Free Out of Place by Shane Scollins Page A

11
     
     
    Emily looked at Harry and hoped he just let it go. “Please, Harry, don’t do anything stupid. They left, I’m sure they’re leaving, just let them go. They’re probably packed up and gone by now.”
    He looked at her, and through spread lips said, “You killed them with your stupidity.”
    “Why are you doing this?”
    He didn’t answer. She eased towards the door. Maybe he was distracted just enough to run. Where she was going to run to was another story. But he saw her and said, “Go ahead. But you won’t get far, I’ll find you. You wouldn’t survive for one night in this wilderness and we’re a hundred miles from civilization.”
    She looked at the door, deciding if it was worth the risk. But she waited too long and he closed in on her , pushing her backwards onto the bed. He cuffed her wrist and then latched the other bracelet to a corner of the bed frame.
    “There, that’s for you r own good. I can’t have anything happening to you. And I don’t have the time to go tracking you across the mountains.” He walked across the room. “I know this is hard to understand, Emily. But you have to trust me, this is all for the best. And you’ll appreciate it in time. Someday you’ll thank me.”
    “What do you want from me?” Maybe she shouldn’t have asked the question but she did.
    He started gathering some things. “People don’t understand me, you’ve always understood me. I knew it was time to act. When I heard you were coming down here to Virginia near this cabin, I knew it was right. All the stars aligned. In time, you’ll learn to love me, too.” He snapped the magazine into the rifle and left the cabin.
    Emily waited a few minutes and started looking for a way out of this mess. She tossed the mattress off the small bed and star ted to examine the steel frame. There had to be a way to get the cuff off this thin metal frame and she was going to find it.
     
    ***
     
    Zack got his tent wrapped up and knotted the nylon ties. Securing the tent to the frame on his backpack, he took one last handful of almonds and threw them into his mouth before packing up his food. He rolled up the bag containing a few nuts for the trail and stuffed them into his pocket. That way he wouldn’t have to stop when he needed a protein shot.
    He grabbed the water pail and held it up to the group as they were packing. “I’m gonna get some water to pour on those embers.” He headed over to the edge of the lake, but didn’t want to get mud on his boots, so he hiked a bit up the trail to a place he could bend over on the rocks and fill the bucket.
    Whatever it was about her, he could n’t stop thinking about the girl in the cabin. Those big hazel eyes just melted his heart and he was not recovering. He had to go back up there. That was it. Maybe he could convince the guys to go back one more time. At least if he knew she was okay maybe he could let it go. Otherwise, he was never going to get her out of his head.
    With enough water in the bucket to douse the embers, Zack stood upright and started walking back towards the camp. The first cracking noise didn’t quite fit into the quiet serenity of the scene, neither did the sickly sight of Donovan dropping to the dirt face-first. When Javier fell to the ground mid-stride after another crack, it finally registered what was happening.
    Zack dropped the bucket and ran for the trees to his right. The dirt exploded around his feet and off the bark of the trees as he broke into the woods and ran deeper into the twisting forest. He got behind a large tree and turned to look back at the scene. A man with an assault rifle stood over the bodies of Donovan and Javier and pumped bullets into them.
    Rick was there on his knees, already wounded and bleeding, and then he wasn’t as the man shot him several times. Zack just turned and ran deeper into the woods, pumping his legs as hard as he could through the dark wetness.
    This was unreal. It couldn’t be happening. They