“I can’t believe he’s dead.” Cynthia was still sobbing. Dale’s death seemed to have hit her hard. Maybe it was just too many deaths. Too many lost friends.
“Get it together, come on. Get your stuff. Get your sleeping bag in your bag. Go!”
John took Cynthia’s hand and practically dragged her to her sleeping bag. He kept the flashlight on, but kept his hand over the glass, keeping the light very low, just enough to see what they were doing. Even so, it wouldn’t be enough. Soon enough, the others would come for them. What they wanted, John didn’t know. But he figured it had something to do with the nearby compound.
“Get your stuff!” hissed John.
But Cynthia just stood there like a statue, sobbing and unmoving. Had she completely lost it? He wouldn’t be able to carry her out of there. She’d have to get it together. And they couldn’t afford to leave her gear behind. Not even a sleeping bag. Without it, they might die of exposure when the weather got colder.
There was valuable stuff in Dale’s pack. But there wasn’t enough time to sort through it and take what was really good. So John would carry both packs. He worked furiously and as silently as he could, stuffing his sleeping bag back into his pack. He grabbed a couple things from around the fire, and jammed those in too. Fortunately, there wasn’t much left lying around the campsite. He kept the flashlight off, doing it mostly by feel.
John turned to see the two flashlight beams dancing along the ground and trees. They were closer now. They didn’t have much time left.
John took a risk by shining his flashlight onto Cynthia and her pack. He kept his hand mostly over the light. It might have been dumb, and he knew it was a risk, but he also needed to know whether Cynthia was going to be able to function. To his surprise, Kiki was there, licking Cynthia’s hand. That seemed to spark Cynthia back to life, and she started rushing to pack up her sleeping bag.
“You still with me?” whispered John.
“I am now,” whispered Cynthia.
John shouldered his own pack, tightening all the straps as quickly as possible. Next, he grabbed Dale’s bag and got it against his stomach and chest, working the straps over his arms. Dale’d been a big guy, and his pack was heavy. But it was worth taking. It contained food and ammo, not to mention the shortwave radio that was buried somewhere safely at the bottom.
It’d be slow going, weighed down by both packs. But it’d be worth it if they got out of there alive.
There wasn’t a doubt in John’s mind that those flashlights out there belonged to people who were intent on doing them harm. John and Cynthia were being hunted like wild animals. To what purpose, though, he didn’t know.
“Ready?” whispered John. The flashlight was off. They’d have to do it in the dark if they wanted to keep their position secret.
“Yeah. Come on, Kiki.”
“She’ll follow us. Don’t worry.”
John turned to see the flashlights getting closer. He took Cynthia’s hand in his own and started off, heading the way they’d come.
7
“They’re both dead,” said Smitty, moving McCarty’s corpse with the toe of his boot.
Kara stood at the abandoned campsite, examining it with her flashlight. If only they’d had more power available to them than their simplistic kinetic generator, she would have been able to use the high-powered beam setting, allowing her to find the two who’d escaped.
She didn’t keep her flashlight on for long. The longer she kept it on, the greater the chance was that she’d be shot. Max’s brother could very well still be close by, with a rifle trained on the campsite.
“Looks like they should have fought better,” said Smitty, giving a cold laugh that seemed to echo through the darkness.
"Stop gloating,” said Kara, her voice unemotional. “If we’re not careful we’ll end up like them.”
“They’re gone,” said Smitty. “There’s no way we’re going to find them. They’ve got their flashlight off.”
“You’re an idiot. We’ll find them. We need that woman. Come on, you go first.”
Kara shone her flashlight directly onto Smitty’s face. She had ordered him not to do the same to her. Being completely lit up made for a perfect target in the pitch black night. Shining the light on him wasn’t just a threat, it was a real danger.
A look of terror briefly crossed Smitty’s face before he got it together and nodded. “OK,” he said. “We’re moving out. We’ll find them, Kara.”
Kara said nothing. But she moved the flashlight away from Smitty. He breathed a sigh of relief.
The advantage Kara and Smitty had was that they didn’t have much with them. They could move quickly and lightly. The people they were pursuing were likely weighed down with huge packs.
“You first,” said Kara.
They moved through the darkness. There wasn’t any sound except for their footsteps.
As they walked, an idea occurred to Kara. “Smitty,” she said. “Turn your light on. And scan the forest as we walk.”
“They’ll see me,” said Smitty.
“Maybe,” said Kara. “But that’s a risk I’m willing to take. There’s no way we’re going to find them unless you put that light on.”
Smitty understood very well what she was asking him to do. There was a good chance he’d get shot.
It was a risk for Kara too. She didn’t want to lose Smitty if she didn’t have to. After all, he was useful for her.
And what was more, it’d be hard to take on two of them herself if she lost Smitty. But if he didn’t turn that light on, it seemed like they’d never find them.
“Do it,” said Kara.
Smitty obeyed.
Kara followed the light. The ambient light from the beam made it easier for her to walk.
“Look,” said Smitty, bending down and directing the beam onto the earth. “Tracks.”
“Good work.”
“Heavy treads,” said Smitty. “They’re carrying a lot. Or one of them is, at least.”
They picked up their pace, to the point that they were practically running.
There was no way Max’s brother and the woman would escape them. They couldn’t move fast enough with those packs. And they couldn’t move fast in the pitch-black night.
Up ahead, there was a noise. It sounded like a body had fallen down. Maybe someone had tripped.
Smitty had turned the light to the spot where the noise came from in an instant. Kara looked, expecting to see someone.
But it was nothing but a big dead log, still rolling slightly.
“Is that their idea of a trap or something?” said Smitty, letting out a laugh.
A shot rang out, sending Kara’s ears ringing.
She looked to Smitty, expecting him to have received a bullet. But they’d missed.
“Almost got me,” said Smitty, switching off the light.
“Turn that back on,” said Kara. “We’ll never find them without it.”
“They’re hiding somewhere, behind some trees. Didn’t you see? I wasn’t able to find them with the light. But we’ve got them now. They’re close enough to shoot us, so we’re close enough to get them.”
“Turn it back on.”
“I’m a dead man if I do.”
He had a point, but Kara didn’t care. She was too filled with anticipation of reaching her goal, of finding another woman to bring back to the compound. Her breathing had gone ragged and intense, and she could feel the desire pulsing through her, the desire to not just keep her power, but to make it live past herself. She needed a legacy in this world, and this was her way to do it.
Before Kara had a chance to speak, she heard something rushing towards them. Some kind of animal, snarling and growling deeply.
Smitty screamed.
“It’s got me!”