“Just go. Please. It’s all right. I knew what would happen. I knew.” She closed her eyes as I kept my palm on her cheek. Her words came in shuddering breaths. “You did all you could. It’s okay. I was never going to make it.”
The knowledge that I couldn’t save her ate at me like acid. She put her hand over mine and leaned into my touch, her eyes closed.
“I’m sorry.” I choked down my sob.
“You did all you could.” Her voice stuck in her throat, but she shed no more tears. She peered at me, her light eyes unfocused. “Run.”
I scanned the hollow for any sort of camouflage, something to at least give her a chance. A fallen branch caught my eye. Several limbs sprouted from it, and the crisp leaves were still attached in places.
“Gavin, if we can get her to that limb, maybe we can hide her under it and cover her with leaves to keep her warm.”
He stared up the hill. “That’ll take time. Sunrise is soon.”
“I know. But we have to. We can’t just leave her.”
He wiped a hand down his sweaty face. “You’re right. I’m sorry. You’re right.”
I pulled my glove back on and dragged her to her feet. We made it to the fallen limb, and she climbed under the branches. I gathered up armfuls of leaves from a little farther up the slope and piled them around where she lay curled up. Gavin helped as best he could, and after a while, she was completely hidden. I got on my hands and knees and spread the leaves out around where we’d taken them to hide the disturbance.
The sky was brightening, the sun threatening. The hunt would begin soon.
I clambered back up from my aching knees. “Okay, Brianne. Just stay there until the sun is high. It’ll be okay.”
“Thank you.” Brianne whispered her absolution, though I would never forgive myself for leaving her behind.
“Let’s go.” Gavin started ahead of me, using saplings to help pull himself up the steep incline. He groaned with each heavy step on his injured leg, but he kept moving.
I turned and followed, using the same sapling technique.
When we got to the top of the ridge, my legs shook, fatigue settling into my deepest parts.
“What’s that?” Gavin pointed down into the next valley. Smoke rose through the darkness, floating along the tops of the skeletal trees. It must have been a cabin of some sort.
“I don’t know, but it’s probably another trap.”
“A warm trap.” His gaze lingered on the plume of smoke.
The smell of wood burning floated in the air, and I had never smelled anything more wonderful. I forced myself to scan farther down the ridge, away from the toasty lure of a roof and a fire.
“Come on.” I trudged away from the beckoning cabin, toward the west and the dark azure sky.
Gavin fell in behind me, his injured leg crashing heavily with each step. We stuck to the crest of the ridge until it started sloping down into a ravine with hollows running up either side.
The sun peaked over the farthest ridge I could see, and a gunshot cracked in the distance.
Gavin gripped my gloved hand and squeezed. “This is it.”
“I know.” I leaned into him and we just stood together for a moment.
“We’ll be alive, Stella. On the other side of this, we’ll still be alive.” His voice shook.
“My heart will still beat. I’ll still draw breath, but I don’t know if I’ll still feel alive.” My words flattened in the air and sank to our feet as we began to pick our way down the embankment.
Once we reached the relatively flat bottom of the ravine, we were able to pick up more speed. Maybe it was our second wind, or maybe fear fired our nerves and muscles to push harder. We continued a slow trot. Gavin favored his bad leg, but powered through all the same. Several hollows fell away as we continued deeper into the gorge. My heartbeat thundered in my ears until a buzzing noise cut through the rapid thump.
Gavin hauled me sideways until we hid against one of the large rock outcrops that dotted the forest. A square drone flew by, its four helicopter blades whirring as it eased down the ravine. The machine passed us by, then hovered for a moment. I held my breath and closed my eyes. I was in Cuba beneath the pool’s surface again, the vines snaking around my ankles and holding me under.
The noise of blades cutting through the air increased, and Gavin pressed my fingers until I lost sensation. Then the sound retreated and the drone kept going, the morning light reflecting off its metal surface as it purred away in the lessening gloom.
“Did it see us?” I whispered.
“I don’t know. I don’t think so.”
We stayed put until we were sure the drone was gone, and then took off again, running faster even though we were drained. Gavin’s limp grew worse. The terrain turned rocky again, the sides closing in as the slopes became more treacherous and the hollows petered out. Over stones and up steep hills, we climbed and descended, hopped streams and ducked under fallen trees.