Page 66 of When the Silence Breaks

“We’re good. Can you carry my pack? I lifted an extra one, and I’ll carry it.” He quickly assisted her. “Let’s move.”

“But they saw something in the tree line.”

You have no idea how glad I am that wasn’t you.“Not us. A deer or other wildlife fooled them, if we’re lucky. We don’t have long.”

Sarah behind him, he led her carefully through the trees, skipping the path they’d taken earlier and keeping deep in the undergrowth. The cold bit at his cheeks. When the darkness was absolute, he took a moment to retrieve night-vision goggles from his pack on her back.

Behind them, shouting erupted. “Gone! They were here!”

“Fan out!”

“They’ve got the vial!”

Sarah stumbled. Ryder caught her elbow and pulled her up. “Keep going. We’ve got to vanish. No trail. No light. Just follow me.”

“Where?”

He didn’t answer. Not yet. He’d wanted to get back to town. Get somewhere safe and figure this out. But time had run out. Additional supplies would be optimal, but they could survive on what he’d packed, if necessary, and the supplies he’d boosted. Because the only place left was higher.

Toward the wreck.

And whatever waited for them at the crash site.

Twenty-Seven

Sarah dropped to the ground, winded, when Ryder finally stopped. She propped her back against a fallen log, no longer caring if she disturbed any creatures. What animal would be out in this cold anyway? Exhaustion might be her undoing since they hadn’t gotten rest in the cabin. They’d been too busy with their discovery and then arguing about the past and the future and next steps.

She gazed out over the landscape blanketed in low-hanging fog. It was then she realized they’d climbed high enough to rise above that fog layer, and it was ... stunning.

Ryder tugged off his night-vision goggles. The sky peeked through the clouds and gave off enough light that she took in the beauty of the landscape, wishing that was all she had to think about. They’d been moving so long and so fast that her body had remained warm, but if she sat in one place too long, she might freeze to death.

“Take a minute to hydrate,” he said. “We’ll be heading out of the woods and to higher elevations as soon as the sky lightens up.”

“You mean dawn.”

“Another way to put it, yes.”

After she caught her breath, drank some water, she said, “We didn’t get to rest in the cabin. I’m not complaining, but I’m running on adrenaline right now.”I don’t know how much longer I can do this.“Are the hostiles still following us? I mean, I don’t even know what to call them. Operatives? Hunters? Tactical team? Trackers? Or even a strike team, because it sure felt like it back there. Astriketeam. And here, Ryder, I thought you said no one knew about the cabin, and no one could follow you up this trail that only you knew. You and your deceased grandfather and father.”

Honestly, Sarah didn’t know what to think anymore. But she had to get her act together. Pull herself together and survive.

“No. They’re not following. They’re racing us. I got the map, but like me, someone probably took a photograph of it, so in essence they have the map. We have to beat them there.”

Sarah sat forward. “I thought you said they couldn’t understand or read the map.”

“I didn’t know they had a guide. He’s the only reason they found the cabin.”

She sat up. “What? Dean? Your competition is helping them? Does he know what he’s gotten into?”

“No. Not Dean.”

“Who, then? One of your Good Adventures guides? I can’t remember their names.” She’d been focused solely on Ryder.

“No. It’s Harlan.”

“Harlan? The horse guy who has a crush on your mother?”

“Maybe he’s one of them. A plant all these years, waiting for this moment. I don’t know.” Ryder shook his head, studied the area from which they’d run.