Chapter 330 330
Sabine POV
We were moving again, forcing our way through the woods in the direction of the road I’d told them about.
The moment I stepped out of the trees and back into the small camp we’d thrown together for the night, the questions started. Where had I gone? What had I been doing?
I told them I’d been looking for food. That part was true. I also told them I’d found a road. That was enough to satisfy them for now.
Seeing Maurice again after all this time had left me tangled in emotions I wasn’t ready to sort through.
Gilles took the lead as we headed out, steering us toward the road. Caroline and I stayed in the middle, with Didier bringing up the rear. I lost count of how many times Didier glanced back, his gaze landing on me each time, his brow drawn into a frown. He didn’t understand what he was sensing but I did.
Maurice wouldn’t act. Of that, I was certain. Not yet. He was simply watching, waiting to see where we ended up.
He didn’t know who Gilles, Caroline, or Didier were, so there was no reason for him to confront them. No he was waiting for me to be alone again. That wouldn’t happen until later, once night had settled in and the others were asleep.
When we reached the road, we followed it until the edges of a small village came into view. We stopped to talk through the risks of entering. It wasn’t safe but neither was continuing on without food or rest. We needed somewhere to regroup, somewhere that felt at least marginally secure before deciding what came next.
I hoped that being such a small, rural place meant the technology here would be limited. Still, I knew I had to be careful. Camera phones were everywhere now little devices that tracked and reported the movement of civilisation without a second thought.
Locked away in Father’s apartment for so long, I’d been cut off from the world. Television and a handful of visitors were my only windows out. I hadn’t realised how far humanity had advanced in just six years since Mum died.
It was Caroline who insisted we stay the night at a bed-and-breakfast. For a fourteen-year-old, she’d done remarkably well keeping up with us.
“One night won’t hurt,” she pleaded, her voice edging toward a whine of exhaustion. “We’ve walked miles. I need a shower… I need food.”
“She’s not wrong,” Gilles said, glancing at Didier as if seeking his approval. “We could use the time to plan our next move.”
Didier looked back over his shoulder once more, then sighed. “One night,” he agreed. “But we leave early. We make a plan tonight.”
By late afternoon, we’d checked in and immediately decided to sleep. It didn’t matter that the sun was still up. We were beyond tired. Sleep was a necessity, not a luxury.
To save money, we booked only two rooms. I flatly refused to share with Gilles. Not when I knew Maurice would tear that door off its hinges if he ever found out. Instead, I took the room with Caroline a decision Didier didn’t accept easily.
Over dinner downstairs, we discussed what came next. Wandering aimlessly wasn’t an option not with our money dwindling.
The nearby farms were off-limits. Police already knew undocumented workers would be flooding those jobs. Construction sites seemed our best bet instead cash in hand, hard labour, painting, heavy lifting.
By the time night fully settled in, Caroline and I were tucked into our narrow single beds. We’d showered, and the kindly elderly owner had let us use her washing machine. I repacked my clean clothes into my backpack, preparing for an early departure. I kept that bag close at all times. I couldn’t afford to be separated from what was inside.
“Do you think Gilles will stay with us?” Caroline asked, flicking lazily through the channels on the tiny television.
“Why wouldn’t he?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I get a strange feeling about him. Something I can’t quite explain. And it’s not just me Didier feels it too.”
“Like what?”
“I think if you weren’t here, he would’ve left us at the farm. He seems… determined to stay with you.”
“It’s strength in numbers,” I said gently. “You have Didier looking out for you. Maybe Gilles feels safer knowing I’ll think for myself instead of automatically agreeing with Didier just because you’re family.”
“I can think for myself,” she snapped.
I forgot, just for a moment, that she was still only fourteen still a child, no matter how fiercely she believed she could take on the world.
“I know you can,” I said quickly. “I didn’t mean it that way. I just meant that I’d look out for Gilles too same way Didier looks out for you.”
She asked a few more questions, but I kept my answers vague. I wasn’t ready to tell anyone what I was truly running from.
It took her a long time to fall asleep. When she finally did, I slipped out of bed quietly, leaving the television playing softly to mask my footsteps.
I made my way downstairs to the kitchen, remembering the alley I’d spotted when we checked in. I pushed open the fire exit and stepped into the darkness, my eyes adjusting slowly to the night.
I didn’t need to search for him.
His pearly white teeth were the first thing I saw his unmistakable, infuriating Hollywood grin flashing as he stepped out of the shadows and into the faint glow spilling from the doorway.
Maurice was already waiting.