The Wolf Code

Chapter 14

It was dark, the air hot and oppressive as she ran through the woods, but Senora didn’t notice the heat.  She was running for her life, and the heat was the least of her worries.  Her heart pounded in her ears, her bare feet protesting with each step as the ground bit into her skin.  She pushed forward against the pain, not daring to look over her shoulder and see if they had caught up to her.

Her breath came in audible gasps, and she could hear the four-wheelers gaining on her.  She pushed herself even faster, but she felt like she was running through heavy mud and she couldn’t seem to go any faster no matter how hard she tried. 

Tears streamed down her face as she accepted the inevitable.  She wasn’t going to get away from them, though she wasn’t ready to quit trying.  A sudden burst of speed had her going faster, breaking loose from the heaviness that held her back. 

There was a tight curve in the trail ahead, one that would require the four-wheelers to slow down significantly.  This was her chance to put a little more distance between them and give herself a chance to get away.

She went around the corner at full speed just as she heard someone yell out in the darkness behind her.

“She’s there, up ahead!” the voice yelled, and four-wheeler engines revved as the excited men gave their vehicles some gas and lurched forward.

Senora ducked into the bushes right after the turn, going as far back as she could and watching the trail through the space in between the leaves.  She said a silent prayer that she hadn’t just jumped into poison ivy and tried to remember what it was supposed to look like.  She didn’t know, and she didn’t care.  She was running for her life and a little itchiness didn’t matter.

The four-wheelers whizzed by her as she had expected, heading down the trail she’d abandoned, their eyes locked forward and looking for her in the darkness. 

When the last one sped past, she breathed a sigh of relief but remained in the bushes.  From this vantage point she could see both sides of the bend, and she wanted to make sure that there weren’t any stragglers hanging back from the group.  The last thing she needed was to step out of her hiding place and discover that someone was behind the group and waiting to see if she did just that.

She moved back in her hiding place, feeling behind her with her hands and trying to find the center of the bush so she could lean against it.  She was trembling, the adrenaline rushing through her body as she struggled to slow her heartrate and her breathing.  She didn’t know how much time she had to rest before she would be on the run again, and she needed a few minutes to catch her breath and just think.

Her hand touched something soft and cold and she instantly recoiled from it.  Wrinkling her nose at the sudden smell and hoping whatever animal she’d just encountered in the bush was completely dead, she turned slightly and peered into the darkness, trying to see what she’d stuck her hand into.

She screamed when she came face to face with Addie, her lifeless body propped up against the stalk of the large bush like a doll.  Her head was tilted to the side, blank eyes wide and staring directly at Senora.

Senora propelled herself backward, putting as much distance as she could between them without coming out of the bush and revealing herself.  Hoping her initial scream had been muffled by the sound of the four-wheelers, she fought for silence. 

The body in the darkness moved, and Addie’s mouth dropped open. 

“Help me,” she croaked in a disembodied whisper that almost sounded like air escaping into the night and nothing more.

When Addie said the words again, Senora knew she wasn’t hearing things, and her throat clenched. 

This is impossible, she thought.  Addie was in the Medical Examiner’s office, and there hadn’t been this much left of her. 

I’m dreaming, I’m dreaming, please be dreaming, came her fevered thoughts as she struggled to absorb all that was happening.

Addie’s head tilted, falling at an unnatural angle so that her eyes stared at Senora in the darkness upside down.  Her mouth opened again.

“You failed me,” Addie said. 

Her mouth stretched wide, and darkness exploded from within her.  Senora backed away again, this time pushing back so fast that she tumbled out of the bush and onto the sandy trail, the cloud of bats bursting through the leaves and demolishing the bush in one quick blow. 

Addie’s body was still propped up on the leafless skeleton of the large bush, mouth agape, countless bats flying out of her mouth as if it was a cave springing forth from the depths of hell.

Senora got onto her feet and ran with her arms over her head, blinded by the bats that circled around her.  She screamed, no longer caring if the Sheriff’s men found her or not.  There were worse things than them, and Senora couldn’t run fast enough to get away from Addie and the bats that were still swarming around her.

She looked over her shoulder and instantly regretted it.  Addie was behind her, lumbering forward in stiff movements, calling Senora’s name and reaching out to her in desperation.  Senora shook her head, denying the accusations that Addie hurled at her.  She’d done everything she could.

“You were gone before I got here,” she said, trying to explain to Addie that there was nothing she could have done, but her explanation fell on deaf ears.

Still looking over her shoulder, she ran at break neck speed and slammed right into something solid.  Strong arms went around her and locked her in, holding her where she stood as the bats came closer, their red eyes and gnashing teeth visible in the dark.

“Let me go!” she screamed.  She didn’t have to look; she knew one of the Sheriff’s men had her in his clutches.  “Let me go,” she repeated.