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Elise and Rondi had been onshore just long enough to storound Past an adjacent cornfield, a cloud of black smoke mushroomed into the air

“It’s from the camp,” Elise said “Hurry!”

She sprinted down a path, Rondi following close behind But her strength quickly ebbed, and she inded by the tiht of the camp just beyond made her stop in her tracks

The pal around the ca with flames Beneath it, the benches and workstations had turned into a black, srated

Phil staggered froed Specks of blood peppered his face where he’d been hit by debris fro his hands to someone across the camp to halt

Two people stood on the opposite side of the crater left by the explosion, facing hiers Each wore dark clothes, with low-slung ball caps and sunglasses concealing their faces It wasn’t their attire that caught Elise’s eye It was the assault rifle each carried, balanced on the hip with the barrel thrust forward

One of the weapons spit fire, and a bloody seaered backward, tripped over a tent stake, and fell to the ground, where he lay motionless

“Phil!” Elise tried to take a step toward his body So her ar her in the opposite direction

“Run, Miss Elise, run!” The teen yanked, then shoved her toward the cornfield

In a daze, Elise yielded to his urgings, turning and streaking toward the field Froht flashed on the lake, but her attention was consuunshots She and Rondi had reached the first row of cornstalks when the fusillade began Rondi pushed her ahead as the bullets chewed up the ground at their feet, then struck flesh

“Go,” Rondi gasped, as a half-dozen rounds tore up his back

Elise felt a sting in her arered forward Her eyes tracked Rondi as he fell in a heap She kept , driven by the clatter of autounfire ceased for a ain Bullets whizzed over Elise’s head and shredded the cornstalks beside her

She diced through the rows, feeling woozy as blood dripped down her arm She was in no condition for a footrace As she juation ditch, she saw a pile of dried husks in a clearing Elise burrowed in like a rat, tucked into a fetal position, and froze

In the distance caunfire But it was the closer sound of swishing cornstalks that , then paused The crunch of husks underfoot told Elise the killer was circling the pile