Page 60 of Under Fyre

I sway, wanting to rush around the car so I can peer over the drop. To see if I can spot a crushed body.

But an evil creak stops me.

Is it just me, or is the car moving?

I drop to my knees with a hiss of pain as my joints and stiff limbs complain mightily.

Arrow is still inside the car, watching me.

“Get your ass out here!” I yell.

Her ears go flat, and she drops her head.

“No, idiot, I’m not mad!” I realize yelling isn’t helping but it’s impossible to fight the panic welling up inside me.

“Arrow,come.”

My eyes start brimming as another wretched creak emanates from the poorly balanced wreck.

I slap my hands on my thighs and make kissing noises. Arrow’s ears perk up. She shuffles forward a little, her tail giving one slow swish on the truck’s dented roof, sweeping up sticks and stones and glass.

“Come on, you can do it. Come on, Arrow. Please. You gotta hurry.”

There’s a muted crack near the tree.

My brain supplies a heap of unnecessary thoughts, theorizing that I was probably the only thing keeping the car on this side of empty air, my body weight the counterbalance to greedy, greedy gravity.

But not anymore.

Arrow shuffles forward, and then whines and throws her head around to lick at her hurting paw.

The world shakes and wobbles until I squeeze tears from my eyes with a hard blink.

“Come on, come on!” I’m sucking in air through pursed lips like a fucking lunatic, slapping my thighs and backing up, going forward, turning it into a game. Dogs like games, right?

Arrow starts leopard crawling. Thank God for her thick fur, because she drags herself right through all that broken glass.

“You’re so close, come on!” I fall onto my belly and slither closer, reaching for her with furious grabby hands. “Come doggy, come!”

She’s moving faster now, her eyes shining and her mouth only closing to whine.

The car gives another heart-pounding creak, and then the tree gives way.

It happens so suddenly, all in a rush, that I barely have time to think.

So I don’t.

Arrow’s eyes go wide, her body sensing the shift in gravity as the car slides down the gorge.

I dive right the fuck in, grab a handful of fur, and yank.

Arrow’s pained bark fills the small void of the car, but I think she finally realized why I was so insistent on having her crawl the fuck out of there. She scratches and claws her way out through the passenger door, survival instinct finally overcoming her injuries.

Scramblingoverme.

If I hadn’t been wearing such a thick coat, she’d have shredded me. But I only get one scratch down my cheek, so I’m not even a little mad.

We both collapse on the small precipice, Arrow whimpering and me panting like I’ve run a marathon, and together we turn and watch Fyre’s truck tumble into the gorge.

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