Chapter 9 - Into the Wild
The forest was dense.
Trees were jagged silhouettes.
Clara moved fast.
She knew these woods.
She had studied the map.
The creek ran north.
To the caves.
She could lose them there.
She heard them behind her.
Shouting.
Flashlights cutting through the dark.
She ducked behind a ridge.
She caught her breath.
She was tired.
But fear was gone.
Only resolve remained.
She touched the drive.
Her life’s work.
Their undoing.
She wouldn't die here.
Not today.
She saw a light.
Moving fast.
They were gaining.
She needed a diversion.
She saw a fallen pine.
Large.
Heavy.
She pushed it.
It rolled down the slope.
Crashing through the brush.
The team turned.
They fired at the noise.
Clara took the moment.
She sprinted east.
Toward the gorge.
She reached the edge.
The bridge was gone.
A gap of twenty feet.
Below.
A rushing river.
She stared down.
Dark.
Fast.
She heard them approaching.
She had one choice.
She jumped.
The air rushed past.
Cold.
Sharp.
She landed hard.
The water swallowed her.
Freezing.
She fought the current.
She clawed for the bank.
She grabbed a root.
She pulled herself up.
She lay on the rocks.
Soaking.
Shivering.
She looked up at the gorge.
Flashlights danced on the edge.
They lost her.
For now.
She was alive.
She stood up.
Her teeth chattered.
She began to walk.
The night was long.
But she was moving.
May you like
Away from them.
Toward the end.
