The weightlessness of being lifted away and hauled into the trees ended with a sickening jerk as we landed on a tree branch. I struggled to breathe as the arm wrapped around my waist held me tight, constricting my rib cage.

I was facing down, the ground at least forty feet below me. I started to say something, when suddenly we were airborne again, plummeting toward the ground at nauseating speed. I flinched in anticipation of the impact with the ground when we were hit with another jerk, and started to swing through the air.

I realized that whoever or whatever it was that had grabbed me was using the vines to travel, swinging through gaps in the canopy. I opened my eyes, beholding the ground whizzing past my nose, and decided to shut my eyes again.

Still, the weightlessness persisted, sending the familiar sensation of vertigo racing through me. I felt my stomach clench, and had to concentrate on my breathing to keep from vomiting.

I was well aware of the creature next to me, but too dizzy to open my eyes to inspect it. Its breathing was heavy, like it was becoming more and more winded with each swing.

I heard the creak of a branch under our weight, and I held my breath, anticipating the next leap into nothingness, but after a few seconds, I realized that it had stopped to catch its breath. I was still being held by my waist, face down. To carry this much dead weight with just one arm meant that whatever this thing was, it was incredibly strong. It made me even more apprehensive about opening my eyes.

Yet curiosity was coursing through me. I remembered the strange shadow I had seen with Ms. Dale during our training, and how it had appeared to be the shape of a human. This thing, this creature, was clearly bipedal. Could it be some sort of … mutation?

I needed to know. Slowly, I cracked open an eye. The ground sat nearly fifty feet below, and the branch we were on was swaying in the wind and under our weight. Immediately, the nausea returned full force, and I gagged a few times in my mask.

Suddenly, the arm around me loosened slightly, and I found it much easier to breathe. I tilted my head to the left and was met with two massive legs, knees slightly bent to maintain balance. The skin was an incandescent black that seemed to both sparkle, and blend in with the environment as it moved. It was bizarre to look at, but as I examined it closer, I began to notice partitions in the black skin that reminded me of the scales on a reptile or snake.

Immediately, a man with a snake’s head formed in my imagination, turning my blood cold.

I needed to escape, but despite it loosening its arm around me, it was still holding me in a vice-like grip. I needed for it to loosen up a little bit more. But if I tried anything now, I would end up dead or worse. I had to be patient.

The legs tensed next to me, and the next thing I knew, we were soaring again. Once more, it felt like I had left my stomach behind me, as we dove off the branch in an arc. Then, I heard the snap of the vine catching our weight, felt our fall hit the bottom of the arc before swinging us back up.

That was it, I realized instinctually. There was a point where the vine arrested our fall, and if I could time it right, I might be able to get him to drop me right after. As long as the ground wasn’t too far below, I’d survive. Then I’d have to find a place to hide.

My heart sank as I realized the only thing I had on me was my compass. Without a gun or an aerosol canister, I wouldn’t be able to hide, let alone survive. I needed to figure out how to get back.

My mind raced, and I carefully reached my trapped arm into my pocket, pulling out the compass. I kept my grip firm on it, well aware that if I dropped it, then I was well and truly dead.

It was hard focusing on the small face of the compass. It took several passes on vines before I could orient it correctly, and then a few more to confirm that whatever the creature was that was holding me was heading in a fixed direction. I sensed that wherever it was taking me was a place that I would never escape from.

I slid the compass back into my pocket, and waited for an opportunity.

I was getting used to predicting the movements of the swing, and gauging the distance to the ground and between arcs. I could tell that the creature was preparing its next swing, as it angled toward a group of vines hanging from the trees. Now was the time.

I went completely limp, allowing my limbs to flop around. As I predicted, the creature gave a grunt of strain, as my weight threw it completely off balance. We were nearing the bottom of the swing when I planted my elbow into its torso. I felt the hard plane of muscles give under the force, heard it grunt, and felt its arms release me. I was aware of it slipping from the vine, but I didn’t risk a full glance at it.

Instead, I jerked my hands out in front of me, my hands grasping for another vine as I fell. I snagged a vine with one hand, squeezing it tight. I managed to get my other hand around it, and I gripped the vine hard, hissing in pain as it began to cut into my skin. I slid down several feet before I finally slowed to a stop.

I had closed my eyes after grabbing the vines, and it took me a few seconds before I could open them. When I did, I started laughing hysterically—I was dangling a foot from the ground.

I lowered a shaky leg to the ground, and then the other, eventually releasing my grip on the vines. I grimaced as I opened my hand, blood pouring from ugly cuts bisecting my hand. All of the joints and muscles in my hand ached from the force I had squeezed the vine, but overall, I gauged the damage to be superficial.

Breathing deeply, I took a second to rip off some fabric from my shirt and tie it around my hands. At the rate I was going, I was going to run out of clothes to wear in a matter of days. It struck me again how hopeless it was to even think about surviving out here—everything tried to kill you.

I grabbed the compass and set my direction so that I would hopefully intersect with Viggo. For a second, I considered heading in another direction, away from him. His reluctance to believe me had really hurt, much deeper than I could have imagined. I knew I had hurt him deeply, but his insistence on taking me back to Patrus was only condemning me to death. At least out here, I had a better chance.

Suddenly, something behind me snapped, and I turned. Something shifted in the shadows under the canopy.

I didn’t hesitate—I just started running. Hurt or not, Viggo had all the weapons and supplies, as well as the egg. I would need those before I could even think about escaping him.

My heart sank into my belly at the thought of leaving him again. I pushed it aside, and focused on running.

I loved running. I used to run all the time when I was younger, before everything had happened. Before Tim had failed the test and Mom had died. I had never felt comfortable confined to the track either. The streets of Matrus were my running grounds.

But running through the forest was hard—there are a thousand things that can slow a person down or trip them. I ducked branches and dodged trees that sprang up in my way. I spun and twisted, flying across the mossy ground, my feet and arms pumping, hair flying.

It was difficult at first, learning how to breathe through the mask, but after a few minutes, I got the hang of it, taking care to exhale out of my mouth, and down away from my visor so as not to fog it.

I could hear something chasing me. It crashed through the undergrowth behind me, but I felt confident that once I got up to speed, I could get away. When I ran full out, I felt like I could fly.

Trees began to whiz by as I ramped up my speed. Trickles of sweat ran down my skin, but I kept my breathing even and measured.

I came over a crest, taking measured steps as I plummeted down. I could still hear whatever it was chasing me, but I didn’t look back. I kept my gaze forward, hoping I was still heading in the correct direction. I was not taking any breaks to check. Once I lost this thing, I would have to focus on finding Viggo.

The mist was growing thick, making it harder to see. I was forced to slow my speed to a trot in order to not plow headfirst into a tree. As I slowed, I became aware of the lack of sound coming from the forest. The hair on my neck stood on end, and I felt, rather than heard, something behind me, nearing me again.

I bolted once more. I caught a glimpse of something coming over the opposite side of the ridge, and I cut toward it, hoping that whatever it was would either be helpful or keep whatever was chasing me distracted while I got away.

Several things happened at once, but at the same time, everything seemed to slow to a stop.

I was aware of something brushing past my hair, causing me to jerk my head to one side.

Then my ankle folded under me as I took a misstep and tripped.

As I began to tumble through the air, I heard the distinct sound of gunfire filling the clearing.

Following that, a line of fire suddenly exploded on my ribcage, making breathing extremely difficult.

Then time caught up with me. I had a glimpse of Viggo’s face as I fell, the ground rushing up to greet me. As I fell, I felt a brief moment of confusion at Viggo’s ability to defy gravity and be upside down, and then I hit the dirt, the pain in my chest intensifying unbearably as I skidded across the mossy ground.