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Hunter pressed his back against the rock He stilled his own breathing and heard the big cat’s instead But Old Lion wasn’t fooled Old Lion could probably hear the heart pounding in Hunter’s chest

The thing on Hunter’s shoulder squirlanced and could see it move beneath the fabric of his shirt It seeh Hunter’s shirt

Hunter had no word for the thing It had grown over the last day It had started out as a bu insectLike the bugs that crawled on Hunter as he slept

But this thing on his shoulder wasn’t a regular bug It was too big for that And it had grown right where the flying snake, the greenie, had dropped its goo on hi It was a word he used to know Like worms on a dead animal What was the word? He leaned forward, hands to his head, soable to find the word

He had lost focus for just a few seconds but it was enough for Old Lion

The cat dropped like round His head banged against the rock Old Lion had h, and he had to scramble in the narrow space The cat spun, bared his yellow teeth and leaped, claws outstretched

Hunter dodged, but not fast enough One big paw hit hiainst the rock, knocked the wind from him

Old Lion was on hi face just inches from Hunter’s vulnerable neck

Then, suddenly, the mountain lion hissed and leaped back, like it had landed on a hot stove

The lion shook its paw and flung droplets of blood One claw toe had been badly bitten It hung by a thread

The thing on Hunter’s shoulder had bitten Old Lion

Hunter didn’t hesitate He raised his hands and aiht The heat that came from Hunter’s hands was invisible But instantly the temperature in Old Lion’s head doubled, tripled, and Old Lion, his brain cooked in his skull, fell dead

Hunter pulled his shirt back fro on a bloody chunk of the lion

Chapter Three

72 HOURS, 3 MINUTES

ASTRID HAD FED Little Pete

She read a little, perched beside the , book held at an uncoht

It was slow going

It wasn’t a book she’d ever have read back in the old days She wouldn’t have been caught dead reading some silly teen roreat literary merit Or history