Chapter 4

We veer to the right and duck over to the next street. As we sprint up that street, I gasp, “How’d it even get in here?”

“Must be a hole in the fence somewhere,” Ahmed pants.

The coyote dashes out in front of us—closer now. And it’s not alone this time. Two more—three more?—come barreling onto the street from both sides.

“Split up!” shouts Ahmed.

This time I don’t argue with that idea.

Ahmed turns around and doubles back. Gabby goes right. Destiny and I go left. Back to Main Street.

I can hear the coyotes growling as they chase us.

Destiny dashes straight across Main Street and keeps going, disappearing onto another side street. I head straight up the main drag. Well, not quite straight. I do the snake run, weaving back and forth in a sharp zigzag. Which might be the only reason I don’t get tackled by a coyote. Because I can hear one right behind me, jaws snapping. Not quite catching anything in its teeth. Yet.

But it’s going to catch me any second now. I’m a sprinter on the track team, but I’m not exactly an Olympic prospect. These animals can outrun deer. And then they, you know, disembowel said deer.

And now there’s another one in front of me. I don’t have time to figure out where it came from. I just know that I’m about three feet away from a mauling.

Attack by rabid coyote is not on my list of Top Ten Ways I’m Willing to Die.

I swerve to the side, through the empty doorway of a roofless stone building. The walls are about eight feet high. But the empty window frames are set pretty low. Low enough for me to hoist myself up onto a window ledge.

From there I easily boost myself onto the top of the wall. A coyote leaps up right behind me and nips the heel of my shoe just before I scramble all the way up. That’s as high as it can jump, though. The two coyotes take turns lunging at me. They both fall about a foot short.

But my balance on top of this wall is iffy. The stone blocks are just slightly wider than one of my feet. I’m crouched down, gripping the wall with my hands to stay in place. I’m about to jump down to the other side of the wall when I see the third coyote waiting there. “How many of you are there?” Then I look around for another exit.

The building right next to this one is also made of stone. Also with no roof. But much taller. Or at least some of it is. Looks like it used to be two stories. The wall facing me has partly collapsed. It’s maybe five feet higher than the top of my wall. Eye level with me, if I were standing up straight.

I try to guess the distance between the two buildings. Probably not more than eight feet. Definitely not more than ten. I hope.

Because if this doesn’t work, I’m dead. Or at least badly tooth-marked.

I turn my body as best I can. And leap.

Half a second later, I open my eyes. My arms are hooked over the top of the other building’s wall. The rest of my body flops below me. Success. Sort of. Now I’m fifteen-ish feet off the ground. Still in the crosshairs of at least one coyote. With even less of an exit strategy than before.

And now the stone wall I’m clinging to is starting to vibrate.

Just little tremors at first. I’m not sure if it’s just my own shaking, the pounding of my own heart. But now I feel the shaking get stronger. Shudders running through the stone itself.

This wall’s about to come down.

It seems to happen in slow motion. The wall tips sideways, toward what used to be the inside of the building. I can’t tell if it’s tipping over as a complete package, like a Lego tower, or if different sections of it are buckling and breaking up into separate chunks of stone. All I’m sure of is that I’m about to hit the ground. Ground that’s already strewn with rubble.

Maybe death by coyote wasn’t my worst option after all.