Born 01 - Born

farms. She won't be a breeder.
    I won't let either of us end up that way.
    I see a small silver thing on the ground. I look at her. "Poke that stick this way again."
    She slips her skinny arm through the bars and passes it to me.
    I look back at the men. They are getting drunk, and the fire is starting to dim.
    I flick at the silver thing and drag it back to me with several small movements. It's an old rusty nail with a silver tip. I reach my fingers through the bars and grab it.
    "How old are you?" she asks, watching the men.
    "Nineteen, almost twenty."
    "You look older."
    I want to frown at her, but the nail in my hands feels too amazing to bother. I pass her the nail. "Pick your lock."
    She eyes it, smiling. "Wow, you're good." She reaches her hands through the bars. She makes a funny face, and I hear the clunk of the lock. She picks locks faster than I do. I've only ever picked a couple.
    "Stay in the cage with the lock open."
    She nods. "Momma says we have to do whatever it takes not to be a breeder. I will die before I go there."
    Her words remind me of the girl in the back of the truck who screamed. I feel sick. I am even more determined to save her.
    The rusty nail clanks in the lock.
    "Want me to do it?"
    I give her a look. "They’ll notice your tiny arm slipping through to my cage."
    I fumble with it again.
    "Dipshit is coming back," she says.
    I pull my arm in and sit on the nail.
    He grins at me. "I think I wanna taste the merchandise before I give it away."
    He pulls a key out of his pants and licks his lips. He gets down on the ground in front of my cage and sticks the key in.
    "You're gonna like this," he says as he grins at me.
    I feel like throwing up.
    He opens the door and reaches in lightning fast. His huge hand grabs my thin wrist and clamps down. He drags me from the cage. I kick at him but he's really strong. He pins me to the ground on my stomach. He pulls my hair and whispers into my ears, "Scream and I slit your throat."
    He lets go of my hair with force and shoves my face into the pine needles and dirt. I cough and choke. My eyes flicker at the young girl. She looks terrified.
    "Don’t do this in front of her," I beg.
    He shoves my face in the pine needles again. "She needs educating. Where you two are going, you'll both be needing to know how to make a man happy. Think of me as your teacher."
    I feel him grind himself against me. I throw up. I can't stop myself. I don’t have anything in my stomach, but bile fills my mouth. I spit it to the side of my face, fearful he will rub my face in it.
    He pulls my pants down. I feel his hands on my underwear. I want to scream and fight but my hands are pinned. If I scream, he will kill me. I make a snap decision that death would be better than this. I open my mouth to scream as he puts all his weight on me and covers my mouth.
    Her little voice whispers in my ear, "Shhh, Em. Don't scream. We need to go now. Before they find him."
    Tears spring from my eyes as I look back and see his open eyes still staring at me. The rusty nail sticks out only a little bit from his head, next to his eye. Blood trickles down his face.
    She heaves him off of me quietly. The fire is only twenty feet from us and I can see that the group of men has dwindled. They must have gone to sleep. I push myself up and grab my pants. I see my knife in his boot. I take it. I hold it tightly. I want to stab it into him.
    She grabs my hand and points to the woods.
    We walk hunched over. I grab my bow and quiver and follow her into the forest. We run fast, even though we are barefoot. I recognize the forest after a few moments. Even in the dark, I know where we are.
    "Oh, shit." She sounds panicked.
    I stop, hearing her speak. I'm ready for the worst and instead it's the best. I see yellow eyes glowing in the dark. I drop to my knees, ignoring the branch that cuts my knee. His paws are around my neck within seconds. His warm breath is in my hair.
    I cry. He holds me like a mother would a child and I feel soothed.
    "He's yours?"
    I nod through the tears. "Leo."
    She pats his ears. "He's a big dog."
    I smile. "He's a wolf. A timber wolf."
    "Well, we better get moving before they find us."
    I stand and run toward the farmhouse. I know it's through the woods and not far. We can hide there until they're gone. My brain can't seem to make my own survival important. I need to know if Jake and Anna are safe.
    The dark shadow of the farmhouse looks like an outline in the open field. I run