Chapter 169. In Search of Her

Eleanor’s POV

I replaced the pump handle, stepped back from the gas nozzle, and clipped it into its holder. Then I turned on my heel and walked through the sliding glass doors into the small convenience store. For the first time in what felt like forever, I was free—out of that suffocating darkness, out of the forest that had tried to swallow me whole. Relief fluttered in my chest as I crossed the linoleum floor, my boots echoing against the shelves of snacks and soft drinks.

The cashier looked up from his screen and smiled, tilting his head in greeting. He waved, as though I weren’t a ragged, half-frozen wreck who’d just escaped a living nightmare. Rows upon rows of brightly packaged chips, candy bars, and bottles of soda gleamed under the harsh fluorescent lights. Along one wall, racks of laminated road maps stood like sentinels, blanketing entire states in glossy folds. I paused for a moment