I’m voting for sprinting full-out, I said. Maybe we can move too fast for them to bite us.
It only takes one small nip, Rourke said. And just like you said, if Enid knows where we’re already headed, going blindly makes it riskier. If we go at a speed we can scent and track them, it gives us better odds.
I couldn’t really argue because it was two sides of the same coin. Quick or not, we were still in a shitstorm of trouble. I had to remind myself these weren’t mindless zombies. These were calculating horrors operated by a powerful supernatural. Whoever was pulling the strings was a master.
Rourke, I said. I think we need to really change our tactics, like out-of-the-box change.
How?
If we don’t do the opposite of our gut response, like Jeb said, we will never survive this. We need to stop making rational choices. I think it will only take one big change to throw us off the path we’re on that Enid can see. If that crumbles, she will lose her advantage.
That’s easier said than done, he said. In fact, I don’t think my mind works that way. My beast won’t allow me to lower my guard like that.
I’ll take the lead, then, I said. We have to be unpredictable, and my wolf is on board. I’ll let her take the reins first. How we were going to achieve this was anyone’s guess, but it was worth a shot. He growled, but moved to the side so I could take the lead. Clear our brain the best you can, I told my wolf. This was going to be easier for her to do than it ever would be for me. Think of nothing until the moment we do it. She barked, assuring me she had it. If we can do this successfully, we have a chance.
There was movement all around us. I took off at a trot, thinking about the last good book I read to take my mind off what we were doing to help my wolf. It seemed like eons ago when I actually had time to do something other than fight the next supe in line or battle through a ghoul-infested forest.
Rourke snuffed at me from behind, voicing his trepidation, but went along with the plan, staying close to me.
What was the last good book you read? I asked him as my wolf began to zigzag, based only on smell.
What? His response couldn’t have been more incredulous.
Just play along. Instead, what’s your all-time favorite book? You know, when you used to have spare time? My wolf was doing a good job of dodging the threats, but there were so many. I didn’t know how long it would take to throw Enid off—if it was even possible. You had to have read a book sometime in your life before you met me and our lives were turned upside down.
Jessica, I haven’t read a book in too long to remember. Watch out for those two! he yelled. Two ghouls, one a female about seventy and one thirtysomething male, came at us from behind a huge pine tree. The male was moving faster. Maybe age had something to do with it?
I see them. My wolf smoothly dodged them but picked up the pace immediately. And I’m not letting you off the hook about your lack of reading. We’re going to fix that in the future. But since we’re talking about it, my favorite of all time is Lord of the Rings. After the movies came out, I read them all one after another. So good.
He huffed at me. This is not the time for this discussion.
It’s the perfect time for this discussion—because we shouldn’t be having it! My wolf wove us in and out of trees, while I kept my mind on good books. Each time I heard a rustling, we shifted our movements and then shifted again. She had great reflexes.
Rourke followed me with no issue, but he was on high alert and couldn’t shut it off. I just hoped Enid had been tracking my movements and not ours together. Jessica, you’re moving toward the cemetery, Rourke said. I don’t think that’s a good idea.
My wolf is in control, I said. The sounds are coming more infrequently now. I think it might be working. If Enid doesn’t know we’re heading there, the cemetery can be safe, because all the ghouls are in the woods.
Nothing is safe, Rourke grumbled, veering with me out into the open.
I switched my mind to my favorite TV shows as we sped past several tombstones. I was feeling quite confident that maybe we’d thrown Enid off.
Not a second later, low moans came from a hill to our right. My head snapped to it in alarm.
Run! Rourke shouted, shoving into me from the behind. As fast as you can. Now!
The horror scorched into my mind like a blistering brand as I watched them come at us like loping zombies over the grassy knolls.
Wendigos.
24
Keep to the open spaces! Rourke yelled as we dodged and leapt over gravestones. The wendigos were running hard. They were very different from the ghouls. These guys were alive. We can’t fight off both ghouls and wendigos. We’re going to have to do something drastic.
Like what? I asked, glancing behind me. We’d gotten in front of them. I spotted only two, but that didn’t mean there weren’t more.