Leaving Scientology via Escape From Narconon Part II

On one side of the compound there was only large hills where I would have been seen walking up them from anywhere outside the Narconon building. This direction would have been my last choice for an escape route. I made sure to ask one of the "teachers" what was on the other side of the hills.

I didn't ask that "teacher" because I was interested in heading that way. I was interested in giving the impression I might head that way. I spent time walking around the base of the hill and looking up the hill after I asked about what was over the hill, for a couple days in a row.

My first attempted escape from the desert of Mesa, CA failed, and I was not going to mess this escape up, firstly because I could end up in a worse Narconon location, secondly because I knew a night in the desert or couple days in the desert could be fatal.

Directly across the from the hills were railroad tracks, which were still in use, but I didn't hear or see much train traffic. The idea of hopping on a freight train like a hobo never occurred to me before this week. I was open to the idea, but the train and the tracks were also visible from the compound. This was also a bad escape route, assuming the train would be going slow enough to get on, which still would have still been incredibly dangerous. The freight car’s doors would have likely been likely locked, which would have left me hanging on to the outside exposed to the elements. I also suspected hopping a freight train was a federal offense. This was my second to last favorable escape option. I asked a different ‘teacher’ privately if anyone had left the compound by train.

I had two more directions to choose from, the direction we came to the compound from, and the opposite direction. I knew the city of Caliente, NV was in the direction we came to the compound from. Where the road continued, past the compound, I had no idea. The “students” in the program also had no idea. I couldn't risk going down a road in the middle of the Mohave Desert. There were no buildings in that direction, no cars coming from that direction. I had to head back to the tiny town of Caliente, a very long walk. I had no money, no cell phone, and a torn meniscus from kicking my mother’s car door during her first attempt at an intervention. The last thing I needed was to leave my apartment in Redmond, WA. I had 2 Microsoft interviews scheduled which I would never make.

When I talk about kicking and screaming, it’s literal. I did warm them. I did tell them I had interviews scheduled. It fell on deaf ears. They believed stopping me from making my own choices was the only way to save to me. I would later learn the exact opposite is true:

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1975/05/using-our-free-agency?lang=eng

My family would not have believed what was going on at Narconon Fresh Start, I didn't even try to call them from the phones there. It was obvious phone calls were monitored and even cut short with a button on the floor.
I would later learn (by pretending to be a concerned parent after I returned to civilization) parents are told to not trust what their child says. They are told everything their child says is done with the intention of manipulating them, using emotions, and lies, and that nothing their child says regarding the facility would be the truth.

I had 1 more day to rest my aching knee, resist the impulse to ask to speak with my mom, and decide how I was going to do this.