Chapter 41
BENNETT
“Don’t move,” Dad whispered as he twisted his bag around to his front and riffled through it. I heard crunching leaves behind me, along with a low growl that had the hair standing up on the back of my neck.
Every part of me wanted to run. But there was a good chance that whatever was behind me would give chase.
I heard a hammer cocking.
“We’re not supposed to have guns,” I whispered as sweat trailed down my spine. Any second I expected to feel claws rip my throat out.
“Yeah, well. I’ve never been good at doing what was expected of me, have I?” Dad met my eyes, and the glint of fear I saw in them did more to make me realize how bad this was than anything else. “When I say go, you throw yourself to the ground.”
I nodded, going tense when I heard another throaty hum behind me.
“Go!” Dad yelled, and I dropped to the ground just as the gun went off.
The weight of something rancid-smelling and warm dropped on my legs, followed by a warm wetness that had me scrambling away, even as my dad yelled for me to stay where I was.
Nothing could compel me to lie on the ground with a dead animal on top of me.
I sprawled out beside the fire and dropped my head to the dirt. My entire body shook as I gasped in air. I peered back to see a wolverine the size of a large dog bleeding out on the dirt only inches from where I lay.
Dad nudged it with his boot and then crouched down beside it. “I believe we should eat what we kill, but this one looks diseased.”
“How can you tell?”
Dad used his flashlight to get a better look. “Its fur is ragged and patchy, with large patches of scaly skin showing. Its eyes are yellow and full of infection, and there are gnats in his ears too. I’m certain if we cut him open, he’ll be filled with infection or parasites.”
My stomach rolled, and I fought not to dry heave the small handful of almonds Dad had given me earlier.
“We’re going to have to move on. This is going to attract all kinds of predators tonight.” Dad looked around pensively. “We’ll to need to move fast.”
Dad helped me untie the tarp and rolled it back into his pack while I stamped out the fire.
It felt like we walked all night before he declared that we were far enough away to safely set up camp. I belatedly realized I hadn’t been watching for ATV tracks.
If we were even following the right path in the first place.
“Is this safe?” I asked.
“Nowhere out here is safe,” Dad said. “But I’ll take first watch. Get some sleep. We can keep searching in the morning.”
I shouldn’t trust him. He’d given me zero reason to do so.
But sleep, hunger, and fear were making it hard for me to think straight.
I knew better than to rely on him. He could easily leave me in the middle of the night, and I’d wake up alone, lost, and facing down another wolverine.
Wasn’t that basically what he’d done my whole life?
He’d had his five minutes of fame. He’d get paid for being on the show. People would probably love watching him take down the wolverine. He was a hero.
My heavy eyelids blinked, blinked, and then remained closed.
If he left, he left. It wouldn’t be the first time.