“So we go off his path?”
Noah shakes his head. “No. We’ll never get far in there; it’s so overgrown, we’ll barely be able to move, let alone run. He’s not stupid. He’s cleared only the areas he wants us to use because he knows we’re not going to get far in the interior.”
“So what now?”
“I don’t know yet,” he whispers, frustrated.
“We’ve walked for miles. How many cameras could he have put in?”
“We’ve also re-trekked a lot of the same ground because of those fences. He must have us blocked in a certain area. He’s been planning this for so long, he’s probably got cameras everywhere.”
“That’s a lot of cameras.”
“Don’t underestimate the mind of a killer, Lara.”
“So what do we do?”
“We can’t go into the forest, so that leaves only one choice,” he whispers, pressing his mouth to my ear. “We go higher than them.”
Higher than them.
We climb the trees.
Could it truly be that simple?
TEN
Morning comes like a nightmare.
Our last day before he comes after us. We both know it.
Even after the events of last night, we’re both very aware that by this time tomorrow we’re going to be running like hunted animals. I can’t eat. I can’t even drink. Fear has lodged itself into my body and I can’t shake it. Gone is the nausea, the crying, the terrified chatter. I’m just silent, legs tucked to my chest, back to the tree, unable to make my body function.
I don’t want to die.
I don’t want to be hunted.
My chest clenches and my skin prickles at the very thought.
“Hey,” Noah says, squatting down in front of me, studying my face.
He looks scared, too, but he’s holding it together. He’s stronger than me.
“Lara, look at me.”
I meet his eyes.
“We’re going to get out of this.”
“Are we?” I whisper, and even that’s shaky.
“Yeah, we are, but you need to stay with me. You can’t shut down now, you can’t close in on yourself. I need you, and you have to be strong. Can you do that for me?”
I nod.
He glances at something over my head, then leans in and whispers, “You were right, he’s got one hell of a setup going on in these trees. We’re going to climb them, and he’s going to see us doing that, but at least we might have a chance of throwing him off our scent.”
“When are we going to do that?” I whisper back.
“This afternoon. But first, we’re going to make weapons. I need your help with that, so you have to get up and get yourself in the right frame of mind for me, okay?”
“I don’t think I can,” I whimper.
“Lara,” he growls, his voice firm. “I will be hard if I have to, if it makes you move your ass. You need to get the fuck up, do you hear me?”
I start to cry. He’s right. I know he is, but it’s hard to find the strength he needs from me. I haven’t been that girl in a while. And this situation is beyond every horror I’ve ever imagined. I feel myself crumbling.
“Up,” he orders, standing. “Get up.”
Is doing any of this worth it? “Noah,” I sob.
“Get up,” he bellows.
I get up.
Somehow I push to my feet and walk toward him. He takes my shoulders, shaking me softly. “You gotta find your strength. I know it’s in there. Find it. You have to find it or you’re going to die before tomorrow is over.”
I make a terrified sound in my throat.
“Find it, Lara.”
Find it.
Find it.
I have to find it.
“I’ll find it,” I say, meeting his eyes. “For you, for me. I’ll find it, Noah.”
He cups my jaw and then, without warning, he brings his lips down over mine. It takes me by surprise and for a few seconds I just stand there, legs trembling, body unable to move. Then I kiss him back. I give it all I’ve got. His strength pours into me, lifting me high, taking me to the level I need to get through this. Our tongues clash, our bodies press together, and our lips move like we never spent a single day apart.
With a groan, he pulls me closer, hand on my lower back. Our bodies fit together, big and small, strong and fragile. He lifts me up enough that my feet dangle just off the ground. I wrap my arms around his neck and give him everything I’ve got to give, because the reality is I might never know what it’s like to kiss Noah again.
He pulls back after a few seconds and stares down at me, running his thumb over my swollen bottom lip. “We’ve got this.”
“We’ve got this,” I repeat.
Then he turns his head to the cameras in the trees. “You’ll crash and burn, fucker. You can be sure of that.”
I hope whoever is behind those cameras is squirming right now knowing that Noah and I are in this together.
Noah lets me go and when my feet touch the ground, I feel stronger, like maybe with this man beside me I can get through this.
“What do I need to do?” I ask.
“Go and find the thickest branches you can, the sharpest rocks, anything you think can be used as a weapon. We’ll carry it on us so it can’t be too big.”
I nod and turn, disappearing down the rugged path. I venture off for a moment or two and realize very quickly that Noah is right. The path is rough, but off to the sides is a mess. There’s no getting through the thick stands of trees covered in dense layers of vines. The trees do space out in some places, and we might be able to use those places to hide, but we wouldn’t be a safe distance from the path.
I push branches out of the way, looking for sharp objects. I manage to come up with a few thick branches that have snapped off and a few lethal-looking rocks. I carry as much as I can back to the little camp we set up. Noah is sitting on a fallen log, using a rock to carve a stick. He’s made a sharp end that looks like it would easily glide through someone. I take another piece of wood and a rock, then I sit beside him and start doing the same.
By the afternoon we have three spears, two knives, and five sharp rocks that not even I would want to mess with. My fingers are raw from carving and I have splinters, but I feel a little safer now. These weapons might not do much against a killer, but they leave us with a whole lot more than nothing.
“We’re going to wash our clothes today, fill more coconuts and put them in the trees, then eat as much as we can and drink as much as we can before climbing them ourselves. I don’t know how this is going to go tomorrow, but I do know we might not get much chance to stop for water. We need to be prepared.”
I nod, stomach twisting with that well-known fear again.
“Let’s go find the stream.”