The guard was only ten or so feet away from her, barely a shape in the darkness. There were trees everywhere. Elle wished she could find her sword. The Smith and Wesson was still jammed into her pants, somehow, but she couldn’t use that. The sound of one shot would alert the entire encampment that there was an escape in progress. She couldn’t compromise the safety of the others to save herself. The guard slowly stood up. Elle was too tired — wracked with too much pain — to take him by surprise, to kill him.
“Please, just let me go,” she said softly. “I promise I’ll never come back.”
The guard tilted his head. Stifling silence. No answer.
He lunged forward. He grabbed Elle by the hair and slammed her face against the dirt, grinding her cheek into the ground. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move. This was it. He was going to snap her neck — she was dead. She felt the pressure building on her spine. Her vision went starry.
There was a low scream and the pressure released. Elle wanted to scream. Was she paralyzed? Was this what it was like to lose sensation? The guard fell sideways and suddenly Elle’s vision brightened. The blood returned to her head. She clawed the dirt and forced herself upright. There was a blur of white teeth and a menacing, guttural growl. Bravo had sunk his teeth into the guard’s forearm. The guard was crying out in pain.
Bravo ripped a chunk of his flesh out, tossing it away. He growled lower, lunging again, snapping at his neck. The guard ran backward, tripping over a bush in the darkness, sprawling on his back. Bravo jumped on top of the guard and growled in his face, blood dripping from his fangs.
“Bravo,” Elle said. “Bravo, down.”
The dog’s tail twitched.
“Leave him,” Elle commanded. “Out.”
Elle slowly stood, swaying. She was dizzy. She touched her cheek. It had been slashed open during the tumble down the mountain. It stung. She could feel her lip going numb.
At the base of the sloping hill, she saw the curved sword beside her katana. She picked up her weapon and sheathed it. The guard lay on the ground, trembling, bloody. Bravo backed away, never removing his laser-like gaze from the man.
“Remember that we let you live,” Elle said. “Come on, Bravo.”
They left the guard in the silence of the woods.
Chapter Nine
Elle ran quickly and quietly, dodging boulders and making her way through the pine trees. The smell of sugar pine and cedar was strong in the air. The morning was crisp and silent. Elle was little more than a shadow, sprinting through the forest. And beside her, Bravo ran, too. He was quieter than Elle, his hunter’s instincts making him fast and alert.
Elle’s heart raced.
There was no stopping now.
There were no more options. This was the last resort.
She had stopped during the night only to tend to the cut on her cheek. It wasn’t as bad as she had thought — surface level. Enough to leave a scar but not enough to kill her. She had a medical kit in her backpack. She swiped the wound with antiseptic — it had stung worse than anything in the world — and slapped a bandage over it. The rest of her wounds could wait. All she could do was run.
Since escaping the Slaver encampment last night, the Slavers had realized that one of their guards was missing about thirty minutes after Elle and Bravo had left him at the bottom of the cliff. An alarm had rung through the stillness of the forest. They hadn’t stopped moving since then.
Elle was tracking the progress of Jay, Georgia and Flash. She had almost caught up with them. They were nearly out of the thickest part of the forest, moving toward the sloping, open mountains that led toward Palm Springs.
Dawn was just beginning to break over the hills. The desert was below Elle, and she could see three figures moving down the slope of the mountains. They were moving quickly, too. Elle’s heart lifted.
“Found them,” she panted.
About time. Bravo hung his tongue out, tired and thirsty. Elle offered him a quick drink of water. Humans move slow.
“Don’t antagonize me, I’m not in the mood.”
I’m just stating a fact. Don’t be so touchy.
Elle ignored Bravo and began her descent down the mountain. Bravo seemed to roll his eyes before following, allowing her to lead the way. Elle reached the bottom of the big hill at nearly the same time as the kids. They hadn’t yet looked behind them. They moved ahead, never stopping, never waiting.
“You know,” Elle commented, jogging. “We came all this way to rescue them and they didn’t even stop to see if the two of us were still alive. They just ran.”
What else did you expect? Bravo pointed out. They’re just children.
“So am I!”
You were born older, Elle. We both were.
Elle pondered this.
“Still,” she said. “It would have been nice.”
Yes, Bravo agreed. It would have been very nice.
Niceness was for losers and dead people in the apocalypse. Only the tough survived. At least, that was Elle’s humble opinion.
At last, Elle and Bravo caught up with the kids.
“Hey,” Elle called. “Wait!”
Jay turned around. Georgia and Flash whipped their heads backward. Flash stumbled and fell on his face. Elle couldn’t help it what she did next.
She laughed. She laughed long and hard, clutching her stomach.
“You guys are still so green,” she giggled.
“Shortstack!” Georgia cried. “Thank God, you’re alive!”
She rushed toward Elle and threw her arms around her neck. Elle stayed still, unsure what she should do with her arms. So she just stood there, arms at her sides, until Georgia pulled away.
“What happened to your face?” Georgia gasped.
Elle shrugged.
“We thought you were dead,” Jay said, shaking his head. “What happened back there? We just ran. We figured if you were alive you’d find us.”
They were right about that, at least.
“Oh, I just fell off a cliff,” Elle replied. “No big deal. Right, Bravo?”
“Whoa, you got a dog while we were gone?” Jay exclaimed.
“Hey, he’s not just a dog. His name is Bravo and he’s with us now.” Elle touched Bravo’s head. “He was a bomb dog. He can track, and he can fight.”
“He’s cute,” Georgia commented. “I mean, I’m not a huge dog person, but you know… I could be one, I guess.”
“You guys okay?” Elle asked. She looked at Flash as she said this. The boy was incredibly silent, never opening his mouth to say so much as a single word. “Flash?”
He nodded.
“He doesn’t talk much these days,” Georgia said, almost in a whisper. “Ever since… well, you know.” She paused. “It’s been tough.”
“Sorry.” Elle touched Flash’s cheek with her finger. “It’ll be okay.”
“How did you find us?” Jay asked.
“Followed the bread crumbs,” Elle replied.
He raised an eyebrow.
“Just be glad I found you at all,” she said, glancing behind her. “Come on, let’s keep walking. The Slavers will be looking for you guys for a while.”
“I can’t believe you came back for us,” Georgia said. “I mean, after everything. The argument and all that.”
“Believe it.” Elle looked at her. “So what happened, anyway? I showed up at the Jeep and there were Omega men dead, and you guys were gone. Pix was…” Elle stopped herself. “What’s the story?”
“Not long after you left,” Jay explained, “an Omega patrol from the city rolled in. They came out of nowhere. We were asleep. I didn’t even hear them coming.” He looked embarrassed to admit this. “They had us all at gunpoint. They were the ones who killed Pix — not the Slavers.”