Chapter 37

The sun was up, and Haisley had insisted that they stop. They hadn’t come across any people or a road or anything. Maybe they were headed the wrong way, but the sun was still to her left shoulder, which meant they hadn’t been going in circles.

They took a long break, maybe a few hours, or so. The sky had clouds, but she could still see the sun in breaks between the clouds.

“Do you think you can walk more?” Haisley asked. She studied her friend, realizing that Mel didn’t look good. There was no way her friend could walk far.

“I don’t know.”

“Let’s go around the bend. Maybe there’s something there.”

Mel stood and started walking. Because the sun was up, Haisley didn’t feel the need to hold Mel’s hand. If they got separated by a few feet, they could see each other. Walking in the dark had been scary. If she’d lost Mel, she might not have been able to easily find her.

They’d almost made it around the bend in the path when she spied what looked like a wall. Haisley froze, allowing Mel to catch up to her.

“What is that?” Mel asked.

“I don’t know. A house, maybe. What do you think?”

Mel moaned, and Haisley turned to look, thinking her friend wasn't going to be able to walk much longer. She was about to ask Mel if she wanted to take another break when her friend gasped, then dropped her pants and squatted, her face a mask of pain.

At first, Haisley thought Mel was peeing, but then she realized her friend's water had broken.

“Oh God,” Mel said. “I’m having this baby.”

“Let’s get you to that house.”

Mel shook her head. “What if they’re worse than your friends? Or what if we were walking in circles?”

Haisley shook her head. “We weren’t. Going in circles. I’ve been watching where the sun was. It’s not the place we ran from.”

Mel stood and looked like she was okay when she reached out and grabbed onto Haisley’s arm as she cried out in pain.

“Oh fuck, I’m having this baby. Let’s go see if we can get inside.”

Haisley helped Mel make her way through the trees and bushes and over to the cabin. They had to stop twice for Mel to make it through contractions. From what Haisley knew, contractions this close together after water breaking meant something was happening soon. The baby would come, and there wasn’t anything they could do to stop it.

“How long have you been having contractions?” Haisley asked.

“Since before you woke up in that room.”

“Shit. You should have told me. ”

“We had to escape. I was fine until just now.”

Thunder rolled over the landscape, and they both jumped, holding onto each other. The sky had grown darker in the last few minutes.

"Well, someone is looking after us because that cabin looks empty, and we need to get out of this weather." Haisley helped Mel up the steps to the door as another round of lightning flashed and thunder rumbled.

“It’s beautiful out here,” Mel said.

Haisley nodded as she knocked on the door. There was no movement inside, and she knocked again, calling out and asking for help. They waited outside as Mel had another contraction. They needed to get inside before the weather turned worse.

She tried the door, but it was locked. Back in Georgia, loads of people hid keys. Some hid keys under floor mats or in pots. There was no floor mat and no potted plants, which left the light beside the door.

Haisley lifted up on her toes and felt around the back of the lamp but didn't find anything. Next, she touched the top of the lamp and thought she had struck out but felt something toward the back at the top.

It took a moment to unhook the ring from the scrollwork at the top, but she had the key.

"Score," Haisley said before unlocking the door. "Hello?" she called, hoping no one would come out from one of the back rooms. "We need help."

No answer. They were alone and could enter without problems. Haisley checked to make sure the owner hadn’t set any traps before stepping in. They stepped inside just as rain lashed against the side of the house.

“Oooohhh,” Mel groaned as she latched onto Haisley’s hand and clamped down.

The pain was evident, and Haisley knew there was no way she could be as brave as Mel was. She wanted to make sure Mel survived and had as few problems as possible.

There were articles she'd read and books, but she didn't know enough. She needed more, but there wasn't time. They had to do this now.

"Do you see a phone on the wall?" Haisley asked, not really expecting an answer from Mel. It was more so she would look.

“No,” Mel gasped.

“Come on, let’s get you over to the couch.”

“Oh God, Haisley, I’m having this baby.”

"I know, sweetheart. And we're going to get you set up to have a great birth. I just need to find a few things, and I don't want you to fall down. So the couch."

"Okay. I'm good for a moment. Go look for stuff."

Haisley moved to the kitchen and found a pot. She turned on the tap water and filled the pot about half full before setting it on the gas stove. She turned on the gas and heard the hiss and the clicks of the electric starter before the blue flame rose. She turned the gas down a little and went looking for towels and scissors.

She found kitchen sheers and washed them with soap before taking them over to the stove. The water was almost boiling. She’d found tongs in one of the drawers and plopped them down in the heating water first. She laid out a few towels on the counter before she headed into the bedroom. There were blankets and towels. They seemed clean, so she grabbed some and headed back to the room with Mel.

"Okay, I'm sanitizing the scissors, so we'll be able to cut the cord, eventually. I saw a video about people leaving the baby attached to the placenta, so we can do that, too."

“What?” Mel asked .

"It's a thing that can be done. It isn't perfect, but I don't want to mess anything up. So it's an option."

“Good lord, I never thought I would be in the middle of the wilderness delivering a baby. I’m glad you’re here with me, but this is ridiculous.”

Haisley laughed. “It is. It’s freaking stupid that we’re out here. I wish I could get you to a hospital and civilization.”

Mel laughed, and then another contraction hit. Mel held onto Haisley's hand as the pain hit and then ebbed away.

Mel blew out a harsh breath. “Okay. We have about a minute before the next. How is the water?”

“Let me go check it.”

While in the kitchen, Haisley found a metal ladle and put it in the water, too. She grabbed a mug and filled it with water but wasn’t sure if it was clean enough to drink so she poured it into the pot.

After dropping the scissors in the heated water, Haisley checked the refrigerator and found six small bottles of water. She grabbed one and took it out to Mel right as another contraction hit.

They were close to having this baby being born. She needed to find a phone, but she hadn’t seen one at first look in the kitchen. There was a box that she didn’t recognize, and she wondered if that was some weird telephone box.

Panic stayed close to the surface, but she couldn’t freak out. Mel needed her help. She held her friend’s hand while the contraction held Mel. After the contraction ended, she made sure Mel drank some water and then headed back into the kitchen. She was going to grab some water for herself, but instead, she moved to the box and pulled it open .

Shock hit her. There was an old black phone inside. She picked up the handle and listened, glad to hear a dial tone. Her fingers shook as she dialed for an ambulance. As the operator answered, Mel cried out in pain.

The telephone cord wasn’t long enough for her to make it to Mel and talk, so she set the receiver down and yelled for help. Mel’s face was red, and it looked like she was going to come apart.

“You’ve got this. Stand up and squat,” Haisley said before moving back to the phone receiver. “Please help us. I don’t know where we are. It’s a cabin we found after we were abducted. She’s having a baby. We need an ambulance. Help. Please!”

Haisley dropped the phone and headed back to Mel. Her friend looked like she was about to pass out.

“It’s too big,” Mel said.

Haisley didn’t know if it was or not, but Mel was having trouble. They needed medical help. If anything went wrong, it would kill her. She’d asked Mel to stay with her so she could help, but it seemed like she had only caused problems.