THE SUN IS a silent relief, the air much warmer than the night before. You couldn’t have slept long. Your body feels heavy, your legs sore from the miles you covered in the dark. Every muscle aches, but your mind is alert, awake.
Rafe is beside you. You brush the thin layer of dead leaves off him—the covering you placed over yourselves while you slept. “We have to go,” you say. “Time’s up.”
You made a spear this morning, a sharp piece of rock tethered to a broken branch. You used a long strip of denim from your jeans, wrapping it over and around, tying it tight. The blade is blunter than you would’ve liked, but with enough force it could break the skin.
Rafe sits up, wiping the sleep from his eyes. “How’s your ankle?”
“Good enough.” It’s half true. You took a strip of fabric from your sweatshirt and tied it around your foot to stop the swelling, but it’s still throbbing.
“How long do we have?”
“Until it’s unbearable?” you ask. “I’m not sure. I shouldn’t have run on it last night.”
“We didn’t have a choice.”
You nod, knowing you need time that you don’t have. Three days to stay off it, at least. You can make it another ten miles today, if you’re lucky, but it will be slow and grueling. And if he catches up . . . you don’t know if you can outrun him like this.
“I think we have to corner him,” you say, “wait for him. One of us has to draw him out. I can pretend to be injured—that won’t be hard. When he’s close, we disarm him.”
Rafe shakes his head. “I’m not using you as bait. It’s too dangerous.”
You pull yourself to your feet. As soon as you put your full weight on your ankle you feel a sharp, shooting pang. You draw in a breath, trying to steel yourself against it.
Rafe sees the pain on your face. It’s mirrored in his own. “Maybe you’re right,” he says reluctantly, standing to help you. “We can’t run like this.”
“We’re miles south of where we started. Ten, maybe eleven. He has to know which direction we headed. He must’ve taken the night to set up camp, otherwise he would’ve passed us already.”
“We have a lead, then.” Rafe nods. “Now we just need to find the spot.”