AllFreeNovel
Share Us
When I make it to them, I rush to wrap my arms around Ari. “It’ll be okay,” I whisper into her ear. Her body shakes against me.
“Enough,” he barks, pulling us apart. “Grab the shovels in the back.” He pushes me forward with the head of the gun shoved in between my shoulder blades.
For a moment, I close my eyes, horrified at what he plans on doing. He hasn’t said yet, but I can guess we’re digging our own graves. I round the back of the truck and lower the tailgate. Tears prickle the inside of my eyes, and I blink them back, needing to stay strong. I am not going to dig my hole and lay in it, giving up.
I’m going to fight. Save both of us.
I grab the shovels and wait for his next instruction. It’s no surprise when he tells me to walk into the heavy lined trees surrounding the property. Maybe he doesn’t know that the police are on their way. Maybe he doesn’t care.
I’m ahead of Ari and Carl, my eyes constantly scanning the area, looking for anything that might help us. I glance back to make sure Ari is okay, but Carl motions with his gun to keep going. The sound of sticks breaking and crunching dead leaves is the only sound around as we navigate through the trees. I swat away patches of gnats and spiderwebs as I try to memorize the path we’re taking while listening for sirens or cars. At first, I was dragging the shovels to leave a trail, but Carl’s not a stupid man and caught on quick and shot his gun once in the air. My knees buckled, and I tripped on a rock as I looked back to make sure he hadn’t shot Ari. I yelp as my left palm catches the corner of a sharp stick.
“Get up!” he yells. “And pick up those damn shovels.” Tears run down Ari’s face, but she nods to tell me she’s okay. “Next time, your friend here will have a hole inside her.”
I shake out the pain and stand back up, making sure that the shovels don’t touch the ground as we continue our trek into the woods.
The crunching behind me stops, and I turn around. Carl has stopped and is staring at the trail we came from. He turns in a slow circle, staring through the trees. Did he hear something? Is this the moment I’ve been waiting for? It’s time to fight. My grip tightens around the shovel in my right hand as I drop the other one. With every ounce of adrenaline I can muster, I swing the shovel like a bat, hitting Carl square in the head.
He moans and falls to the ground, and I hit him one more time in the head. Zander’s words echo in my mind: “Immobilize the threat and run like hell.” I grab the gun he dropped, and Ari and I take off running. I didn’t account for the fact that through the panic, we didn’t care which way we were going. Away was most important. I pull her behind a large oak tree and pull off the tape over her mouth. She draws in a bunch of shallow breaths as I fumble with the tape around her wrists.
“Do you think he’s dead?” she whispers.
Both our faces jerk up when we hear footsteps rustle over the brush off in the distance. I put my finger over my mouth and hold the gun out, ready to shoot.
“You’re a lot tougher than I gave you credit for.” Carl’s voice grates out in anger. He’s not close, but close enough that if we run, he’ll hear us and catch us. I pull Ari down so we’re squatting. “But you can’t hide from me. I’ve hunted animals my entire life, and when I catch you, I’m not going to bury you. I’m going to make you suffer, stuff you, and stick you on my mantle as my most prized possession.”
I grip the gun tighter. His voice grows closer, and the crunch of leaves becomes more defining. He can throw out disgusting threats all he wants, but I have the gun, asshole. My heart pounds against my ribcage as I focus on his steps, each one getting closer. Ari squeezes my arm, and I nod. I know. I’m going to shoot him.
“Gotcha!”
We both scream in surprise as Carl jumps out from behind a tree in front of us. I gather my wits, point the gun, and squeeze the trigger.
Click.
I tighten my finger around the trigger again.
Click.
Nothing happens. No. No. No! This can’t be happening.
Carl’s laughter bounces off the trees surrounding us as he pulls out another gun from under his shirt. He waves his gun back and forth in the air, taunting me.
“Just in case I underestimated you.”
“Please, let her go,” I plead as the fight drains from me. “Please. You can do whatever you want with me.”
“What? No. I’m not leaving you,” Ari mutters.
He laughs again, flashing his yellow teeth.
“See. She wants to die too.” He walks toward us, and I stand in front of Ari. She needs a chance to run. This is all my fault. She would’ve never been in this position if I had died in that box.
Out of nowhere, a brown streak of fur darts past us, tackling Carl to the ground. Growls and screams fill the air.
Ari and I both gasp at the horrible sounds. She screams, “Run!” grabbing my hand. We both take off as fast as our legs will go, hurdling fallen trees and trying to keep our footing so we don’t fall. My legs burn as the sounds of Carl’s yells get further and further away from us.
Bang.
The sound of a dog’s loud whimper stops me in my tracks. “Nooo!” I scream, bending over, not able to catch my breath.
