Tracy glared at her. “Shut up. I have no sympathy for you. You tried to shut that door and seal us in there forever. I hope your hand rots off.”

“Hey, that’s out of line, Trace,” Kim said. “Leave it alone.”

“No,” Ashley said. “The girl has the right to get on my case. I deserve it. Look, I was after you guys with a vengeance. She’s right. If I would have had my way, I would have sealed you in there for good.”

Kim sat up. “For good? Really? You realize that you would—”

Ashley nodded. “Yeah, yeah, I know that it probably would have killed you all. Murder, right? And you know, I honestly never thought of the consequences. I just wanted to act it out and see where it would go from there.”

Tracy’s face curled into a hateful sneer. “That’s sick.”

Ashley shrugged. “Hey, that’s the way I was. Act first, think about it later. It got me to the top of the heap whenever I needed to be in charge.” She looked down. “It got me into a lot of trouble, too.”

Kim closed the book and stared at her. “You keep talking like this is all in the past. But this all happened less than an hour ago. Am I missing something?”

Ashley turned and met her eye to eye. “That girl. Laura, the one with the shivering. Did you see what she did for me?” Ashley shook her head in disbelief. “If it were the other way around, I would’ve let the gears crush her hand. But that girl went through all that trouble—she even sacrificed her own hand!—to set me free.”

Kim nodded. “She could have made a run for it and left us all high and dry, that’s for sure.”

“But get this. She knew I hated her. She knew I meant to hurt her . . . and . . . and . . . ” Ashley fought to find the words. “She went through pain just to make sure I’d be OK. Let me tell you, she may have forgotten her name, but that kind of action was more than a memorized response. It was ingrained in her, know what I mean? Something that is engraved like that, no amnesia could have taken it away.”

Tracy adjusted her glasses, deep in thought. “It’s definitely had an impact on me.”

Ashley turned around quickly. “Well, it had more than just an ‘impact’ on me. It changed me, Sister, do you hear me? I learned a big lesson here. I may not be the brightest candle on the cake, but when I see a life-changing lesson coming my way, I pay attention.” She rolled over and faced the wall. “My hand’s hurting pretty bad. I’m going to try and sleep it off.”

***

He had checked. The gun was fully loaded and ready for action.

The man could hear the girls’ conversation get louder and louder. He heard the sound of metal hitting metal and guessed that the girls were pushing out the many air filters than lined the corridors of the ductwork. He stood up and took a deep breath. They’re actually crawling through those air ducts. Any minute now, they’ll be heading toward this grate, ready to push it out and crawl to safety, he thought.

***

Mickey stood with her hands on her hips and surveyed the steep incline down to the bottom of the hill. She shuddered at the thought of the camp administration finding out that she had lost four girls within the space of an hour.

Gazing down at the scrubby, rough-and-tumble area thick with forest and shrubbery, she shook her head as she started plodding down the hill. If that kid is such a committed Christian-type, why did she take off with the other girls? Just as I thought. These Bible-believers are all mouth. When it comes down to decision-making, they’re the same as any of the kids I’ve ever seen at this camp.

She looked around. Where could they have gone?

***

Laura stopped and glanced at her hand. “It’s getting pretty bloody,” she said. “I’m sure I didn’t get any glass in it, but the pressure from crawling keeps it bleeding all over again.” She started crawling again. “Pretty frustrating.”

Liz watched her closely as they continued moving. “Does it hurt real bad?” she asked.

“Aw, it’s OK. Not enough to slow us down,” Laura said, shivering a little. “It’s a bit chilly, isn’t it? Here, I think I see some light down here. Follow me.”

“Laura,” Liz said, “you faced the same dangers that I did, but I was the one who panicked, and you kept yourself together. You’re the one with the memory loss, a messed up hand and a bout with the Spanish flu, while I pretty much have it all together physically. But when it comes to the spiritual stuff, you’re solid as a rock.“

Laura shook her head, “Hey, I have the same questions and conflicts as anyone else our age.”

“No, don’t shrug it off,” Liz said. “You lost your memory, but you didn’t lose your character.”

Laura stopped and looked at her. “I can’t say that you’re correct. Liz, I looked at some of the pictures of what a society-loving, self-centered little brat I was, and I couldn’t believe I was all doing it under the banner of Christ. No, don’t act as if my core was so perfect that amnesia couldn’t touch it. Put it this way. Having amnesia gave me the opportunity to stop and look at myself, as if my whole life became a still-life painting. I could step back and observe it. What I saw,” she said, starting to crawl again, “disgusted me deeply, and I committed to changing top-to-bottom.”

Laura moved toward the grate.

“Well, it’s made an impression on me,” Liz said.

Laura took out her hammer. “Look, this grate is larger than the one that we entered. We don’t have to open it wider. Check this out, too—this one looks like it’s had its fasteners removed. Maybe this is where we’re supposed to get out.”

Exit Here
“Looks like it to me,” Laura said. With a couple of sharp swings with their hammers, they knocked the meshwork to the floor. Laura crawled out first and stood up, fighting a growing dizziness. She leaned back against the wall as Liz crawled out and inspected the room.

“Hey, look at this room. It looks like it’s practically brand-new,” Liz exclaimed.

Laura looked around at the orange-and-white tiled area. Every tabletop, test tube and floor tile looked spotlessly clean. No dust. No trash.

She stepped toward the doorway on the far side of the room. “Now, if there is an open door, we’ve found freedom, my friend.” Laura turned around and grinned, trying to control her shivering. “We made it.”

“Well, not quite.”

The voice wasn’t Liz’s. It was a man’s voice. One that Laura recognized. But who and where was he?

“Just stay there, girls, and we’ll sort this whole thing out. I can’t have you leaving, not just yet.”

In the shadows emerged a man with dark hair and a familiar walk.

“Dee!” Laura yelled. “How did you get in here? Were you looking for us?” Laura cried.

Dee nodded and smiled. “It wasn’t hard to track you once I heard a girl talking about someone named Ashley who was following you to the Backwash. This is a nice little cubbyhole, one that is pretty hard to find, but you see, I was once a guide for hunters, and tracking was my specialty. You all busted through the brush and briars like bulldozers on a mission. I followed the trail, and it led me to here.” He waved his hand. “Nice place you got, but I see you injured yourself somehow. Let’s get that fixed.”

“Great,” Laura said. “I’ll show you where the other girls are, and we can get out of here. One girl’s hurt pretty bad. Her hand’s messed up, maybe a couple of broken bones. Come on.”

Dee shook his head. “No, that’s not my business.”

Liz blinked. “Then what is your business?”

Dee pointed at Laura. “She’s my business. And she’s the only business I care about.”

Laura shook her head. “If my friends aren’t helped, then I’m not going.”

Dee stepped over to her and grabbed her arm. “You’re not just some cousin to me. You’re an investment, one that I cannot afford to lose, you see?” He looked over at Liz. “I’d highly recommend that you get back in that hole and make tracks for the other side of that air conditioning unit, understand? Now, girly.”

Liz started to back away, but Laura pulled at Dee. “I knew something was fishy about you the minute you tore down the highway and raced the police. I’m not your cousin, am I?”

He tugged hard at her arm. “Now, Laura we got to get movin’—and fast.”

She held firm. “And my last name isn’t Saturday, is it?”

“What does that matter? Come on, and we’ll sort this out later,” he growled. “Don’t get me upset. Let’s go.”

Laura stood her ground. “You don’t want me to know my last name so that I won’t go trying to contact my folks and find out how they can get me. Isn’t that right?”

Dee scowled deeply. “I gotta do what I gotta do now. No more wasting time, OK?”