Page 65 of Seeking Evil

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.

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