Page 13 (1/2)

"Cammie, I…"

I’d never realized how pale Dr Steve’s skin was until it stood in contrast to the red blood that was oozing down his arm

"You’re hit," I said

"It’s just a…" He trailed off, gri in pain "Scratch"

I pushed hiht It wasn’t h--but Dr Steve wasn’t like us He wasn’t trained for fieldwork, and he winced as if he ht be sick But I didn’t have time for sick There was a sniper in the woods with an excellent line on us, and our luck wouldn’t hold out for long

"Here," I said, dragging him around the tree and hopefully into better cover "Put pressure on it"

I pulled off ainst the wound, but drops of blood were already falling, landing on the rocks at my feet

Red drops on white stone

It was a strangely beautiful sight I couldn’t pull my eyes away, and suddenly I felt dizzy The world was spinning, pulling rew incredibly slow--as if the whole thing had happened before, exactly like that But different

It was a different mountain Different rocks Different blood

"I was bleeding," I said as theback The wind felt colder, the air thinner Was that a gunshot or the sound of snow crashing through the trees? I wasn’t sure of anything anymore

"Cammie…" Dr Steve said slowly, his lips a thin hard line

"I was running And bleeding But it was finally light out I could finally see the sky"

"Caround and on the trees," I said nu how I hadn’t bothered to hidecloser But I was so weak I was just so weak…I wasn’t going to get away I shouldn’t have gotten away"

The er then, deeper It was like I was there--really there--and everything was the sa was exactly the saed on a different mountain I shook my head and focused on the sound of Bex’s cries I wasn’t in Austria And I wasn’t broken or beaten or worn Not any to be weak anyenuine panic filling his eyes "Don’t!" He tried to reach for round; but even with two good arms, there was no way Dr Steve could have stopped er felt my ankle Adrenaline pounded inaround trees and rocks My arh the thick underbrush and dense pines Faster and faster I ran until, finally, I could make out my best friend’s shape on the horizon

She was on an outcropping of rock near the top of the hill, the shooterthe ht, Bex crashed to the ground

"No!" I screamed just as the man raised the butt of his rifle

But Bex twisted and kicked, sending the gun out of his hands and skidding across the rocks

And I kept running

Bex swept her leg and knocked him off his feet But the man was so fast, it didn’tdown the hill

Everything seee There were no trees or shadows, and that was probably why it was so easy to see the knife--shiny and clean The sun glistened off the blade as the guned toward Bex

She tried to block the blow, but theI knew, there was a splatter of blood and Bex was screa, her face a round and didn’t un was in er

The sights were still trained on thethe place where his heart should have been He lay so still, as if he --shiny and clean--in his outstretched hand

"Cammie!" It was Liz’s voice "Ca up the hill, and then she ca at the body at Bex’s feet I heard her begin to gag and vomit, but I didn’t look away froround

There was a weight on the rifle, a tug, but I held it steady, kept the assassin inharder on the barrel I didn’t knohere he’d co he’d been there, but his voice was in un"

"Give it to hie toward us Abby yelled, "Now!"

And only then did I feel like it was okay to let the rifle--and my defenses--fall

Abby walked to the body and called to my mother "Rachel, any others?"

"No I think he’s alone"

"Well, he un froet to the van"

"Ca at me "Cammie, sweetheart, are you hurt?"

I wasn’t hurt I was numb And I liked it

Mom shook my shoulders "Cammie, you need to--"

"Rachel," Abby snapped, cutting her off "We have to go Now"

Bex walked to the body and started digging through the gunman’s pockets