1 Chapter 1

She kept on running until she could no more. Twigs cracked under her feet as she ran into the thick forest. Gunshots kept on firing into the thin air, leaving her with a hair's breath.

"Don't let her get away!" yelled one man. Amanda never gave up but instead kept on pushing. With a three-month old baby in her hands, stopping was far from her mind.

"Shhhh my baby. Don't cry, mommy has got you." She whispered as she ran until she disappeared into the thick forest.

"Where did she go?" The man commanded.

"Unfortunately, we lost her sir." one man replied.

"You lost her? You are fired!" the man shouted in disappointment. The men began returning to their cars as they captured the few people that where left after they had destroyed their homes.

"Take them away." He commanded.

"You are now safe my child." Amanda whispered to her baby. She got out of her hiding spot she had recently found and began walking. After hours of walking, she began to hear the sounds of factories. "You hear that Miriam, we are almost home." She smiled as she began to walk faster. Finally she got to the first road from the forest. She quickly rushed and stood in the middle of the tarred road. She began to flag her hands as soon as she saw a car approaching. The car slowly began to stop as it got nearer to Amanda.

"Where are you going ma'am." The woman who was in her late 40's asked as she opened her car window.

"Moonstone." Amanda replied.

"Get in, I will help you get closer to the town," said the woman in the car.

"Thank you so much ma'am." She said as she got into the car and then drove off.

"Are you in pain?" the woman broke the silence.

"No not at all. I just need to get to Moonstone." She replied as she looked outside her window.

"Because I could take you to the hospital since you are bleeding." The woman offered.

'Listen lady, I need to get to Moonstone and that's it. Please!" shouted Amanda.

The woman being in her late 40's, felt disrespected by Amanda's reply. With that she stopped the car and slowly turned to her.

"You do realize it is my car and I am offering help to you." She said.

"I do realize and I am sorry." Amanda apologized.

"Yes I realized that...….wait what is that on your neck." The woman examined.

"It's nothing just a birth scar." Replied Amanda. Silence broke between the two. The woman slowly turned to her steering wheel and began reaching for her phone.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Warned Amanda.

"The woman quickly grabbed her phone and quickly dialed a number. "I got her!" she yelled through the phone.

"No!" shouted Amanda as she reached for the phone. She quickly put her baby on the seat next to her and began rustling with the lady. Her being an experienced fighter, it didn't take time before she left the woman unconscious. She slowly sat back and took a deep breath before she carefully took the lady out of the car. She slowly laid her off at the side of the road and quickly got into the car and drove off.

After miles of driving, Amanda stopped the car to take a break and attend the baby who was crying. She went to the back seat and took her baby into her hands. She slowly removed the blankets that covered the baby and began nursing the bruises the baby had. She softly began to sing a lullaby to drive the baby to sleep. She grabbed some bottled milked she had in her small backpack and began feeding the baby. She softly brushed her baby's hair with her hands as she sang to her. Without wasting time, the baby finally slept. Amanda slowly put her down and went back to the driver's seat. She began driving until she saw a sign written 'MOONSTONE 10KM.'

Happiness flew up and down her spine as she began driving faster.

'By morning, I will finally be home.' She said to herself. Suddenly, fate had already decided. As she got nearer to the town, huge trucks began to show. Amanda began to panicking as she realized that the cars she was running away from where the ones she was driving towards. She quickly stopped and reversed her car as fast as she could. To her surprise, a mayhem of trucks where surrounding. She was only left with two options, to surrender or risk her baby's life. She didn't think twice of the decision she had made. She took a deep breath and drove her steering wheel left.

Deep into the forest she went as she lost control of her car. She looked up as tears slowly began to form from her eyes. She closed her eyes and began to pray. She slowly began to hands off her staring wheel when she opened her eyes. 'Another road!' she screamed. She thanked the Lord for what had happened and confidently took hold of the steering wheel. She reached the next road and began driving as fast as she could. Buildings started to materialize. 'Finally.' She smiled as she drove into the city.

She drove to the nearest hospital and packed her car. Then went to the back seat, grabbed her baby and all her details and walked into the hospital. She walked to the receptionist and pulled out her id.

"Greetings ma'am. I am Amanda Roberts I would like to set this baby for adoption and after that help me get to a mental health care." She panted.

"Ma'am I can't help you with that. You have to come back tomorrow and….." the receptionist got cut before she could finish.

"If you don't help me now, you are going to hear that a woman was found with a dead baby in her hands. At night I hear voices that tell me to do terrible stuff and I don't want to do it to my baby." She cried.

The lady took the baby and organized a Centre for Amanda to go to. "Here you go, take this card it will direct you to the nearest mental health care. When you get there, show them that card and they will help you from there." Explained the lady.

Amanda quickly grabbed the card and looked at her baby before she walked out of the hospital. "Can you do me a favor, please take care of my baby for me. I see you will make a great mother to her." Smiled Amanda as she walked out of the hospital.

The lady quickly looked at the baby and softly smiled as she brushed her hand on the baby's face. She smiled and laid the baby on the small bed that was behind the counter. The baby giggled before slowly going back to sleep.