Page 72 of Harbor (The Wanderers 3)

“Yes. I got lucky. A man unearthed the car, cupped his hands, and leaned in to look in the window. I was staring up at him, squinting as the bright light hit my eyes, trembling. His eyes went wide with shock, and then he looked around, returned his gaze to me, and held a finger to his lips.”

“My God. I hate that you went through that, but thank goodness there are still good people in the world.”

“I hid for several more hours, not daring to move much, and he came back for me at dusk. He and two other men. They pried the door open, pulled me to safety, and took me to one of their homes. No one ever knew a child was rescued from that building.”

“Amazing.” Dario reached over and set a hand on Maya’s shoulder.

“I stayed with those kind people for six years. They had a farm outside of town. Two other kids. A girl and a boy. I was able to breathe fresh air and run and play and not have to keep so quiet all the time. I hated that I lost my mom. It was the worst time of my life up to that point, but in the long run, I think they saved me in more ways than one.”

“Where did you go when you were eighteen?” Keanu asked.

“I got antsy and knew I needed to do something to help people, so I left. For the next few years, I slowly moved West, hooking up with various people and trying to find my way until I met up with The Wanderers and went to join them. I knew I wanted to spend my life rescuing people the way that family saved me. I wasn’t doing anyone any good hiding on that farm. I had a fire in me.”

Advic smiled. “You still do. It burns brightly. Do you see that family anymore?”

Maya shook her head. “No. I never saw them again. It makes me sad sometimes, but they lived in Indiana. When I came West, I didn’t have a way to stay in touch with them.”

“You’re an amazing woman, Maya,” Dario stated. “When I think of how much you’ve been through and how strong you are…”

She glanced at the ground and dragged her toe around in the dirt. “Not amazing enough to avoid a debilitating panic attack simply from being in the dark in a bunker.”

“It makes perfect sense now that we understand better,” Dario argued. “It should have occurred to me you needed to come up above ground to breathe. I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry.”

She shrugged. “Not your fault. I’m okay now.” She leaned back and drew in a deep breath. “Ahhh. Oxygen. Sunlight. Open space. Glorious.”

After a few moments, she lowered her gaze to each of theirs. “We can go back inside now. Sorry about the meltdown. I’m clearly not in any condition to travel several miles on foot yet.” She rose to her feet and brushed the dirt off her ass before picking up her pack.

All three men were still sitting on the ground, staring at her with wide eyes.

She chuckled. “Seriously. I’m fine.”

They all stood, looking skeptical as they led her back to the bunker.

---