Page 27

“ D o you hear that?” Sierra stopped long enough to listen.

“I hear it. That’s the wind.” Dawn’s face broke into a smile.

“Thank You, God.” Sierra was laughing with joy so hard that she almost fell over. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Amen.”

With the end in sight, Sierra had a surge of adrenaline. Holding onto Dawn’s arm, the two hurried toward the sound.

Darkness was all that was visible ahead. Yet the noise grew stronger. It took Sierra a second to realize it was dark out.

The two stumbled from the tunnel and out into fresh air.

Dawn sank to the ground weeping.

Sierra bent over and clutched her knees and sucked in breath after breath. The dust in her lungs had her coughing uncontrollably as the clean air entered her body.

When the coughing subsided, she straightened and looked around. The sky was full of stars. The full moon gave light. Where were they?

“Can you help me up?”

Sierra’s attention diverted to where Dawn sat on the ground. She clasped Dawn’s hand and pulled her up.

“Thanks. Any idea where we are?”

Sierra looked around for the lights of Pinedale and didn’t find them. “I’m guessing we’re on the opposite side of the mountain from town.” Nothing but countryside all around. She wanted to cry. Did she share the truth with Dawn?

“What is it?” Dawn must have sensed something was wrong.

Sierra pointed down below. “That looks like wilderness. We could be walking for miles before we get through it and are able to reach a house.”

“No. Oh, no!” Dawn was exhausted. They both were. They’d been walking for hours. “I don’t think I can go on.” Her wrist had swollen to twice its size. The endless walking had taken its toll.

“Stay here for a second.”

Dawn didn’t respond. Sierra moved along the side of the mountain looking for some way to the other side. Though they were both skilled climbers, neither had equipment and Dawn wouldn’t be able to use her wrist. There had to be another way over. There had to be.

“Lord, You didn’t bring us all this way only to have us die up here. Show me how to get us safely over the mountain. Please, Lord.”

She kept walking while trying to keep a close eye on Dawn.

The farther she walked, the more discouraged she became. It would take hours to go through the wilderness area, but crossing the mountain wasn’t an option.

Sierra returned to Dawn. “There’s no way to the summit without proper equipment. We’ll have to hike down through the woods.” Sierra sat beside Dawn for a few minutes. They both needed rest, but until Henry and his partner were captured they were both in danger.

“I’m ready now.” Dawn had shown more strength than any law person Sierra had ever run into before.

“We’ll go slow. It’ll be okay.” Sierra stumbled to her feet not sure who she was trying to convince. “The grade is steep.” And it was dark. The stars didn’t exactly lend a whole lot of light.

“What if he’s waiting for us somewhere out here?”

Sierra tried to shove aside the nagging truth. Henry had gone to great lengths to make sure she and Dawn died in the tunnel. He couldn’t afford to let them live.

“We’ll deal with that if it comes up, okay?”

Sierra once more looped her arm through Dawn’s as the two started down the steep side of the mountain.

“I’m never going to climb again after this.” Dawn said with a brittle laugh. “I’m going to go home and hug my fiancé and never leave Oklahoma again.”

“Don’t let Henry win. You and I should plan a climb together after this is over. We’ll do it for the ones who didn’t get away.”

Dawn glanced her way. “I’d like that. Maybe we can carry something from each of the victims and leave them on top of one of the mountains as a tribute.”

“Nice.” Sierra stopped from time to time to give them a chance to rest and to listen for anything out of the norm. “I think we’re getting closer to the bottom. The ground is beginning to level off.”

“I noticed that too.”

When they reached even ground, the walking became easier, but the thick woods posed a different challenge. Downed trees were everywhere. Even with the moon and the flashlight’s fading beam, the wilderness made it hard to see them until you were almost right on top.

“This is challenging,” Dawn murmured when she would have stumbled and fell if it weren’t for Sierra holding her arm.

“Let’s take a break.” She found a rotting log and guided Dawn over to it.

“This just never seems to end.” Dawn’s voice was barely a whisper. Exhaustion had taken its toll.

Sierra understood what she meant. They’d both been captured by a serial killer. They’d managed to escape only to be stuck inside a tunnel with potentially deadly gas. Now that they were free, they faced miles of wilderness standing between them and help.

“It will end.”

Dawn turned her head. “You promise?”

Sierra smiled. “I do. How else are we going to be able to make that climb if this doesn’t end?”

Dawn laughed. “Alright, I’m ready. Let’s keep going.”

The difficult journey traversing the dangers hidden along the way slowed them down. Sierra wanted to go as fast as she could to get them out of the woods and back to someplace safe. She felt ill-equipped for handling another attack and couldn’t dispel the feeling they were being tracked.

“Did you hear that?” Dawn stopped walking.

Sierra’s mind had been too busy churning out escape plans to catch what Dawn said until she stopped.

“What?”

“I heard something.”

Sierra listened to the silence broken only by the wind in the trees. “I don’t hear it.” She barely got the words out when a sound that seemed out of place had her grabbing Dawn and tugging her to the ground.

Gunshots. Someone was shooting at them.

“What on earth?” Dawn gasped. “Why would someone be discharging a weapon?”

The gunshots ended.

“It’s Henry or his partner. Or both. They must have found out we escaped.” Sierra’s brain was overloaded with what to do next. “We can’t stay here, Dawn. They’ll track us down and shoot us.”

The horror of that statement was clear on Dawn’s pinched expression. “If we leave our hiding spot they’ll shoot us.”

“We don’t have a choice. On the count of three.”

“Nooo.” Dawn said in a pleading voice. “I don’t want to die here.”

“You’re not going to. One. Two. Three.”

Sierra rose and dragged Dawn behind her. She headed away from the location she believed the shooter was stationed while zigzagging through the trees.

They’d barely covered a few steps when another round of shots followed.

Dawn screamed. Sierra tugged her closer and ducked low as they continued weaving through the trees.

The shooting ceased for a moment.

“Faster, Dawn.” Sierra urged, not giving Dawn the chance to slow down.

Another round of gunfire sounded farther away. They were putting distance between themselves and the shooter.

“I can’t breathe,” Dawn whispered.

“We can’t stop. Keep going.”

Over their ragged breaths, Sierra listened. The shooting had ended. Had the shooter given up or was he reloading? It didn’t matter. They had to keep going.

Dawn stumbled over a tree trunk Sierra didn’t see. Both went sprawling onto the damp ground. Dawn screamed as her injured wrist hit the ground.

“Shh.” Sierra hated the need to silence her friend but they couldn’t give away their position. She staggered to her feet and pulled a weeping Dawn up next to her. “I promise we’re making progress. The shots are getting farther away. But we can’t slow down. If he’s tracking us, he’ll keep coming.”

She put her arm around Dawn’s waist and they ran. The woods appeared to thin somewhat.

Was it possible they were about to reach a clearing?

That would certainly make it easier to move, but would present a whole new problem. Openness would make it easier for the shooter to find them.

Sierra had no idea where they were or even if they were close to a road. Civilization. All she knew for certain was they couldn’t keep running blindly like this before their paths met up with the shooter’s, resulting in deadly consequences.