Chapter Nine

Parting outside Doc’s house, Vivian and Liane started heading towards the closest courtyard where one of the women was kept, followed closely by Aiden carrying Alex, the military doctor, and their three remaining guards, who kept a vigilant watch as they rotated around the group looking for trouble.

Liane broke the silence first. “You could’ve left alone. You’re probably the only one who might’ve gotten away with it.”

Letting out a soft, ironic laugh, Vivian replied, “Not really. Maybe I’d have an extra half a day before someone went looking for me, but they’d still have tracked me into the mountains. Calling for help was the only feasible option.”

Giving her side-eye, Liane asked, “How’d you even use the phone long enough to tell them anything without getting caught?”

As they stopped in front of their target, noting the panicked sobs coming from inside and the three men carefully observing them from their lookouts, she replied, “Madam Vance sent me to gather mushrooms early in the morning. I doubled back to Chief’s office while everyone else was occupied with the bidding.”

Comprehension dawned as she murmured, “True. Everyone but the guards goes to that…”

“We got lucky.” Vivian replied, moving past the men who nodded respectfully to Aiden, but she could tell they’d relaxed a bit when they noticed Alex in his arms. He and the doctor were following them silently, but clearly listening in on their conversation. Liane didn’t seem to understand what she meant, and she chose not to say it aloud. These troops weren’t mobilized for them, at least not primarily.

No, they’d been incidentally rescued. If not for Alex, who knew if her report would have been ignored or buried. He was most likely related to someone higher up on the food chain in politics or the military. If his disappearance hadn’t made the problem hit close to home, would they have attached so much importance to the operation? She guessed there were close to a hundred soldiers in Clear Mist Village, let alone if they were doing simultaneous operations in the other three.

“Little Mary!” Liane’s voice broke her out of her reflections, and she found herself holding the wok and knife the woman passed off to her as she went to check on the girl having a mental breakdown while two soldiers stood back awkwardly, clearly having been trying to comfort her without success. Staring blankly, she finally put the implements on a nearby table, watching as Liane held a whispered conversation with Mary, slowly calming the girl down until she was just hiccuping instead of full on jagged crying.

Walking over, Vivian held her hand out for Mary as she said softly, “It’s time to leave this hellhole behind, Mary. You survived. Now walk out and leave the nightmare behind.”

“Vee?” Mary looked a bit lost and confused at the clarity in her eyes, but she hesitantly took her hand, letting Vivian pull her to her feet.

Patting her on the shoulder, she started leading the girl outside, holding her hand as they emerged into the crisp night air. The soldiers seemed relieved she was finally moving, and the doctor moved forward, with Mary flinching slightly before Vivian patted her on the shoulder. “It’s okay. The doctor just wants to make sure you’re okay. Are you bleeding anywhere?” It was really the only thing they could address right now. Everything else would have to wait until they got to a hospital.

Shaking her head in the negative, Vivian smiled and continued to lead her forward. “Okay. You can get checked later, then. Let’s go get the rest of the girls, and then we can leave this place forever.”

Looking at the soldiers around them, Mary asked hesitantly, “We’re really… free?”

“That’s right. They’ll never hurt us again.” Liane said softly as they walked slowly towards the next location, surrounded by a growing number of military men. From house to house, they went, collecting and reassuring the women and children that they were, in fact, being rescued and taken somewhere safe. Two of them had to be carried out on stretchers because they were basically beaten unconscious. They were all escorted to the vans to be taken down the mountain, most still barely moving in numb disbelief or sobbing softly.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Surprisingly, the one who reacted was the worst…was the girl who just arrived. “WHY? Why didn’t you come yesterday!?” She screamed and railed at her saviors, blaming them for arriving too late.

Watching as they tried to peacefully subdue her as she wailed against the world, Vivian asked Aiden softly, “Do you think I did the wrong thing, asking you to wait a day?” If they’d moved last night, Alex wouldn’t have been in nearly as much danger. The girls would have suffered one day less. Some of them might have been rescued before they were touched altogether in the other villages.

“No. You provided the framework for a plan to save the most people possible, with the least amount of casualties.” His voice was cold, but it still felt soft to her as he added, “It takes time to move people into position. They weren’t just waiting at the bottom of the mountain, they had to travel here. We couldn’t have moved everyone out last night even if we wanted to. Rescuing only one or two would have alerted and allowed them to escape.”

She understood the things he implied, but didn’t say outright: that he could’ve removed her and Alex, but he didn’t. He let them stay an extra day to get everyone out.

Glancing back towards the village center, she asked quietly, “What happens now?” She hadn’t planned further than getting the hell out of dodge. But the cost… hundreds of soldiers deployed, hundreds of men captured, dozens of women and children needing extensive medical treatment…

Watching them load into vans, he answered, “We find their families.”

“And if you can’t?” She couldn’t help it. Vee heard some of their stories. They weren’t ALL kidnapped. Some of them were sold.

He let out a soft sigh. “They’ll be taken care of and helped to get back on their feet. Due to how large the situation became, it’s under a lot of scrutiny.”

Tilting her head, she looked at him as he cradled his nephew and kept probing, “Are you supposed to be telling me things like that?”

“Not really, but as I’m sure you’ve guessed by now, I’m not part of the military.” He paused, then stated, “You seem… exceedingly calm about this whole thing. Especially for someone who has been trapped here for six years and claims not to remember anything before that.” His voice was deadpan, but she could tell he was suspicious about… her? She couldn’t blame him. She wasn’t acting like a six-year victim who didn’t know any better. But it wasn’t like she was about to tell him her soul transmigrated. Twice.

She met his scrutiny with silence. And yet… he waited. She didn’t want to lie to him, so finally she muttered, “Not everyone fits in the same boxes.” Reaching up, she lifted some of her hair up, showcasing the ugly wound that probably looked worse because it was scabby and dirty. Once she was sure he’d seen it, she let the lank locks drop again as she said, “Two weeks ago, I hit my head again, and it was like I woke up from a long dream.”

That was as close to the truth as she felt comfortable getting. “Doctor Jones!” She was surprised to hear his call, the doc who’d inspected Alex quickly hurrying over.

“What’s wrong? Is Alex awake?” He asked hurriedly, looking at the child still in Aiden’s arms.

Nodding to her, he ordered, “She’s got a head wound. Take a look at it.”

Sighing, Vivian cut in, “It’s two weeks old, I’ll be fine until we get to a hospital.”

“It looks infected.” He pushed on, undeterred.

“It’s NOT infected, it’s just dirty. It can wait,” she insisted.

“Would you just show me so I can make that determination?” The doctor asked, somewhat tiredly. Grumbling, she reached up, lifting her hair up as he turned on a bright flashlight to take a better look. She could hear him hiss in sympathy as the full extent of the damage became apparent. “How did you even treat this?” He’d taken out a disposable alcohol wipe and was gently dabbing at the area, trying to clean it up more.

Irritated, she replied as the alcohol stung her scalp, “How do you think we treated it? Doc wiped it up a bit, gave me a salve and something bitter to drink, and then I went about my life as usual, praying for the best. Surviving here was more a matter of luck than anything else.”

They were both frowning, but Doctor Jones seemed to give in as he simply stated, “It’ll keep until she reaches the hospital.” She gave her best ‘I told you so’ look to Aiden.

In return, he simply nodded to one of the military jeeps escorting the vans. “Get in.” He was already opening the back door, settling Alex in as Doctor Jones climbed in with him, fully prepared to keep following them. Belatedly, she walked closer, and as he finished fussing over Alex, he gave her a ‘really?’ look as he pointedly opened the passenger door and reiterated, “Get in.”

“The others…” She started, and he immediately interrupted her.

“Will follow. Get. In.” Seeing his temper rising, she rolled her eyes and climbed into the seat and settled before he closed the door. She watched him say something to one of the nearby soldiers, collecting the keys for the car before he headed for the driver’s side.

It was going to be a long ride.