Run (The Hunted) (16 page)

“I see several flaws in your so called plan,” Drew says while Reid thinks it over. “One, what if the hunter catches the kid before we can spring the trap? Two, don’t you think they are smart enough to smell something like this and not fall for it?”

“Worth a try, I say,” Joel shoots back. “Who asked you, pudge?” His eyes flicker to Reid and he grins. “Sorry,
Drew
.”

“Besides,” Drew goes on, speaking to Reid as if Joel doesn’t exist. The fact is not lost on the pack leader and his anger returns, smoldering. “We’ll just piss the hunters off. They’ll come after us even worse then.”

Something about Joel’s idea has sparked a light in Reid and he shakes his head. “It might work.”

Joel sits back and laughs, punching Marcus in the arm. Reid reminds himself not to stand too close to the bully. His right shoulder is still giving him trouble. “There, you see? Reid agrees.” He looks around at all the kids. No one meets his eyes, but a handful murmur how great that is.

Not for the first time, Reid wonders about Joel and what he’s done to these kids.

He shoves that aside for now. The idea of striking back, of getting even a small measure of revenge, is worth collaborating with the bully.

“How many are there?” Leila’s voice is so soft and unexpected everyone looks at her. She’s one of the few females in the group. Girls must be easier to catch, Reid figures. But not her. He wouldn’t count her out before himself.

“How many what, sweetheart?” Joel’s attention is very unwelcome. Reid makes it plain the bully should back off by simply taking her hand.

“Hunters.” There’s an edge to her voice, now. “How many hunters, smart ass.”

Joel looks like he wants to make another comment, one Reid is sure will start a fight. Instead he shrugs. “No one knows.”

“Have you tried this brilliant plan of yours before?” Drew is so skeptical even Marcus pays attention, though his face stays stony and blank.

“Nope,” Joel says. “Just came up with it, like I said. ‘Cause of the perfect spot and all.” He belches and scratches his stomach through his filthy shirt. Reid wonders why he doesn’t help himself to a fresh one. “Need a fast runner to make it happen.” Joel’s eyes are fixed on Reid’s. “Someone they won’t catch too easy.”

“Are you volunteering?” Leila’s hand tightens. Reid can feel the warning in that squeeze.

“Nope, not me,” Joel says. “Can’t run that fast. But I can swing a rock like a some bitch.”

Some bitch
is Joel’s favorite swear, obviously. Reid feels Marcus staring at him and turns to face him. Marcus looks away, but not before something in his eyes triggers Reid’s anxiety. Not everything about this situation is as it appears. And yet, the plan has a chance if he is willing to risk it.

“I’ll do it,” Reid says.

***

Chapter Twenty

Reid decides to wait until full nightfall. He is tired and needs to rest. His friends huddle around him as he doles out the last of the food, taking the final bar for himself. Leila tries to hand hers back to him but he shakes his head.

“We’ll all need our strength, I’m thinking.”

She nods, but doesn’t eat. Her pale eyes flicker over to the others. They are all sprawled out near the lip of the hole, Joel laughing over something he’s said to the dark and silent Marcus who simply stares at Reid’s little group.

“I don’t trust him.” Leila reaches for Reid’s hand again, but pulls back before they touch. “Please, can’t we just go?”

“Where?” Reid forces himself to swallow a bite despite it sticking in his throat. Her mention of leaving has made his fear rise. She’s right. They could just run off. No one in Joel’s pack could catch them if they really wanted to retreat. But his question remains and Leila looks away.

“Anywhere but here,” she whispers.

“I’m with Leila,” Drew says around a mouthful of his own. “There’s something really wrong with this whole situation. Did you see the hunters, how they acted? They knew we were there.”

Milo shudders and slides closer to Reid. “That was messed up. What happened to Trey.”

They all take a moment. Reid bows his head and tries to get the dead boy’s face out of his mind. It’s not working.

“I know.” Reid folds the end over his power bar and stuffs the remainder in his pocket, too nervous to eat anything else. “That’s why this is important. If we can take one of them out, the kids will know it can happen. It’s not the best plan,” he stops Drew from interrupting by raising one hand, “but if we can pull it off… Drew, if these kids learn they can fight back…”

“Reid is right.” Milo offers a little smile. “I may be a jerk, but I know when you’re doing what needs doing.” Reid accepts the boy’s apology. No one owes him anything.

“How do we know Joel won’t double cross us or something?” Drew tosses his wrapper to the ground with some heat. Leila immediately retrieves it and puts it in her pocket.

“What do you mean?” Reid is so wrapped up in the thought of deliberately baiting a hunter he can’t figure out the question.

“He obviously enjoys being the boss around here,” Drew says. “And sees you as a threat.” Drew glanced at Joel and back again. “I wouldn’t put it past him to try to get rid of you.”

Reid shrugs. That won’t be up to Joel. It won’t be the bully chasing after him through the forest with claws for hands and sharp teeth thirsting for his blood. So he doesn’t care at the moment.

“Let me do it.” Milo’s chocolate brown eyes never waver. “I can run as fast as you. Faster maybe.”

They all know that’s a lie. Reid smiles. “I know,” he says, “but if something happens, who will take care of Drew?”

Milo grins, but Drew doesn’t take the joke bait.

“I’m serious,” Drew says.

“I know.” Reid sits back, leaning against a tree-trunk. “But I’m the best one for the job. You’ve seen his crew. Aside from that Marcus, no one else looks like they could outrun you.” Another joke. Reid can’t help it. And, finally, Drew smiles.

“Fine,” he says. “Then you sleep and we’ll watch over you.”

“You all need to rest,” Reid says. The dark circles under Leila’s eyes are worse and even Milo looks ashen despite his dark skin.

“Never mind us,” Leila says. “We’ll take turns. And we’ll wake you when it’s time.”

Reid is sure he won’t sleep, he’s so keyed up, but when he allows himself to curl on his side with his friends around him, he is lost to the dark in moments.

***

He wakes to gentle hands on his shoulder, shaking him. Reid is instantly aware, senses hyper focused. He can smell the mix of stirred earth and crushed spruce needles, the hint of old smoke coming from the pit. The ground is both soft and hard beneath him, the darkness wrapping him up like a blanket. He turns and meets Leila’s eyes. She does her best to hide her fear for him, but he can see right past the wall she puts up.

“Joel sent for you,” she says.

When he tries to pull away from her she clings on, not tightly, just enough to make him pause. She doesn’t say anything else. She doesn’t have to. Reid just nods and removes her hands from his arm.

“It’ll be okay,” he says.

“Promise?” There is a hint of moisture in her eyes. She blinks several times before looking down, fingers twining around the laces of her shoes.

“Promise.” He can’t, not really and they both know it but she smiles at him for the effort he made.

“You need to do something for me.” Reid leans forward, lips against her ear. “Your turn to promise.” She doesn’t respond so he goes on. “If anything happens to me,” he feels her twitch in protest beside him, “I want you to take Drew and Milo and run.”

He leans back, meets her eyes. She just nods once and gets to her feet. He stands beside her, turning to look for the others, and comes face-to-face with Marcus.

“This way.” It’s only the second time Reid’s heard the other speak and the first time he paid attention. He was expecting a Latino accent, but Marcus’s voice is almost polished English. Like he spent time in Britain or something.

Reid follows him, Leila trailing along behind. He spots Drew and Milo standing apart from the others. When Drew tries to join Reid, Joel holds him back. Reid just stares at the bully and swears to himself he will survive this if only to teach the jerk a lesson.

No one touches Reid’s friends. No one.

He wonders at the passion in him, where his need to be alone has gone, his desperate loss of empathy. Everything is different inside him now. Leila’s hand squeezes his. She moves to join Milo and Drew as he realizes friendship trumps even the threat of death.

His dad would be proud. He’s on the right side again.

“This is the deal.” Joel grins at Reid. “You go out there,” he gestures into the forest, “and make lots of noise. When you hear a howl, start running back here.”

“Where is the trap going to be set?” Reid meets Drew’s eyes, silently commanding the boy to be silent while Joel answers his question.

“Right here.” Joel opens his arms wide, looking around. “If we can get the thing in the pit, all the better.”

“This is too large of an area.” Drew scowls, ignores Reid’s warning. “A lot can go wrong with this.”

“You got a better idea, pudge?” Joel doesn’t even pretend to care what Reid thinks of his attitude toward Drew and Reid realizes his friend is right about Joel’s goal to get rid of him. Reid decides he’s going to be in for disappointment.

“I do, as a matter of fact.” Drew walks off and Reid immediately follows. He sees the surprise in Marcus’s face and the anger in Joel’s, but ignores them both.

They don’t go far. Drew stops in a narrow part of a path, more deer trail than the cleared ways they have gotten used to. “See, it’s really sheltered here.” He points to exceptionally thick undergrowth. “And these trees are heavy with leaves but climbable.” He points upward. “This one is dying.” Drew shoves against a gray-barreled tree. It rocks slightly, ready to fall. “Reid leads the hunter here. He passes this spot, we knock down the tree. Won’t stop the thing, but should slow it down. Then the rest of us attack from the sides and back and from the trees above. The smaller kids can be up there throwing rocks. That way we corner it and have a better chance.” He meets Reid’s eyes. “What do you think?”

Reid is so proud he suddenly knows how his dad felt when he did something fantastic. Instead of embarrassing himself and his friend, however, Reid just nods. “Sounds good to me.”

He hears Joel grumbling behind him and catches the look of speculation Marcus gives Drew, but in the end everyone agrees and the plan is set.

It doesn’t take long for the kids to place themselves and they are almost done before Reid heads out.

“Be careful.” Drew shuffles back and forth from foot to foot, eyes on the ground. He seemed so confident when he explained the plan, but now he’s like a little kid whose puppy got run over. “We need you, remember?”

Reid squeezes Drew’s shoulder with one hand in answer and runs off into the forest. He can’t speak. Doesn’t trust what might come out.

Reid only goes so far. He wants a good start at the trap and he knows how fast the hunters move. He decides he’s going to get some payback one way or another and chooses to shout profanities into the night to summon the creatures in black.

Reid’s first curse is barely past his lips when he hears a howl. It’s close. Far closer than he’d like. He freezes for a moment, shocked that this is actually working before spinning in his tracks and running with all his strength for the trap.

There is a long and terrifying moment when he is certain he won’t make it. He risks a glance behind him and sees the hunter on his trail, so near he can make out the flash of the things claws, the grin on its face as its white teeth shine in the moonlight. Reid has an irrational thought, how the full moon is beginning to wane and what will happen to them when it is new and they can’t see anything? But he is running for his life and the answer is irrelevant, entering and leaving his mind so fast it’s like the pace he’s keeping.

And then he is on the trail and swerving for the underbrush, diving for safety. He hears the hunter chuff behind him, knows he has seconds before those claws gut him. Reid’s heart leaps. He’s safe! Until his body stops up against something hard. Joel stands over him, grinning down on him, looking almost as evil and alien as one of the hunters.

“He’s here!” Joel uses one foot to roll Reid back into the path. Reid is so shocked by the betrayal he lies there and stares into the other boy’s eyes while the hunter’s breathy chuffing gets closer. Joel laughs. “Enjoy your dinner.” With that, he runs away.

Reid scrambles to his feet and faces the hunter. It is still ten or so feet away, but he knows the thing can close the space faster than he can run. His mind flashes to the back of his pants and the weight there. He has a chance after all. If he can act quickly enough.

His hand slides around to the waist of his khakis and feels for the knife he liberated from Mustache and Scar. His fingers find the heavy leather sheath but the blade itself is gone. Reid seizes up, cursing and yelling in his head while he stares at the hunter.

It laughs at him, a horrible sound, its shining silver eyes only glimmers around its massive pupils. It takes its time, easing around him, head cocked to one side, snuffling his scent.

It’s hopeless. He is lost. Betrayed. And not the first to be turned over to the enemy, Reid knows it in his bones. This is how Joel has survived. He has made a pact with the hunters, giving up lives for his own worthless existence. It is this knowledge that prevents Reid from quitting. He can’t give up. He has to make Joel pay for what he’s done and Reid can’t do that if he is dead.

Someone screams in the distance. The hunter is distracted. It’s brief, but Reid takes it and dives for the bushes. He is up and running as the creature snarls behind him. Reid swerves and weaves, using every trick he can, going on instinct and his will to live, dodging death at every corner. The hunter is right behind him, but can only move so fast in the underbrush. At one point Reid grabs the trunk of a spruce and uses it to leap over a shrub, risking a look over his shoulder.