too much. Finally, Ramsey stopped jerking and hung limply and Richard backed away, staring up at her wide-eyed. Her face was red, eyes clotted with blood, eyes glazed and sightless, a hanging corpse. The knife holding the belt in place had no doubt come from one of their sadistic stalkers, which meant only one thing that they were being watched, being stalked. Being hunted.

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So, finally some more reviews, and they are wonderful; good to know that it's addicting. This story is almost done, but there is a planned sequel, so the more reviews, the more chapters the closer it comes to the final chapter of the Wrong Turn "series". So, please review, good or bad...much love.