Escape, a New Life Read Online Free PDF

She buried her head in his shoulder and as the adrenaline wore off she crashed and fell asleep, soaking wet, but happy.
    ********************
    “I need water,” Abby said from the comfort of the sand, her head still lying against his shoulder.  It was morning, the sun was up, and it had been nearly twenty-four hours since she last had anything to drink.  The piercing headache that radiated from the back of her skull to her forehead could be the result of dehydration, or her collision with the ceiling of the cave last night.  Either way, she intended to rule out one of the possibilities.
    Eric stood to stretch. “That makes two of us.”
    She looked over at what had been their shelter, where she had laid out the large leaves to collect the morning dew.  They were gone with the tide, like everything else that had been in there.  Suddenly she was gripped by panic and frantically sat up and grabbed at her right thigh.  The knife was still there.  She slid it from its sheath to find that aside from being damp, it was fine.  She popped open the back and was happy to find that the rubber seal had done its job well and kept the flint and the cotton fire starter dry. 
    Sliding the knife back into the sheath and locking the safety latch she announced , “Well, it’s obvious we’re not getting anywhere sitting on this beach.”
    Eric nodded his head. “Agreed.  I say we hike into the trees.  A couple hours in yesterday I saw a huge clearing and a pretty big hill on the other side.”
    “Good thinking.  If nothing else, we can climb that and have a look around. ”
    “Exactly what I was thinking.”
    “Maybe even figure out where we are.  If we can spot a road from up there, we’ll be in good shape to find our way back.”
    He looked at her confused . “Back to where?”
    She laughed . “Anywhere but here.”
    They spent the next several hours making their way through the trees and looking out for water.  They found some dewy leaves here and there where they were able to get a few drops.  However, they never saw anything substantial, nothing that was going to satisfy their thirst. 
    “What’s your story anyway?” he asked.
    “What do you mean?”
    “Your story . I mean, you seem like you can take care of yourself.  You’ve got this knife strapped to your thigh.  You’re in great shape.  You almost seem like you belong out here.”
    Abby thought about that as they walked across the clearing toward the hill in the distance.   He did have a point.  She may have been lost, but she still felt as though she was exactly where she was supposed to be. 
    “Well, I guess I’m not entirely sure what my story is.  I thought I was at the end of a fun summer after graduation.  I thought I was going to start seriously job hunting.  Somehow, I found myself lost out here with some random guy.”  She shook her head. “Honestly, I have no idea.”
    He chuckled . “Well, however it turns out, it’s been… fun isn’t the right word, but if I’m going to wind up in whatever this is, you seem like a good person to be in it with.  I’m glad to have met you.”  He looked ahead at the fairly steep side of the hill they were about to climb.
    “Straight up?” she asked.
    “That’s the plan.”
    The path narrowed as they climbed closer to the top, though every time she thought they were about to reach the top, the next crest brought more hills. 
    They came to a rock face, about ten yards wide and half as tall.  On each side of their path was a small incline followed by a sharp drop off.  Eric carefully stepped toward the drop off and looked down letting out a long whistle.  A fall from this height would be certain death.  Directly in front of them, the path abruptly ended at this wall of rock.  It was a worn-out, gray-looking rock that was anything but smooth.  Covered with cracks, both large and small, there were several young trees growing out of it horizontally. 
    Eric looked around, visibly