Chapter 6 - The Path of the Dead
The storm was unrelenting. The rain lashed at our faces like icy needles, turning the forest floor into a treacherous, sliding slope of mud and rotting leaves. I led the way, carrying Lucy, a heavy flashlight in one hand, the shotgun strapped across my back. Elena followed closely, gripping Lily’s hand so tightly her knuckles were white.
"Where are we going?" Elena yelled over the roar of the wind.
"Sarah's trail!" I shouted back. "It leads up the ridge to the old copper mines. The police don't know the layout of the tunnels. We can hide there until dawn."
The trail was barely visible, a mere suggestion of a path worn down by deer and Sarah's hiking boots years ago. My muscles screamed in protest, unused to the brutal physical exertion, but the adrenaline pumping through my veins masked the pain.
Behind us, echoing through the trees, came the deep, terrifying baying of bloodhounds.
"They have dogs!" Elena cried, stumbling over a submerged root. She went down hard in the mud, bringing Lily down with her.
"Get up!" I urged, rushing back to pull them to their feet. "The rain is washing our scent away, but we have to keep moving."
We climbed higher into the mountains, the air growing thinner and colder. The trees began to thin out, replaced by jagged, slick rock formations. We were nearing the summit of the ridge.
Suddenly, a flashlight beam cut through the darkness directly ahead of us.
"Hold it right there, Vance!"
A deputy stepped out from behind a massive boulder, a rifle leveled directly at my chest. They had anticipated our route and flanked us using the logging roads.
I froze. I had Lucy in my arms; I couldn't reach my shotgun in time.
The deputy smirked, raising the rifle to his eye. "Sheriff says you don't make it off the mountain."
Before he could pull the trigger, a dark shape launched itself from the rocks above him.
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It was a mountain lion. The gunshot cracked wildly into the air, missing us entirely, as the massive predator tackled the deputy to the ground in a flurry of claws and screams. The gunfire and the bloodhounds had driven the wildlife into a frenzy.
"Run!" I screamed, pulling Elena past the horrifying struggle. We didn't look back. We scrambled up the final incline, the yawning black mouth of the abandoned copper mine finally materializing out of the storm.
