Chapter 34

Emma

If he thinks I’m seriously going to stay here while he goes and gets himself killed, he’s wrong. There’s no way I’m going to listen to what he told me. I mean, I don’t know what the fuck he’s got in mind, but I’ll make sure I’m there, even if only as an eye witness.

I bite my lip and start to limp after him. Boss, of course, is hot on my heels.

Dylan is just ahead of me. He pays me no attention. He’s totally focused on getting to those guys who very nearly killed us.

Actually, as far as they’re concerned, they did kill us. The thought unsettles me.

It occurs to me how close to dying we’d come. If I hadn’t meandered around the house because of being unable to sleep, things might be different now.

At this thought, a shiver runs down my spine.

Life and death, a finite balance, a constant struggle.

There’s no time for daydreaming. I need to keep moving. Dylan is getting ahead of me, and if I lose sight of him, I’m fucked out here.

Of course, since it stopped snowing, I can see his tracks. I have no idea where he’s going, but I do my best to ignore the throbbing pain in my ankle and follow as quickly as I can.

Within no time at all, my lungs are ready to explode. If he doesn’t stop soon, I might pass out.

Hot fire is ripping through my muscles. How much longer I can sustain this pace is anyone’s guess.

Man. What is Dylan’s plan? Dylan who’s running like a man possessed through the wild.

If only he had a gun like Rambo. I mean I’ve seen the movie a long time ago, I know what a guy can do. With a rifle and all kind of other shit, he might stand a chance against these bad dudes.

But heck, he’s got nothing but his bare hands.

Or does he have bear hands? The play on words and the analogy brings a smile to my face, despite the seriousness of the situation. Of course, those hands are going to be useless against bullets, no matter how big or strong they are.

I’m so wrapped up in thought, I suddenly realize I’ve lost sight of him. Fuck. I stop and look around. My heart pounds against my chest.

Nothing.

Snow and more fucking snow as far as the eye can see.

If I weren’t in a life-threatening situation, this would actually be spectacular. The deep snow all around me, the valley stretching out below, and the total wilderness. Boss looks perfectly at home.

Not a sound can be heard, except for my own hard breathing.

This must be what a bird feels like when flying in the sky. For some reason, I start to sob. Before I can stop myself, a lone tear rolls down my cheek.

Quickly, I wipe it away. No point standing here and bawling my eyes out. Sure, the situation is pretty fucked. I’m all alone, I have an injured ankle, and at some point, I’m going to die.

No matter how much I try to reassure myself, it’s all going to work out fine, I’m not succeeding. How can I? The odds are so fucking stacked up against us it’s not funny.

And now I’ve lost sight of Dylan. Actually, I’ve lost him altogether.

For the first time since Dylan rescued me from my burning apartment and brought me here, it’s not snowing. So the sun’s not out, but it’s not a bad kind of day.

Up ahead, I think I can see footprints. Quickly, I scramble toward them.

When something grabs me and pulls me down my instinct is to scream. I want to scream as loud as I possibly can.

I open my mouth and feel a hand cover it.

Survival instincts kick in, and I start kicking and struggling for all I’m worth. I can’t believe I’ve run right into the arms of those assholes.

How stubborn can I be? Stay put, Dylan had said, and what had I done? The complete opposite.

My thoughts tumble over each other. I’m fighting for my life. Where’s Dylan?

“Shh,” a hoarse voice whispers in my ear. “I’m going to let you go but don’t scream.”

And then I am free.

I look into familiar eyes. It takes me a few minutes to slow my breathing. My heart is still galloping wild and uncontrolled in my chest.

“What —” I start but Dylan holds his finger in front of my lip.

“I’m pretty sure they’re all in the car, but we should keep noise to a minimum.”

Slowly, I nod. This is fucking crazy. Where, how—I can’t get my head around all this.

“Have a look,” Dylan whispers and points down the valley.

Horrified, I look at the destruction below us. Hundreds, maybe thousands of trees have been felled.

I’m pretty sure last time I checked, this area was under special protection. Has evil spread its wings all the way up here?

It seems unbelievable, but all the signs point to it.

I hear a sound that doesn’t belong into the wilderness. It’s out of place. Judging from the sound of the engine, it’s going at great speed.

A squeal of the tires and crunching of gears confirms they’ve gone around the corner too fast.

“What’s the plan?”

Maybe their own driving will be the end for them? I know it would be too much to hope for.

Dylan’s eyes are on the approaching vehicle. To my surprise, we’ve managed to get ahead of it. It’s still up above us, but it won’t take long to maneuver the steep bends in the road.

“Push it off the fucking road,” growls Dylan.

His words tug at my insides. It sounds so gruesome, so final, and so horrible. I stop thinking about it.

“But how?”

Various images crowd into my head. I can still only think of bare chested Rambo plowing through the forest with his heavy machine gun and shooting at everything that moved.

What exactly does one do without a weapon? As far as I’m concerned, explosives would be good right now. If he had a hand grenade of some sort, he could throw it on the road just ahead of the oncoming car and boom—bad guys will be history.

Of course, we don’t have a fucking hand grenade or any other kind of explosive.

“Trees,” grumbles Dylan and points to the edge of the windy road. “Trees can help us.”

With a furrowed brow, I follow his pointed finger but have no fucking idea what he’s on about. Sure, there are plenty of cut down trees, but what good are they? Is he going to pick one up and throw it at the car?

Before I can ask him, Dylan’s running down the hill. I follow.

Inches away from the road, he stops. I can see there are cut down tree trunks. Most of them are covered by snow, but a couple are exposed.

Mesmerized, I watch Dylan squat and put his massive hands under the tree. With a ton of grunting and swearing, he tries to get back to his feet and lift the trunk.

My eyes are glued to the tree. It doesn’t move. There’s no fucking way this is going to work.

I can hear the car approaching. At the speed it’s travelling, it’s going to be here in less than two minutes. Dylan may as well kiss his fucking plan goodbye.

“Come on,” I urge him. “Let’s go and hide. We’ll go to the cops and tell them all you know.”

Dylan, of course, isn’t listening to me. Possessed, he keeps straining and trying.

By now, I can see the car approaching. It’s fucking useless. As soon as they draw level with us, they’re going to start shooting.

Suddenly, the tree starts to move. I do a double take, and yes, it’s moving upward.

Boss has come to give Dylan the last bit of strength he needs to move it. Thankfully, he doesn’t have to lift it off the ground.

No. All they have to do is raise it a bit and then shove it downward. With the thinner part of the trunk facing down the hill, nature and gravity will take care of the rest.

Wide-eyed, I watch the tree get into motion and start spearing down onto the road.

Had they timed their efforts right, or would it have all been for nothing?

The three of us hold our breath. I’m sure Boss knows exactly what’s going on.

As the scene below us unfolds in slow motion, a black sports car approaches, having just come out of a hairpin bend. The tree trunk is now gaining momentum. For the briefest of seconds, it looks like the guys might make it.

I can see the driver’s concentration and the gun of the passenger being pointed in our direction.

Before I can see what happens Dylan pushes me onto the ground and rolls sideways. He yells something at Boss.

When I hear the sickening sound of scrunching metal, I know Dylan and Boss have managed to achieve the impossible.

I want to look up, but Dylan keeps my head down.

“Wait,” he orders, and this time, I do as I’m told.