Sadie regretted her decision.

After days of no food, she had broken her rule and had given in to temptation. But their food looked so good, and they had so much, so Sadie didn’t think they would miss a few bread rolls and meat packets.

Now she fought the river current as it pushed against the rickety canoe she had found at the shore of their campsite. It had seemed like a good getaway option at the time, but now she wished she had chosen to escape on-foot instead. It would’ve been much drier.

Sadie was soaked, each stroke of the paddle causing the raucous waves to splash back in her face. A blanket fog had settled on the river so that she could hardly see anything. Not that it mattered much, because even if she could see, she wouldn’t have a clue where to go.

Sadie glanced behind her. She could see a few of the camp people staring at her from the shoreline, but they weren’t running after her. She let out a small breath of relief and allowed herself to relax a bit. However, her good fortune was short-lived, as when she looked out on the water behind her, she saw that a group of them were pursuing her in a much better and much bigger canoe than hers. Now that just wasn’t fair–why did she get the crappy boat?

Sadie paddled harder, but her arms were already tiring and her pursuers were quickly gaining on her, especially since they had more manpower. She looked for somewhere to dock, somewhere that would allow her to hide, but it was almost impossible to see anything through the thick fog. In the distance, she spotted a patch of trees that seemed to be a small forest. She headed in that direction, which with her luck, happened to be to the left, and the current was not only pushing her backward but also to the right. So that just made her task ten times more difficult.

Sadie pushed and pulled, pushed and pulled, but she didn’t seem to be getting anywhere. The canoe behind her was now close enough that she could tell they were yelling something, though she couldn’t make out anything. Sadie felt her arms slow down even more, and she considered giving up entirely. She was drenched with freezing water, and she was still weak and hungry. She hadn’t gotten to eat much of the stash she’d stolen when they saw her and she was forced to make her escape. She would’ve stayed to try and explain the situation to them, but something told her the big guns they were holding were not signs of peace.

The fog was getting thicker, and Sadie lost sight of the patch of trees. She didn’t know anymore if she was getting closer to them or was going into the opposite direction. She continued paddling blindly, motivated by the ever-closer shouts of her pursuers.

Eventually, Sadie’s canoe crashed up against the shore. She didn’t care where she was anymore, she just wanted to get away from the river. She jumped out of the canoe, and even though all she wanted to do was collapse on the ground and kiss the dirt, she forced herself to run, not knowing where she was headed. All she knew was the sounds of the camp people was becoming more distant, and that was a good thing.

Up ahead, Sadie caught a glimpse of green, and she almost shouted with joy. She pushed herself to go faster, knowing that if she could just make to those trees, she could disappear. Hiding was one thing she prided herself on. It was what had gotten her this far. She didn’t bother to check and see if she was being followed–one rule of running was to never look back. She was getting closer, maybe just a couple hundred feet away from safety…

Sadie’s foot snagged on something, and she tumbled tlo the ground. She cursed as her chin banged on a rock. She felt blood pour down her neck, but she didn’t have time to worry about it.

She tried to stand, but immediately fell back down as a searing pain shot through her right ankle. She was fairly certain she had twisted it. Panting, she slowly stood again, this time putting her weight on her left foot, which was difficult since her right foot was her stronger one. She started hobbling towards the thicket of trees, but she was making very slow progress. Still, she wasn’t that far away, so maybe she could make it.

Just then, Sadie’s hopes deflated as she heard the crunch of leaves behind her. Before she could even turn around, someone grabbed her from behind, holding her arms back so she couldn’t fight.

“Over here!” the person called out–a man, by the sound of his voice. “Stop struggling,” he said to Sadie. “I’m trying to–“ he grunted as Sadie reared her right leg back and kneed him in the groin. She made a run for it, but cried out from the pressure on her left ankle and fell to her knees. She started crawling–it was not her proudest moment.

Footsteps approached and then the man was looming over Sadie. She stared at his gruff face and his hard, black eyes, which was probably the last thing she would ever see. He reached into his backpack. Sadie closed her eyes, expecting him to pull out a knife and give her a slow, painful death for the trouble she’d caused.

Sadie waited for a few seconds, but when the pain didn’t come, she opened her eyes. To her dismay, there was a sandwich in front of her.

Confused, she looked up at the man. “You look like you need it,” he said.

Sadie grabbed it and took a hesitant bite, then started to cry.

It was the best sandwich she ever had.