Page 6 of Embedded
“All right, ladies, back inside. Quickly, now.” They didn’t argue maybe because they were shoeless, starving, and terrified of what the next step might be for them. I, on the other hand, wondered why I got to keep my shoes.
I stopped at the step and turned to face him head on. “We need food, Chili. It’s inhuman to keep us without food and water.”
“I agree.” He walked around the truck trailer and opened the door of the cab then came back with two big grocery bags. “Here’s food and water, best I could do. There should be something in there the kid can eat,” he growled. “Now, get in.” He slung the bags up into the back of the truck.
“What did your text say?” I blurted and blinked at my question. Where did that come from?
“It said get in.” He picked me and Chase up and hefted us into the back of the truck without even a warning. “We need to leave.” He closed the door, and I felt Crystal pick up the bags and tug on my arm.
“Help me get this stuff back to the girls.”
The truck took off before I could even sit. Something was wrong, and I wondered what it was. Who were we running from? How long were we going to be driving?
Crystal and I quickly passed out the food and bottled water to the girls. They tore at the wrappers and gulped down the water in a frenzy of activity. “There was a time I wouldn’t dream of putting a premade truck stop sandwich in my mouth,” Crystal said loudly with a mouth full, “but here I am. Turns out two-week-old baloney tastes damn fine.” A few of the girls chuckled, and for a hair of a moment they seemed normal.
Chase wouldn’t eat, but he did take a few sips of water, and I hoped that would help him. I coaxed him to open his eyes and was rewarded briefly with a little complaint sound. I was happy with that tiny tidbit. He was lethargic but alert enough that I felt a little easier.
We settled back into silence, and some of the girls drifted off to sleep because it was better than being awake. I was too keyed up and tuned in to the engine whenever we would speed up or change lanes. I couldn’t see anything through the little hole. As the hours passed, it was dark again, and as nothing had happened since the truck stop, I began to relax enough to nod off a few times.
After a bit, I must have fallen asleep again, because I was jolted awake by the vibration of the truck as the brakes were suddenly applied. My eyes flew open, and I saw beams of sunlight.
Something was wrong. I felt fear deep in my stomach.
Then everything happened so fast that even if I had been ready for it, I couldn’t have prepared myself. The truck’s brakes went on hard, and we were all thrown forward. Then it came to a sudden stop. We could hear shouts, and I thought I heard gunfire. Then the door was pulled open, and sunlight broke around the makeshift wall we hid behind.
“Come out with your hands up!” someone shouted, and Crystal fought to stand on shaky legs.
“It might be a trap!” one of the girls cried out.
“Maybe, but they should be Americans, so I’m taking a chance.” She pushed by the other girls and squinted at the light as she stepped around the wall. “Please don’t shoot.”
Heavy footsteps rushed inside the container, and Crystal was pulled forward with a yelp.
“You’re okay,” a man called. “Are there any more of you?”
“Yes,” Alexi called, and the girls began to step out. I waited for a beat before I joined them. A SWAT team with covered faces started to help the girls out of the back.
Hope flooded me, and I wanted to cry. I was so incredibly thankful the nightmare might be over. I carefully climbed from the back with my arms around Chase and walked toward an officer.
“My name is Nicole Winter.” My voice was raspy and low. “I’m a war correspondent based in Mexico. I need your help.” The officer moved around me to take the arm of one of the girls. “Would I be able to use your phone?”
Again, the officer ignored me. So, I repeated it in Spanish just to see if he would pay attention. Nothing. “Sir?” I grabbed his arm, but he jerked it away. I looked at another soldier who wouldn’t even glance in my direction. They loaded up the girls in several vehicles. Panicked glances were thrown at me by the girls, and I heard their gasps of fear.
“Nicole!” Crystal screamed as she fought the officer who was trying to get her inside the black vehicle. “No, wait, please! She’s with us! She has a baby!” The man just gave her one last hard push then slammed the door behind her.
“Crystal!” I cried as I awkwardly reached out my arm.
As fast as they came, they left. My head couldn’t catch up as the cars peeled away with the only friends I had left inside. I raced toward Chili as he stepped into view and stopped hard enough to make Chase whimper. A cold, low prickle started at the base of my spine and inched itself up to the back of my neck. It left me with a warning to tread carefully.
“What happened to the girls? What’s going on?”
“They’re fine.” He checked the time on his watch, then something passed over his face. A moment of concern? As quickly as I saw it, it was gone. “You want the front seat or stay back there?”
My brows pinched at such a strange request. Stay calm. Figure out the situation before you panic.
“What I need is children’s Tylenol.”
“When we can, we’ll stop for some.”
