Gray (Book 2) (25 page)

“Hurts some.”

She took that to mean it hurt a lot. “Dizzy? Confused?”

“Hungry.”

“That’s a good sign, I think.”

“Thirsty, too.”

Yes, he’d need more fluid than the mouthful of melted snow could provide to replace what his body lost through bleeding. She’d have to find wood and build a fire. Could it wait until later? No, best to try and find fuel now, let him recover while she melted enough drinking water to see them through to nightfall, and walk as far as he could manage before night.

“If you think you’re okay, I’m going to go strip the body. You’ll be able to use that sweater he had on. Maybe I can turn the jeans into a splint, so your arm isn’t bouncing around so much.”

She checked Benjamin’s eyes and color, decided it was safe to leave him for a few minutes, and climbed back over the ridge to plunder the body of the cultist. She hadn’t been paying attention the first time, but this time, she saw it was Calex, though his face was pretty torn up. She stripped him, pawed through his pockets, and searched in a wide circle around him for anything else he might have had. There was no backpack, nothing else. Maybe one of the others had more gear, but she would start a fire first before searching through the rocks for their remains. There was no sound or movement anywhere, so she thought—hoped—they were dead.

She’d find fuel nearby and build a fire next, get plenty of water into Benjamin and they’d manage to move another few miles in before dark. She’d have to carry both sacks, and probably the meat, but somehow, she’d manage.

With any luck they’d get a hard snow tomorrow, or the next day, and by the time a search party tried to come after Calex and the others, she and Benjamin would be long gone and untraceable.

They had fewer supplies than they’d had before their capture. But they had a fortnight’s meat and the fishing gear and a rifle. As long as he recovered from the gunshot wound, they just might make it for two weeks. And after that? Only time would tell.

The tale is concluded in
Gray III

Thanks to Peg, Lois, Ralph, and Sally for proofreading. Thanks to Jeff for shipping container information, and to many cult researchers and journalists for inspiration for The Seed.

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