Reed stuck to Nathan without asking questions. They darted through the woods, dodging and twisting between the trees at an all-out sprint. No one else was in sight.
For Reed, everything had become surreal. He was running for his life, hunted by the police and a pack of dogs. In the back of his mind, he saw the black figure from that night in the alley—the clear shape of the rifle and that cruel, curving magazine. This isn’t supposed to be happening. If I get caught… He didn’t want to think about it.
He followed Nathan closely, hoping he knew where to go. They leapt over logs and briars and ducked under branches but never slowed from their full run.
Why was he doing this? Why had he decided to come tonight of all nights? Why had he ever started coming in the first place? “I knew my stupid curiosity would get me into trouble,” he moaned to himself.
On they ran—jumping, ducking, dodging, circling until Reed thought his lungs would burst. Once, they even took to a brook and waded through it for a hundred yards.
How cheesy, thought Reed. That’s the oldest trick in the movies. It had better work this time.
How long they ran, he had no idea. The sun’s glow faded from the sky into a gray twilight under the trees. He had a terrible stitch in his side and was beginning to stumble. He didn’t know how much farther he could go.
At last, they burst out of the trees onto a clear downhill slope and ran full speed toward the bottom. It took Reed a moment to realize they were running straight toward a woodland lake, several acres in size but, even when he did, it was too late to stop.
They reached the edge and plunged in without even pausing for breath. The cold water struck him in the face and knocked the precious air from his lungs. He struggled to breathe and then struck out across the lake, swimming. It was agony after running so far, but he pressed on, mostly because he would drown if he didn’t. Breathe, stroke, breathe, stroke, breathe—the cycle was endless. Darkening water and gray sky blended together before his blurry eyes.
At last, Reed felt the bottom rising beneath him. Sand and rocks met his clawing fingertips, and he struggled to his feet and staggered out onto the shore, heaving like an asthma patient.
The others were wading out of the water as well, dripping and out of breath, to draw together on the dry land. Reed joined the growing circle and realized they were not on the opposite shore. They were on an island in the middle of the lake. Apparently, he was one of the last to arrive. He bent over double, still struggling to catch his breath.
“That was fun!” exclaimed Lucy as she wrung water out of her hair. Her eyes sparkled, and her cheeks were pink with the exercise. “I hadn’t swum in a long time.”
Reed looked up and stared at her incredulously. Fun?
Elijah caught her eye and grinned back. “Yeah, that was pretty great! We left a nice trail for them to follow all night.” His blue eyes were fairly dancing as the water ran over his face from the hair that hung in dripping spikes on his forehead.
“What I want to know,” said Gabe quietly, “is how they knew where we were.”
The others fell silent. He turned his dark stare upon Reed. “You wouldn’t happen to have any idea, would you?” The tone in his voice and the flicker in his eyes left no doubt about his meaning. It was an accusation.
“Gabe!” flashed Sarah. “We are not going to blame anyone! For all we know, one of us could have slipped up!”
But even as she spoke, Reed saw doubt in her face. She would not meet his eyes.
“Whatever happened, we can be sure it was unintentional,” added Wilson. Reed searched his face, but he looked down uncertainly.
“We need to move into the trees,” Alec urged them. “We’ll have to leave one at a time toward the south, and we can’t let them see us waiting when they get here.”
Reed, crushed as he felt, realized their plan. When the trackers arrived at the lake after following a dozen confusing trails for hours, they would reason that their quarry was hiding on the island. To reach them, they would need a boat, which would take even more time and a great deal of trouble. While the police were busy with that, the young people would slip away to the shore and make their way to the city, leaving trails easily confused with their previous tracks.
They all moved into the cover of the trees near the center of the island. One by one, over the next hour, they slipped silently away through the darkness.
* * *
Reed felt awful. Even though he knew he hadn’t done what Gabe accused him of, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was somehow responsible. He hadn’t defended himself. What could he say? Besides, he just wanted to get away, to hide.
As he trudged up the road toward the city, leaving the woods and the lake behind, he brooded over it all. He couldn’t be the one! He had taken the utmost care to make sure no one saw him leave the Dorms. All his tracks were covered. What had gone wrong? Could… could there be a spy involved?
Reed’s mind jumped back to the first shakedown, set off by the mysterious ringer. Gabe. That night, Reed had first suspected and even doubted. But now… now…
Could it be that Gabe had turned them all in himself and was trying to shift the blame to Reed? That might explain his agitation over the past week and all his inside knowledge. He hadn’t wanted Reed to be there, either; it might have thrown some sort of kink in his plans. It was a possibility—dark, but still a possibility.
Reed finally arrived back at the Hill. His clothes, which he had wrung out in the woods, were wrinkled but dry from the long walk. Hopefully, no one would suspect where he had been.
Not a soul was in sight. It must be later than he thought, perhaps even past curfew. He neared his dorm and reached into his pocket for his ID card. It was gone.
With growing alarm, he searched his pockets. It wasn’t in any of them. Now that he thought about it, it had not been on him when he squeezed out his clothes in the woods. He must have lost it in the lake. He tried the door in desperation. Locked, as expected. The new card reader flashed at him tauntingly from the door frame. Now what?
He turned his back on the door and glanced around. His eyes fell on the spruce tree growing close by the wall. He was at the dorm’s back entrance. The night of the first shakedown leaped out of his memory, and he suddenly remembered Alec describing a way to climb up to the roof of the building. This tree was where he could begin. He looked up at the dark spire towering into the night sky. It appeared to be his only option.
Quickly, he pulled himself into the lower branches and clambered up through the limbs until he reached the maintenance ladder. This was where it got tricky. He licked his lips. With a hair-raising jump, he threw himself against the flat brick wall and barely caught the left side of the ladder. He swung for a moment, trying not to look down. Then, pulling his feet under him onto the bottom rung, he climbed up to the roof.
It was flat, as Alec had said, and easy to walk on. Reed crept along the edge until he saw the tree that stood outside his window, the young leaves and slender branches a shadowy tangle in the darkness. Reed stopped. Now for the worst part. He gritted his teeth. Slowly, he turned around and lowered himself off the edge into the dizzying black space. Down, down he went until he was almost out of arm length. He shut his eyes and felt desperately with his feet. There, he found the brick edging around the window. With a rush of relief, he dropped onto it. The light was on, but the room was empty.
Reed got his fingers into the corners of the window frame and pushed to open it. Nothing happened. He tried again. Still nothing. The window was locked. Reed cursed his luck and would have stamped his foot if he hadn’t been so narrowly balanced. Of all the nights for Reagan to shut the always-open window! Now what?
He turned himself around slowly on the narrow edging and looked down. Past his feet, the Square yawned up at him over thirty feet below. He gulped and lifted his eyes quickly. A branch stabbed his cheek. He pushed it aside and then stopped. Right in front of him, he could see the dim trunk of the tree that shaded the window. Alec had said it was possible to jump to that tree from this window. Reed licked his lips again. There was nothing else to do. He couldn’t make it back up onto the roof tonight. Gathering all the nerve he had (and a little more), he hurled himself from the window into the branches.
He found the trunk more easily than expected, perhaps too easily and a little harder on his face than he would have liked, but he was safe. Sliding down the tree, he dropped to the ground and dusted off his hands.
A sound caught his ear. He froze. Someone was coming. He slipped into the shadow of the tree and waited. A figure appeared out of the darkness. It was Alec, who was supposed to have left the island directly after Reed. He was cutting across the Square toward his dorm, passing very near the tree where Reed flattened himself.
Hope flashed upon him. Alec had promised Reed could come to him anytime for anything. Maybe he would remember that now. But then again, maybe he wouldn’t. Reed had just been labeled a traitor. It was still worth a try.
“Psst!” he hissed, stepping out of the shadows. Alec tensed and spun on him in a stance that would have made the late gunner tremble in recollection.
“Whoa!” Reed held up his hands. “It’s me. I lost my key and can’t get in.”
Alec relaxed. “Oh, sorry. Did you try the window?”
Reed nodded. “Locked.”
“Shoot. Well, my card’s kinda wet, but it might work on your dorm. Let’s try it.”
Relief washed over Reed. Alec was going to help him. They moved to the entrance of the dorm, and Alec inserted his key. The light turned green. The door swung open without a noise. It was too easy.
Reed stepped inside. “Thanks, Lick,” he whispered gratefully, using Alec’s nickname in the group. “I won’t forget this.”
“No problem,” said Alec, turning to leave. “Just returning the favor. Oh, and Reed, about what Gabe said: forget it. I don’t believe it for a second.”
Reed’s gratitude overflowed. “Thanks a lot. It wasn’t me, I promise!”
Alec nodded. “I believe you. G’night.”
As he climbed the stairs, Reed felt lighter than he had the entire trip back. Alec believed him. Never had three words meant so much.