Page 9 (1/2)

"Don’t, John," Six says

I refuse to listen to her I’ other than retribution, and I don’t feel a shred of reut and hold it there for a full two seconds

"How do you like it, huh? Big, tough guy with a Taser? Why can’t anyone see we’re not the bad guys!"

He shakes his head, his face locked in a horrified gri on his forehead

"We have to get out of here fast," Six says as the red and blue lights of the second police car appear on the horizon

I lift Sam and pull him over my shoulder Bernie Kosar is able to run on his own on only three legs I carry the Chest underelse

"This way," she says, ju to the dark hills a mile away

I sprint as fast as I can with Sa and morphs into a bird and speeds ahead of us Not a minute later the second car arrives on the scene, followed by a third I can’t tell if the officers are pursuing us on foot; but if they are, Six and I can easily outrun thehed down as we are

"Put me down," Sam finally says

"Are you okay?" I put him down

"Yeah, I’m fine" Sam is a little unsteady Sweat beads his forehead, and he wipes it aith the sleeve of his jacket and takes a deep breath

"Coo that easily We have tenfrom a helicopter"

We ling to keep up He yo None of us looks back; but as soon as we reach the first incline, the howl of a bloodhound fills the air One of the officers has brought a police dog

"Any ideas?" I ask Six

"I was hoping we could hide our stuff and go invisible That would elude a copter, but the dog will still pick up our scent"

"Shit," I say I look around There’s a hill to our right

"Let’s get to the top and see what’s on the other side," I say

Bernie Kosar zips ahead and disappears into the night sky Six leads, stu wildly up I follow behind her; and Sas up the rear

We stop at the top Faint outlines ofwater I spin around Eight sets of flashing lights line the highway, sandwiching Sa fro towards the scene Bernie Kosar lands besideThe police bloodhound barks, closer than before There’s no doubt that it’s following our scent, which means that officers on foot can’t be far behind

"We have to get the dog off our trail," Six says

"Can you hear that?" I ask her

"Hear what?"

"The sound of water I think there’s some kind of stream at the bottom of this Maybe a river"

"I hear it," Sam chimes in

An idea pops into my head I unzip my jacket and re up every bit of sweat and scent I ht have I throw it at Sam

"Do what I just did," I say

"No way, that’s disgusting"

"Sam, the entire state of Tennessee is hot on our trail We don’t have hs but obeysto go along with it I put on a new shirt and slip on my jacket Six tosses me the soiled shirt and I rub it over Bernie Kosar’s face and body

"We’re going to need your help, buddy You up for it?"

I can hardly see hi excitedly on the ground is uner to assist, happy to be alive I can sense within hi chased, and I can’t help but feel it myself

"What’s your plan?" Six asks

"We have to hurry," I say, taking the first steps downhill towards the running water Bernie Kosar again turns hi the bloodhound bark and howl It’s closing the gap If ht co us