Part 14: May 22 - Escape from South Bend

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Sam, Tim, Emily, and the children nervously made their way back to the horse trailer. The children were extremely frightened standing out in the open, cringing at the slightest sound. Sam suggested they all hide in the little drugstore, and told them to go ahead and find something to eat and drink if they were hungry.

Sam told Emily and Tim to go in and stay with the children. “Tim, collect supplies while you’re in there—just pile stuff in bags and bring it out and stow it in the trailer. When you’re done, I want to go in and check for any prescription medications that we might need.” She stood behind the trailer with one of the rifles, watching down the road toward town. She was on edge, jumping at every sound, nervously watching the shadows between the buildings, imagining movement where there was none.

Minutes felt like hours, but finally, Sam heard the bus motor in the distance. As Carl pulled the bus into the parking lot, Sam quickly walked to the front door of the bus as Carl backed the vehicle up to the trailer.

Carl looked at Sam’s face and the rifle and asked, “What’s the matter?”

“We have to get out of here fast and quietly, Carl. I’ll explain later, but let’s just get on the road. Hook up the trailer fast and move.” She waved at the store, and Carl watched in shock as over 80 frightened children nervously dashed across the parking lot from the front of the building and scrambled onto the bus. Tim and a teenage girl quickly got the children arranged into seats or on the floor. Sam helped Carl get the trailer hooked up and ready to go, and they finally sped away from South Bend as fast as Sam could urge Carl to drive.

As the bus sped away from the small mom-and-pop drugstore, several sets of eyes watched over a backyard fence from a house across the street. The enraged eyes focused on the side of the bus as it escaped the town of South Bend. The lettering on the side of the bus announced that the bus was the “Property of the Pine Ridge Fire Department.”

Carl pushed the old bus, bringing it up to nearly full speed, all the while being mindful not to frighten the children any more than necessary. He watched the rearview mirrors, checking the children and watching the drugstore disappear as he sped around a curve. When he pulled the bus onto Rt. 1, he eased off the accelerator, smoothing out the ride. He felt that they had escaped whatever Sam had been afraid of. He met her eyes in the overhead mirror and demanded, “Alright, tell me everything!”