Just as the sun is coming up, the air around them beginning to warm, light making his night vision shutter closed, Reid feels vibration disturbing the calm of the forest. He senses the pounding of helicopter rotors before he hears them, in plenty of time to duck and cover. He’s been wondering when one or more would show. Surely the pack is easy to spot. Perhaps the soldiers have just been securing the gates. And maybe they aren’t so interested in killing the hunters as Reid thought.
He’s safe at least. Reid knows from the GPS unit Marcus had that none of the normal kids have trackers inside them. While the rest of the pack scatters, Reid knows it’s no use. His eyes drift, meet Drew’s. If he stays with his friend he’s toast. The GPS trackers the pack have embedded in their bodies will lead the soldiers right to them. And to Reid by association.
When Drew tries to veer off and put some distance between them, Reid grabs him by the back of the shirt and hauls him back.
“No way,” he hisses in Drew’s ear. “I’m not leaving you behind again. Ever.”
Drew looks relieved then guilty.
They crouch together as the chopper swings low overhead, moving slowly, searching. Reid tenses, ready to fight. Running will get them nowhere this time. He feels Drew’s anxiety, the nerves of the pack. Even Minnie begins a low, deep growling beside him. He knows each and every one of them will fight for their own freedom to the death.
Reid’s jaw drops, the tension running out of him in a rush of lost adrenaline when the chopper continues on in its low, sweeping course, leaving them behind.
He forces himself to wait until the last of the vibration has faded. He finally steps back out into the open of the trail, his mind working over the situation, eyes locked on the distant trees over which the chopper has disappeared.
For some reason, the tracking system has failed. There’s no other explanation. The soldiers don’t know where they are. As fast as the pack has been moving, they should have been pinned down by now. Air support or not, the soldiers would know where they were heading, just from the appearance of the trackers.
If he’s right, if the GPS is no longer viable, things have just started looking much better. That’s a definite advantage. It perks his hopes a little.
“They could have just scouted us for ground troops.” For once, Reid wishes Drew wasn’t so smart.
But he disagrees right away. “That helicopter didn’t even hesitate,” Reid says. “It was hunting us, Drew. And had no idea where we were. I’ll take that as a good sign until I know otherwise.”
“Why didn’t they attack?” Emme and Nathan are the first to join them but the rest aren’t far behind.
“We’re thinking they can’t track us,” Drew says. “Either the equipment they were using to do so originally was destroyed when we attacked the compound, or there’s been some kind of malfunction.” Drew is in teacher mode again. It makes Reid want to smile. “If that’s true, it could mean we have a better chance of escape.”
Joel rolls his eyes. “I’ll believe it when it happens, braniac.” And yet, even he looks relieved.
“We don’t have much time if we’re going to make this work,” Reid says. “Whether they know where we are or not, they must know we won’t just run around in circles. The longer it takes us to reach the gate, the more time they have to prepare for us. Let’s get moving again.”
They don’t say a word, no complaints or grumblings, but simply fall into line and start running. Reid is grateful they are so compliant, remembering the constant battle he had to keep the other kids on the go when he was still human. Except, of course, this group isn’t afraid. Just very angry. And he knows they will turn on him and kill him if he lets them down. He’ll only get one shot at it.
Reid’s pretty sure he knows which group he prefers. Complaints or not, at least the other kids wouldn’t gut him and eat him given the chance.
They are close to the fence again, he can feel it. This ground is exceptionally familiar, the trail almost his second home. He’s very near where he was dumped that first night. A morbid part of him wants to go looking for the dead boy, the first one that showed him what he was up against. He needs to know if the kid is still pinned to the tree with two steel spikes, decaying corpse hanging over the spill of his own entrails.
Reid shudders at his sick and twisted curiosity, not for the first time wondering what he’s becoming. Of course the kid is gone. At least, he keeps telling himself that. All the while the hunter in him chuffs and snarls and wants to go see for itself.
He ignores it, but his feeling of familiarity is so strong he slows, signaling the rest to do so as well.
They know, too. It’s in the anxiety in their energy, the tension and excitement they hold inside at the prospect of freedom. Still, they have to be very careful. If they are at risk at all it’s now, so near to their goal.
Reid feels the presence of humans just before something whizzes by his left ear, so close he feels the wind from it ruffle his hair. It’s followed quickly by the crack of a rifle. Reid drops to the ground, the rest of the pack diving for cover. He scoots to the edge of the trees, sliding from the trail, but it’s full daylight now and there is less cover than he would like.
Soldiers shout from the woods on the other side of the pack. How they snuck up on him he has no idea, unless there were blinds nearby he didn’t sense. He curses his own lack of attention even while he shrugs off the guilt in favor of action. It’s irrelevant now. They’ve been spotted. Time to go.
More gunfire echoes through the forest, bullets whipping past. Reid hears someone cry out, glances to the side, just in time to see one of the pack collapse in a hiss of dust. There is no time to collect it. Still, one of the girls tries. And dies herself in a shower of glitter.
Reid takes one last moment to feel around him, to pay attention. Surrounded. The soldiers are everywhere.
“Reid.” Drew runs beside him. “Which way?”
He knows they are all following him, his pack, the very last thing he’s wanted since the beginning. How does he keep ending up responsible for others? He’d love nothing more than to dash off into the forest and leave them all behind, the hunter side of him thrusting itself to the forefront, battling him for control. It seizes his fear and shakes it, shoving it aside. As much as he’d rather stay human, he welcomes the calm his dark side brings.
Reid doesn’t answer Drew, there’s no time. He just runs, using the tree trunks to propel him above the underbrush. He hates to think his friend is right, that the helicopter was simply a scout to find them. If Reid has miscalculated, this fight will be over very quickly.
He spots the line of advancing soldiers up ahead and skids to a stop, shock and understanding actually making him laugh to himself.
The camo-clad troops ahead face the opposite direction.
So this trap, being caught, is simply bad luck after all. They must be closer to the gate than he thought.
Reid swings left, gestures to Emme and Nathan to hold. He turns, sees Joel and Billy on his right. He raises one hand: wait for it. Drops it. They surge forward in total silence and swarm the small troop.
It’s a short fight, messy and bloodless. Without their claws for a quick kill, the pack resorts to choking. Stronger, faster, more agile, the modified hunters slide over their prey with lightning speed and kill them all.
Not one soldier has time to fire a shot.
Reid surges forward with Drew beside him, hating himself for becoming a murderer but knowing now beyond a shadow of a fired bullet that these men would kill him at the first opportunity.
Joel looks up from his victim and scowls at Reid. Before he can point out their leader’s lack of participation, Reid joins them.
“The gate,” he whispers. “We’re almost there. That’s the only explanation.”
They huddle close, hyper hearing allowing them to remain near silent in their communication.
“We need a plan.” Emme is staring directly at him. “We’re here, so now what?”
“We need dust.” Joel is shaking as if from the idea of it, like a crack addict needing his next fix. “Nothing will stop us if we have some of the good stuff.”
“And then what?” Reid says. “Charge the gate?”
Joel grins, showing his teeth like an animal. “That’s right. Get the hell out of here. Run like a ‘sumbitch. Find Dr. Lund and kill her ass.” The others are muttering their agreement. “You got a better idea, we’re all ears.”
Reid understands their need. It’s his, too. Dust would make this so easy. But there’s one problem with that.
“So where are we getting the dust, Joel?” Reid punches Joel in the arm as hard as he can, a grin on his face, remembering it is the bully’s favorite attack. “You volunteering?”
Joel flinches from the blow and the suggestion. “Shut the hell up.”
“Let me tell you how damned stupid you are,” Reid says. “We have no dust.” Despite losses on their side, there simply isn’t time to stop. And the stuff dissipates so quickly, they either get it then or never. “We also have no idea how many soldiers are out there, you all have GPS implants that may or may not be working, and we don’t have a clue where Dr. Lund went. Am I covering all the idiotic suggestions you’ve just tried to pass off as ideas?”
Again they mutter as a group, grumbling, but in line now with Reid.
“We have to be smart about this,” Drew says. “Escape is fine. But once we’re out there, we need support. A place to hide. Money. Especially if we’re going to find Kirstin.”
Reid’s mind flickers at the word money, accompanied by a surge of fury. To a fat man in a dark suit and gold tie, smoking an aromatic cigar with diamonds sparkling on his chubby hands.
Syracuse. Reid tries to shove the image out of his mind but the grinning face just keeps coming back. The man could be useful. If they can find him, that is. For all Reid knows, he took off to go back to Arizona after the battle. If he even made it out.
No. He must have. Reid has no doubt someone as slippery and dangerous as Syracuse managed to escape in time. With Lucy. Reid’s anger tightens. His sister.
He has to escape. If only for the chance to kill her.
“We’ll take it one step at a time,” Reid says. “First, the gate. We need to scout it out, make sure we know what we’re up against. Then we can make an escape plan.”
“And after that?” Nathan looks so grim Reid wishes he had a solid answer to give him.
“I have some ideas,” Reid says. “Let’s stay focused for now. Emme, Nathan, I want you two to head that way.” He gestures to the left. “Circle around. Stay alert. See how close you can get to the fence. But don’t get too close. This is just recon.” He turns to Joel. “You and Billy go right. Same deal. If you run into soldiers, take them down only if you can do so silently. We want to make sure we stay hidden as long as possible.”
The four head out while the others hunker down. “Drew, you and I are going ahead.” Reid scans the group, catches the eye of a dark haired guy with a face full of freckles. “What’s your name?”
“Eddie.” His brown eyes glitter.
“You’re in charge of the others,” Reid says. “If anything happens, I want you to run like hell. We’ll either catch you or we won’t. Keep the dogs quiet and lay low. Got it?”
Eddie just nods with a sharp grin on his face.
Reid and Drew ease forward. It’s not long before he feels something pressing against his legs. He doesn’t have to look down to know what it is but does anyway. Minnie glances up at him and he groans. He should have ordered her to stay behind. The last thing he needs is the fun loving lab to be in the middle of this.
She surprises him with the level look she gives him. Her playful nature is gone. She is full of tension, eyes oddly intelligent, as though the dust has done something to change her awareness.
For all he knows, it has.
“Fine,” he whispers at her, “but you’d better keep up and stay quiet.”
Her tongue lolls out like she’s laughing at him before she moves on.
The going is slow, but not because of the terrain. Reid takes his time so they don’t stumble into trouble. Even at what feels like a crawling pace, within less than ten minutes they are hovering behind the trunks of large growth trees, staring at a heavily guarded gate just on the other side of the trees.
Reid and Drew exchange a look. They don’t have to speak. All Reid’s hope drains away at the sight of so many soldiers, guns and tanks.
Reid hears someone hiss and glances left. Emme and Nathan ease their way to his side. She shakes her head at him, her own optimism gone from her one human eye.
“Now what?” She just mouths it. Like he has an answer.
Reid gestures for retreat. They turn to go back when they hear it.
Gunfire. Coming from where they left the rest of the pack.
Reid runs, flying through the forest, covering the distance so fast he’s back in time to jump into the fight. This time he has no choice but to kill. A soldier swings toward him as he leaps from the trees. The rifle goes off, bullet flying wide as Reid lands on the soldier and takes him down. His hands reach out, grasp the guy’s face and twists. The soldier’s neck cracks, a sighing rattle the last sound from his mouth.
Reid is already on the move, another man dying as Reid plunges a stolen knife between enemy ribs, slicing upward and outward across the abdomen. Entrails gush out onto the forest floor. Gutting seems to be a natural form of attack. Reid has no time to be squeamish. The soldier drops his weapon, hands desperately trying to gather up the loops and coils of his intestines as blood gushes down the front of his pants, the loss driving him to his knees.
Reid tries not to think about the dead boy he encountered his first night and sidesteps the soldier’s intestines, refusing to leave his sneaker print behind this time.
Another bullet whistles past, this one skimming over his right shoulder. It misses, but makes him snarl, brings out more of the hunter in him. He turns and spots the offender, tackling him in the next heartbeat. The gun goes off again as Reid digs the knife into the man’s throat and slices sharply horizontal.
He hears a hiss, turns just in time to see one of the dogs disappear into a pile of dust. Reid spots Drew going for it while another soldier spins around to shoot Reid’s friend.
That soldier dies the moment the thrown knife enters his brain through his right ear.
Drew never looks up. Instead, he starts stuffing dust into his pockets. Reid makes it to his friend, grabs him as the battle ends. They are down three of the pack and most of the dogs. There’s no sign of Joel and Billy. Despite their need, there isn’t time to gather all of the dust. Reid can hear more soldiers coming.
Heavy gunfire startles him, shredding the leaves around them, thudding heavily into the tree trunks, missing all of the pack but still too close for Reid’s comfort.
“Run!” Reid does without checking on the others but knows it when they follow him. Like they have anywhere else to go.
The gate. They have no choice now. They have to try it. Suicide or not, they are dead if they don’t.
Reid lets the hunter take him over as he surges forward, wishing there were some other way, that this didn’t feel so much like a final showdown he is destined to lose.
He’s been in this position before so many times, it seems unfair. He’s a hunter now. He’s not supposed to have to run like this anymore.
But above all else, past the anger and frustration, Reid hates being out of options.
***