Free Hopeless For You by Hayden Hill Page A

that she was actually talking to me again as a good sign. I felt the bitter knot in my stomach slowly start to untangle. I glanced in the right-side mirror and tilted it so I could see her without looking back. Her posture appeared less tense, though she still seemed to be watching the back of my head warily. Did she think I was some kind of wild animal that had to be under constant observation? Was she afraid I'd suddenly snap at her with my fangs or something? I cataloged her every movement in my mind, not even close to figuring her out.
    I tilted my head back and watched the sky as Blaine steered the Jeep over bumpy, rutted roads that hadn't been driven since last summer. Pine trees bordered on either side in a dense wall of terrain that was impassable to the Jeep. The occasional branch overhead blocked out the sun so that the rays flickered. I managed to doze off despite it all but I couldn't escape Ash, not even in my dreams. She was always there, no matter if I was awake or asleep, the idea of her lingering in the back of my mind. The way her cheeks dimpled when she smiled. The curve of her body. Her mysterious eyes.
    Her secrets.
    Somehow, she reminded me of Orion, the education falcon. So beautiful, yet wounded in way s that weren't immediately obvious.
    I wanted to know all her secrets.
    I jolted upright when the Jeep stopped suddenly. I glanced around, trying to get my bearings. Pines still lined the route but we should have been in a clearing. I heard water gushing nearby.
    I looked directly ahead; this definitely wasn't the planned campsite.
    "Well, kids," Blaine said. "Looks like we've reached the end of the road."

CHAPTER SIX

Ash
     
    I stood up and got out of the Jeep, stretching the kinks from my muscles. I walked to the bank, where Kade was taking pictures of the river with his camera.
    "Flash flood." Kade pointed out the logs, twigs and other sediment. A wide steel culvert lay in the middle of the river a short ways downstream. "The river swept out the bridge. When you get a hundred millimeters of precipitation, it has to go somewhere. Rebecca said they had a ton of snow this winter plus heavy rains all spring. Something had to give, eventually. That's climate change for ya."
    I saw no sign whatsoever that there used to be a bridge here. The dirt road went right up to the river and just ended.
    "The river doesn't look like much now though, does it?" Blaine said. "Think it's shallow enough to ford?"
    Kade shrugged. "I'll go first. If it's crossable, I'll let you know."
    "We could always go back." Blaine said.
    Kade laughed bitterly. "And do what? If we tell Rebecca we can't reach section C, we'll be given desk jobs for the rest of the summer. Fuck that. We cross."
    I stepped up to the edge of the river and eyed the length both ways. "Maybe we should follow it for a while and see if there's a shallower area. It looks a bit deep in the middle here. Even if the river's only waist deep, if one of us slips, that's a whole quarter of our gear soaked."
    Kade met my eyes briefly and I saw a hint of a challenge there but then he nodded. "Actually, that's not a bad idea. We can split up and go in opposite directions, then meet back here in twenty minutes." He looked at his watch. "Blaine and Gina, you search upstream. Me and Ash will go downstream."
    "Wait." I felt a rising panic. "I'm not sure it's such a good idea to separate." I looked at Gina pleadingly.
    "We'll cover more ground this way," Kade said.
    "But can't Gina come with us?" I pressed.
    Gina seemed about to argue but then she sighed. "All right. I'll go with you guys."
    Kade gave me an angry look. "I'd feel much better if Blaine wasn't out there by himself. Most wild animals won't bother two people. The same animals won't think twice if they spot a man alone. It's their instinct to hunt for prey separated from the pack."
    "Wait a second. Wild animals?" I swallowed. "Like what? This wasn't in the field guide."
    "Actually, it was. There's a whole section on