Chapter 32
Seek
Hush’s eyes met mine before he ran after the men who’d been digging the grave.
I was slowly making my way out of the trees, trying to get to the girl who was draped over her mother’s corpse.
Rocky cliffs, steep terrain, injured people, and even corpses were things I was used to.
Murderers burying bodies in the desert and full on gun fights with bikers? That was a new one.
Bullets whizzed and whined their way through the air, making me flinch.
I made it over to the girl and pulled her into my arms. I was trying to use my body to protect her, but grabbing her turned her into a maelstrom of limbs.
She caught me in the jaw with a fist and I grunted as pain radiated through my skull.
For a tiny slip of a girl, she packed a punch.
Thankfully all the men were gone from the area so I let her go. “Hey, it’s okay,” I told her.
Her eyes were glazed and unfocused. She was in shock. It wasn’t surprising considering the awful things that must have happened to her. I didn’t get the chance to try to soothe her before she was on her feet and running.
“Wait!” I jumped up and started after her. I had just made it through another grove of trees to the north of us when something hit me like a Mack truck. Someone had tackled me. My chest and face took the brunt of the fall as his weight ground me down into the sand and dirt.
My skin was burning from where I’d slid through the coarse sand and pebbles scattered around us. My lungs ached as the man sat on my back. My Camelback didn’t provide much of a barrier as he bore down on me, holding me in place.
“Stupid bitch! Where the fuck did you guys come from?” He shoved down on my head, forcing my face into the dirt.
There was no way for me to tell if this was one of the men the MC was chasing, or someone new. It didn’t really matter, seeing as how he was trying to shove my face through the ground. It was clear he was an enemy.
Waiting for the MC guys to find me wasn’t an option. I squirmed below him, trying to buck him off me, but he had all the leverage and control. Fear spread through my mind as I realized I was helpless like this, that I might die out here.
Going limp, I hoped to trick him into getting off me so I could drag a desperate breath of oxygen into my starving lungs. He wasn’t taking the bait, his hand still holding my head down with a painful grip.
A bark sounded and suddenly the weight disappeared off my back. Rolling over, I sucked in a wheezing breath, then coughed to expel the sand from my mouth.
Growls and barks filled the air only to be echoed by cursing as my dogs took turns darting in, biting at the man.
I slid my Camelback off and dug around in the largest pouch.
My hand closed over the butt of my .38 special and I lifted it.
My hand shook, causing the gun to waver.
I took a moment to calm myself. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I ended up shooting one of my dogs.
I pulled back on the hammer, my hand steadied with the satisfying click as it locked into place.
Looking through the front sight, I had tunnel vision on the bastard fighting my dogs.
As soon as they leapt away from him, I dropped the hammer.
My eyes shut as I squeezed the trigger, not exactly conducive to hitting a target, but something in me didn’t want to see what happened next.
A pitiful scream told me that I’d hit my target.
Unsurprising since, despite shutting my eyes, he was only five feet away.
Slowly opening one eye, I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw him standing there, staring down at the red spreading over his chest in shock.
It didn’t take long for him to fall. I wasn’t sure if he was dead.
It didn’t matter, as long as he wasn’t trying to kill me.
Stuffing the gun back into my pack, I shrugged it on and edged around the man bleeding out on the ground.
His eyes were closed and he wasn’t moving.
If he wasn’t already dead, he would be soon.
“Auron! Jecht! Search!” Even though my heart was pounding in my ears and my lungs were sore from my brush with death, I still had to find Caitlyn. She was out here alone and it wasn’t safe.
I ran after my dogs as we all followed the trail left by the little girl.
Bile rose in my throat as I realized I’d just killed a human being.
As someone who tried my best to preserve life, the knowledge that I’d taken one was distressing.
I paused as I ran and threw up the lunch I’d eaten not that long ago.
As soon as my stomach was purged I wiped my mouth on my sleeve and focused on finding the girl.
The dogs were having a hard time following any scent markers with the wind swirling around us. The monsoon had broken over top our heads and rain came down, drenching us within minutes.
My eyes were glued to the ground. I had to find her tracks and follow them before I lost them for good.
The bottoms of her shoes were filled with little dimples, making them easy to distinguish in the sand out here.
It took me a few minutes before I found the trail.
I began jogging, the dogs behind me, following her tracks.
She’d made it so much farther than I thought she would.
Or that fight had taken longer than it’d seemed.
I’d made it to a wash and found where she’d slid down the embankment.
My eyes went to the sky, then followed the wash up.
I could see—at the edge of my vision—where the water was creeping over the sand, heading our way.
“Caitlyn!” I screamed out, scanning the wash from the bank. Where was she?
She must have thought this wash was the perfect place to burrow in and hide, but she couldn’t have been more wrong.
All of the smaller washes in the area were busy dumping their contents into this larger one.
It was going to create a wall of water that would rage through here like an angry ex with a vendetta.
This wash was dangerous to everyone and everything inside of it.
Even as the thought rushed through my head, I saw jackrabbits scurrying up the sides, escaping the upcoming threat.
Jecht let out a loud bark and rushed down the steep, muddy bank and directly over to a bush.
Something moved within and I saw Caitlyn poke her head out.
“I’m here to help!” I screamed at her, but she couldn’t hear me over the wind and thunder.
Jecht’s barks were carried away before they ever reached my ears.
Another clap of thunder boomed overhead and the sound rattled through my head. I gasped, because it was so damn loud. Auron spun away from me and ran out into the desert.
“Auron!” I shouted, then groaned. There wasn’t time to go after him.
I had to get Caitlyn and Jecht out of the wash, but I didn’t like the idea of him running in fear.
He wasn’t usually afraid of thunder. Then again, that last boom had let loose right over the top of us, so I couldn’t really blame him.
As soon as I got them out, we’d go find Auron.
Each dog had a GPS tracker on their collars in case something like this happened.
Taking my Camelback off, I reached into the pouch, shoved my gun aside and pulled out the thin length of rope I always kept in there.
It wasn’t ideal for this, but it was better than nothing.
Keeping my eye on the north part of the wash, I quickly tied the rope to a tree trunk, then around my waist. I could only pray it was long enough to let me reach the bottom where Caitlyn was hiding.
I slid my way down the muddy embankment, cursing the rain that continued to pour down, making the trip perilous in and of itself. I had to go slow or I’d fall and break my neck.
Caitlyn seemed to finally realize that I wasn’t a threat to her and crawled out of the bush she’d lodged herself inside of to watch me scramble down toward her.
The wash was massive. This is where all the other small washes came together, like a hundred tiny, temporary rivers.
Canyon was more appropriate, since it was at least thirty feet deep and half as wide as a football field.
It’s no wonder she ran into it. She probably thought that if she crossed it she’d be so far away that no one would chase her.
I started down the side, careful not to slip in my hurry.
As soon as I got down to the bottom of the wash, I rushed over to Caitlyn.
My feet splashing through the running water.
It was starting. Right now it was just a trickle, barely more than you would get from a garden hose.
That was just the start, any minute now it would be a foot deep, then…
I shook the thought as I approached her.
She had her arms wrapped around Jecht—despite his rambunctious nature he was amazing with kids—and watched me with solemn eyes.
“Hi, honey,” I said, trying to keep my tone soft even though I had to speak loudly to be heard over the storm. “I’m here to help you.” I held out my hand and her eyes dropped to it.
She was deciding whether I was trustworthy or not, and to my relief, she reached out and clasped my hand with her own. I tugged her toward me, calling for Jecht.
“We have to go back up,” I said, pointing at the top of the wash. “Okay?”
She nodded, her little face scrunched up in determination despite the fear that was present. She started to climb, with me behind her, shoving her up when needed. Jecht scrambled next to me, his claws digging in to gain purchase.
As a unit we began slowly making our way up the steep wash.
Caitlyn cried out as she slipped and slid backward.
Her body slammed into me, causing us both to skid backward a few feet.
My hands dug into the mud, my fingers aching as I tried to slow our descent.
Finally, we stopped sliding backward. My breath was coming fast, both from exertion and anxiety.
I could hear the water moving below us, though I didn’t dare to look down to see how high up the bank it’d climbed.
We had to get out. It was still dumping rain and that water was just going to keep rising.
“Keep going, Sweetie,” I told her. “It’s alright.” I shoved her butt, forcing her to get her feet under her and move. She began trekking back up through the mud.
We were making good headway when a sound caught my attention. It roared over the wind, rain, and thunder. Heart sinking in my chest, I looked to my left.
The wall of water was tall. I knew it was still confined by the wash, but it felt like I was looking at a Tsunami coming toward us. It was higher up than we were in the wash. Fear slammed into me, making it hard to breathe, but I managed to bark out, “Go!”
I shoved Caitlyn as hard as I could and she shot forward through the slick substance surrounding us.
Scrambling up, I caught her before she fell back down and lost ground.
I glanced back and found Jecht struggling.
Grasping him by the collar, I dug the toes of my sneakers into the mud and yanked him up to where I was.
Searching around for anything that could help us—because at this pace we weren’t going to make it before that water struck—I saw a mesquite branch that was growing out of the side of the wash.
It looked just thick enough to hold a little girl and a dog.
More importantly, it was higher than the coming rush of water.
I at least had the rope around me that was tied off to the tree up top. They didn’t have anything.
Making sure Jecht was planted before I let him go, I started shoving Caitlyn again, making our way over to the branch. The roar was deafening at this point. I pushed her up onto the tree. “Hold on tight, okay?”
She nodded, her mouth open as she panted with terror. Turning, I grabbed Jecht and hauled him up between my legs before shoving him closest to the wall of mud and dirt, where the branch was thickest. He couldn’t hold on the way Caitlyn could so this was safest. “Help him stay on,” I told her.
She grabbed a hold of his collar while straddling the branch. I moved over, preparing to climb up and get my own grip around the branch when the water hit me. It was cold compared to the air and despite my best efforts to hold on, I tumbled along with it until I hit the end of the rope.
My body was snapped back like a ragdoll and suddenly I realized what a bad idea this had been.
The rope was holding, but the water kept me sucked down under its depths.
The rope around my waist was preventing me from being swept downstream in the current, but also kept me from swimming to the surface for air.
The pressure between the rope and the water was crushing.
I tried to swim, but there was no slack in the rope and the heavy current kept me at the end of it.
Looking up, I could see the surface through the muddy water.
I just needed to get there before I couldn’t hold my breath any longer.
My fingers clawed at the rope tied around my waist. With it being as thin as it was, and wet, it had cinched down around me.
I tried to calm myself, make deliberate movements, but there were black spots forming in my vision.
Soon I would lose consciousness. Soon it would be over. I had to hurry.
The main wave was long past and now the wash was just happily chugging along while it drowned me underneath its rippling surface. I struggled against the rope. Against the weight dragging me down. Against my lack of oxygen. There wasn’t anything I could do.
Hush’s smile flashed through my mind, rolling like a silent movie. Guilt mixed in with the clawing pressure of my lungs. I focused on his face, I tried to rally.
Not yet, don’t give in yet.
To have this happen was the worst thing, for both of us. My strength was gone, as much I tried I just couldn’t fight the current. I was ready to let go, to say a silent prayer of apology to him. To let the blackness pull me under. Somewhere, a voice rose to the surface.
Not yet! Fight!
Had that been my own inner voice? It sounded different. My lungs screamed in agony from holding my breath for so long. I gave one last feeble kick before my body took the choice out of my hands.