Chapter Four

Jessie's heart frozen in her chest as the cabin door slowly creaked open; she remained motionless beside Chris, eyes wide with terror, unable to think. She could hear Chris whispering her name, telling her to hide, to get away, but she didn't register any of it, she was too frightened. It's all over, she thought to herself, staring in terror at the entrance to the cabin.

Chris leaned forward and hit Jessie as hard as he could on the shoulder, causing her to jump in surprise, finally startling her out of her stupor. "Jessie, you have to hide!" He hissed, more afraid for her then for himself.

Chris' words finally shook Jessie lose of her terror and she scampered across the cabin on her hands and knees, pressing herself against the wall closest to the entrance as the door opened. The shadows did well to conceal her, for which Chris was thankful for; he could barely see her, so he doubted the disfigured, idiot rednecks would. Jessie clamped her teeth together to keep from breathing raggedly in her terror, eyes darting over toward the door, watching the murderers enter the cabin once more, grunting to each other. Her eyes fell past them, toward the floor, where the branch she had carried in with her lay just feet in front of her.

Jessie's eyes drifted away from the branch, toward the hillbillies, who were heading over toward the wood-burning stove without even glancing at Chris, and finally to her boyfriend, who was slowly leaning forward to untangle the barbed wire around his ankles. Their eyes met and she knew that as soon as he freed himself, she would have to make her move, snatching up the club and doing what she had been planning on doing earlier, while she was hiding in the bushes.

The skinny man turned away from the stove and headed toward the corner beside Chris, searching for something. Jessie watched him curiously, wondering just what the idiot was up to, nearly screaming in terror and anguish when she saw just what he was searching for. He bent low and picked up her sister's head by her hair, grunting something to his brothers as he carried the head toward them. Jessie's eyes filled with tears and pressed the heels of her hands against her teeth to keep from sobbing.

The noise Jessie made when she raised her hands caused the man with Sadie's head to pause and glance her way. Their eyes locked and she knew, without a doubt, that he had seen her. The man dropped her sister's head and began grunting wildly to the others, who glanced over at him. Jessie didn't know what to do, now that she had been spotted; both she and Chris were going to die in this cabin.

At the same moment the skinny man had spotted Jessie, Chris had managed to free himself from the barbed wire. "Hey assholes!" He shouted, taking the attention away from Jessie and to himself.

Jessie leaped forward and snatched the branch, jumping to her feet and bringing the club down across the archer's head. Stunned, he stumbled forward, tripping into the bulky man, sending them both to the ground. Without wasting another moment, she struck the skinny man across the face with a cry of rage, hitting him once more when he fell to the ground.

Chris stepped out of the bed frame and grabbed Jessie's arm. "C'mon Jess, we've gotta get the hell out of here." He commanded, pulling her toward the door. She tossed her club aside and following him out of the cabin, her heart beginning to pound in her chest.

Not bothering to look back, Chris and Jessie dashed out of the cabin and heading the opposite way they had come, running as fast as they could in the dark, not bothering to be quiet or watch their footing. Chris finally stopped running, nearly tripping over a root as he slowly, the energy he had gotten from the adrenaline flowing through his body leaving him suddenly.

Jessie stopped running when she noticed her boyfriend had stopped and walked over to him, her breath coming in hollow gasps. "Are you all right?" She panted, worry knitting across her face.

Chris looked up at her, the reality of the situation finally setting in; they had both almost died again, he had almost lost her again. They had come face to face with death and come out on top. He pulled Jessie into a tight embrace, burying his face in her sweat matted hair.

Jessie returned the embrace, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and pressing her face against her chest. The tears that she had held back in the cabin suddenly filled her eyes once more and this time she made to move to keep them from trickling down her cheeks, making distinct lines in the dirt covering her skin.

After what seemed like an eternity, Jessie pulled away from him and said, "I can't believe Sadie's really dead. I can't believe we're not." It seemed to hard to believe that they hadn't been killed, hadn't been caught; they had survived once again.

Chris cupped his fingers around her cheek; he didn't really know what to say to her, wishing that he had some words of comfort that wouldn't ring hollow. Her baby sister was dead, after they had come so far to rescue her, after they had rescued her and, to make matters worse, she had been forced to see Sadie's corpse in the dirty hands of her killers.

A few more minutes passed in silence before Chris said, "We'd better get moving, try and find a hospital." He gently touched the wounds upon his stomach, which were coated with blood that was flowing every so often.

Jessie glanced down at his chest, hoping that his injuries weren't as bad as they looked; she had no idea how far from a hospital they were, or if the disfigured murderers were going to pursue them once the aftermath of her and Chris' escape wore off. She really didn't want to stick around long enough to find out, however. Slipping her arm around Chris' waist, Jessie and her boyfriend started out through the woods once more, enjoying the quiet and the fact that they were still around to enjoy it.