Page 27

If I were a frightened, hurt boy, where would I go? I looked up. I’d try to climb a tree. But the kid was injured, so climbing might be too hard. We walked on. As I scanned around, I noted one of the large trees—a blue gum—was hollowed out at the base. A flash of red caught my eye and my pulse spiked.

I waved at Jess and pointed. We circled the tree, and found a young boy, huddled in a ball in the rotted-out hollow.

“Hey there,” I said in a calm voice.

His head jerked up, his face dirty and tear stained.

“You’re not the monster?” the boy said in a thready voice.

“Nope.” I slung my carbine on my shoulder and crouched. “My name’s North, and this is Jess.”

“Hi.” She smiled and gave the boy a wave.

“We’re Hunter Squad.”

His face changed. “Hunter Squad. You’re here to save me and Hudson.”

That made him Joe. “Yep. Are you hurt, Joe?”

He nodded. “It scratched me. It hurts. Real bad.”

I held a hand out. “I’m a doctor. I can help.”

“You need to help Hudson.” Joe made a hiccupping sound. “The monster has him.”

“We’ll help him. But you first.”

He put his hand in mine.

“Good man.” I gently eased him out of the tree trunk.

Then he cried out and collapsed. I caught him and laid him flat on the ground. His leg was badly clawed.Jesus.

For a second, I was thrown back to trying to save another boy.

And failing.

“North?”

I met Jess’ steady, supportive gaze. I dragged in a deep breath, then slipped my backpack off my shoulder.

“I’m going to give you a shot, Joe. It’s gonna stop the germs and help with the pain.”

“Okay.” His voice was meek. “But you’ve got to save Hudson.” Tears filled his eyes. “He saved me. He told me to run, and he made the monster go after him.”

“He sounds like a good friend.” I dialed up the injector and pressed it to his neck.

Then I started cleaning his wounds. His sniffles just about killed me.

“Hey, Joe.” Jess ran a hand over his sandy hair. “I think I have something that belongs to you.” She held up a small robot. It was white with some red stripes.

He gasped. “That’s mine.” His fingers curled around it. “Hudson has one too. We like to make them battle.”

“You will again, buddy,” Jess said.

Joe clutched the toy as I worked on his injuries, and gave Jess a tentative smile.

Running footsteps sounded behind us and Joe gasped, fear filling his face.