The Uprisen

Chapter 30

Mallory's day has been awful.  For the third time today, she walks away from a house that claims to know nothing about the books.  The list of families in Alton that the Carringtons gave her have all been dead ends.  

Mallory walks over to the driveway where she parked the car, and reaches out for the handle.

"What the—?"

She looks around the driveway for her car, but it's gone.  Someone must've taken it.  "Really?"  She sighs and starts walking down the street.  I'm done for the day.

Mallory walks down the street in shame, thinking that she's either already too late or she's looking in the wrong places.  Regardless, her luck is testing her, so she's going to take a break for the day.

Her phone rings."Spencer.  Hopefully he's had better luck," she mutters.  "What's up?"

"Just wanted to check in, and let you know I haven't found anything."

She sighs.  "Yeah, I haven't either.  I'm heading back to the motel now."

"I think I'm going to try for one or two more, then head in for the night.  Though, one of the couples didn't even know about the books."

"Weird," she says.  "Well call me when you're done so I know you're okay."

"I will," he assures her.

"I'll talk to you later," she says, and she hangs up.

Mallory admits: she misses working with Spencer.  He's a good guy, and he's stayed pretty strong throughout their time in Kansas.  He keeps things light, and she's less afraid of everything because of that.

However, it is nice to take a walk alone for once.  Being with someone all day everyday can drive a person crazy, and being able to listen to traffic without someone talking to you is something she didn't realize she'd missed.

The day is beautiful too.  Despite the freezing temperatures, the snow was only a few inches thick; just enough to coat the ground like icing.  It helps that the town is so old and sleepy too.  The buildings look like they were built a hundred years ago, and strolling through was like walking through history.

As she nears the motel, she thinks about taking a nice long nap and watching some television.  Basically, anything mindless and normal.

She looks down, careful of the ice, and notices another shadow behind her.  She glances over her shoulder, and sees a man.  She looks away quickly, making it seem like she didn't notice the stalker.

The man dressed in jeans and a black winter jacket looks familiar from the last house she was turned down from.  She hadn't noticed him follow her off the lot.

Mallory walks a little faster, seeing the motel in the distance.  Walking from the parking lot, two men head for the road at a pace that would make them meet Mallory at the corner.  To her right, a man and a woman walk toward the same corner.

 That can't be a coincidence.  Her shoulders shrug, and she closes her eyes in the sad realization of what this is: a trap.

She digs through her pocket for her phone, and she dials Spencer's number.  After three rings, the men and women start running toward her, so she puts the phone back in her pocket and bolts for the nearest patch of woods she sees.

She barely misses the small crowd at the corner, giving her only a small distance advantage in front of them.  She sprints through the woods, dodging branches, jumping over tree stumps, swerving icy leaves.  The cold December air stings her lungs as she runs away from the crowd of Seekers chasing her.