“How can you see?”
He breathed heavily now. “My night vision is better than yours. I can’t see really well but I haven’t walked us into anything yet.”
“You need to rest.”
Slade uttered a soft curse as he stopped. His arms slid out from under her knees.
Trisha groaned when he lowered her to the ground until her feet touched. Her knees held her weight and she released him but was a little shaky. It was so dark she couldn’t even see him. She jumped when his hands touched her waist.
“Walk this way. I’ll lead you. We’ll lie down for a little while to rest. They could still be tracking if they have flashlights but it would severely slow them down. I also walked on rocks as much as I could to hide our tracks and they didn’t have hunting dogs with them. We’re also downwind and it will be harder for them to scent us. That’s why I kept it at our backs.”
He helped her to the ground where she sat on soft grass. She moved and bumped something hard and rough with her elbow.
“They can’t smell us, Slade. New Species have that ability but humans don’t.”
“I keep forgetting that.” He paused. “That’s a small tree next to you so be careful not to hit it.”
“Thanks. I can barely see my hand in front of my face.” Trisha peered up at the sky.
“I don’t even see a moon.”
“Too much forest is in the way. The trees are thick in this area. That’s good for us.”
“Shouldn’t we double back and try to find the highway?”
“No.” Slade moved, touching her. His fingers brushed her breast and he yanked his hand away instantly. “Sorry. Give me the bag.”
Trisha removed it and held it out blindly in the direction she thought he was. The weight of the bag eased from the strap and she let it go, knowing he had it. She heard the zipper before Slade pressed something against her arm.
“It’s all we have so just take a sip. I’m hoping we run into water soon.”
Trisha uncapped the bottled water by feel and took a sip to soothe her dry throat.
She took another tiny sip before putting the cap back on.
“Thanks. Here.”
45
His hand brushed hers as he took it from her grasp. She heard him take a drink.
“Why shouldn’t we find the highway?”
“They could have more people searching for us. They could be driving the roads hoping we’ll pop up. That’s what I’d do if I had prey I wanted to hunt. We’re safer lost.
All our vehicles have tracking systems. It might take a while for my people to locate the signal since there wasn’t even a cell reception this far out but they know where to look.
Justice knew our route. By now he knows something happened to us. We should have arrived before dark. He would have tried to call me and when I didn’t answer, he would have known we were in trouble. We’ll stay out here. My people will hopefully find us before those humans do.”
“Do you think we’ll be found by your people tomorrow?”
Slade hesitated. “I don’t know, Doc.”
“I have a first name, you know. It’s Trisha. Would it kill you to use it?”
Silence. “It wouldn’t kill me.”
Trisha took a deep breath. She’d had a hellish day, didn’t feel well, her body ached, and hunger clawed at her belly. Her frustration level rose. “But you won’t use it, will you? Why do you go out of your way to try to annoy me? What did I ever do to you?”
Long minutes of silence passed. Trisha shook her head, guessing he wasn’t going to answer. A hand touched her arm and she jumped, startled. She hadn’t expected that at all.
“Let’s lie down. We should sleep a few hours while we can.”
“What if they find us? Should we take shifts sleeping while one of us keeps guard?”
“No. We’re downwind from them. I’d smell them if they were near enough to us for them to reach us that soon. I’m going to lie down next to you. You can use me for a pillow, Doc. You need my body heat to stay warm.”
“No thanks.”
She heard him either snort or chuckle but wasn’t sure which. “It’s getting pretty cold and the ground is hard, Doc. When you get tired of both you can curl up to me.
Good night.”
His hand left Trisha and he stretched out next to her because his body settled against part of her thigh. Her vision adjusted somewhat until she could nearly make out his shape on the ground. The wind blew colder as time passed. Trisha settled down, moving a few inches away from Slade. She turned on her side and used her arm as a
