Chapter 5 - The Abandoned Prison
I immediately pulled Chloe down onto the sticky floor of the bus to hide from Liam's view.
I crawled toward the emergency exit window on the opposite side of the aisle.
When the bus stopped at a red light, I pulled the red lever and pushed the heavy glass out.
We dropped onto the pavement and sprinted into a dense, wooded park before Liam could react.
We hid in the thick brush until dawn broke over the city skyline.
I knew we could not take a commercial flight or a train without being tracked.
I found a used car dealership opening for the day and traded my expensive wedding ring for a battered station wagon.
The long drive across the country was a grueling blur of cheap fast food and constant paranoia.
I taught Chloe how to hide under the seats whenever a black SUV passed us on the highway.
Three days later, we crossed the state line into rural Arkansas.
The address on Victoria's fake license led us down a winding, unpaved logging road.
I hid the station wagon deep in a grove of overgrown pine trees.
I left Chloe locked safely inside the car with snacks and strict instructions not to make a sound.
I crept through the woods until a massive concrete structure emerged from the fog.
It was not a house or a medical facility.
It was a decommissioned private prison surrounded by rusted razor wire.
Victoria had bought an entire abandoned penitentiary to serve as her personal dungeon.
I squeezed through a gap in the perimeter fence and approached the main utility door.
The lock was rusted, but I managed to pry it open using a heavy tire iron from my car.
I stepped into a dark, echoing hallway that smelled of mold and old bleach.
I navigated the maze of empty cell blocks, following the faint hum of a portable generator.
I finally reached an old infirmary wing at the center of the complex.
I peered through the reinforced glass window of a heavy steel door.
Harrison was chained to a metal medical bed in the middle of the room.
He looked incredibly fragile, hooked up to several intravenous bags filled with strange fluids.
I smashed the glass with my tire iron and reached through to unlock the heavy door.
I rushed to his side and frantically began pulling the IV needles out of his arms.
"Sarah, you actually came," he whispered weakly, tears streaming down his bruised face.
"I am getting you out of here right now," I declared as I worked on the heavy padlocks holding his wrists.
Harrison suddenly grabbed my hand with surprising strength and looked at me with sheer terror.
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"I am so sorry, Sarah, but she told me she would kill Chloe if I did not press the silent alarm," he sobbed.
The heavy steel door slammed shut behind me, and the electronic deadbolt clicked into place.
