Page 71 of Dark Love

With this guy? “Possibly.” He likes to brag.

“There’s a tarp over here!” Payne points towards a green tarp that’s mostly covered in fake grass, and I dash over to him.

“Careful as you pull it back.”

Payne nods and slowly edges around it, looking for wires or any other surprises that might show up if we lift this. “It appears clear.”

“I should do this.”

Payne lifts the edge. “I’ve seen dead bodies before.”

The problems come if she isn’t dead. “Okay, we’ll do it together.”

Just Let Me Die

Vex

As the tarp lifts, a little voice says, “Please, just let me die.”

Payne freezes, and his gaze turns to me.

At least she’s alive still. There’s a chance we’ll find one more.

“Please. Please, just let me die.”

Her voice sounds a little stronger.

“Let’s get her out of there.” Payne yanks the tarp off and shouts through the metal screen covering the dark hole, “We’re here to save you.”

“Please, just let me die.”

“Do you think she heard me?” Payne’s hands shake.

“Don’t know. Trauma does weird things to people.” Not to mention adding dehydration and starvation into the mix. “We need to get her out and some medical care as quickly as possible. I’ll get the lid off. You go get the equipment from the car and the first aid kit.”

Payne rushes off and I squat down to figure out how to get the lid off. It’s a fine enough mesh to keep most bugs and snakes out of the hole. The edge of mypocket knife slips into the gap between the edge of the mesh top and the top of the pipe that lines the entire hole. It pops up easily and I slide it away.

“Please. Please, just let me die.” The desperation in her voice has given way to acceptance of her fate.

“Not here. You can’t die here.”

“Why not?” she replies with a bit of irritation.

“If you die down there, you let the filth win. Let my friend and I get you out of here. Then if you still want to die, I’ll take you somewhere beautiful.” This wouldn’t be the first time one of the women I’ve rescued decided to take her life. Their memory keeps me out hunting men that traffic and abuse them.

“You’re really here? You aren’t a dream? You’re going to save me?”

How many times has she thought someone was here to save her? “We’re real.” She needs something tangible to believe we aren’t a hallucination. I slip my watch off. “Here. You can hold onto my watch until we get you out of here safely.” Anything else she could use to hurt herself. “Heads up. I’m dropping it down now.”

There’s barely a thunk when it hits the bottom.

“You’re real. You’re really here to rescue me.” She starts sobbing.

This part I don’t do well with. Tears pull me out of the zone I need to be in to get the job done.

The sobbing stops as fast as it started. “Joan. I haven’t heard from her since last night.”

Joan? There’s another woman? He said ‘save them’. There’s another hole! “Is she nearby?” How could I have forgotten in the moment?

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