Casted

Chapter 13

We ran. Our boots thumped on the snow. Our breath was harsh. Each lungful of air I swallowed felt like shards of ice scraping down my throat. My thigh muscles strained to keep me moving. But we didn't stop. The wails of the canines chased us.

We traveled through the trees as quickly as we could, but our loads slowed us down drastically. Every cry the animals gave reached us a little sooner, a little louder. They were gaining on us. Alice looked especially exhausted with the weight of her arrows, and I noticed with a start that her hand had started bleeding again. Chris and Ben were both covered in sheens of cold sweat. We couldn't keep running forever, and even if we did our pursuers would catch up in a matter of minutes.

Another howl reached my ears. Fresh fear pulsed through me. It sounded so close, I had to look back. A mass of black and brown animals weaved through the trees a hundred yards behind us. No single word can be used to define these horrid creatures. They weren't wolves, or coyotes. They were some kind of dog, thin and rabid looking. Their spines arched in an unnatural way, and you could count every rib on their flanks. The way they moved was almost weasel-like. Hot breath steamed from their long muzzles. Their bulging eyes were pure glassy white. All in all, they were the stuff of nightmares.

Chris must've looked back too and seen how quick they were closing the gap. "Faster!" he urged us.

And then we were sprinting. My head whipped back wildly every few strides. They gained on us more, darting between the trees, white eyes never leaving us. Sunlight and tree bark and flurries of snow whipped past. It all blurred together- gold, brown, white. Soon I could hear the snake-like breathing of the dogs behind us.

They're right on our heels. We'll never make it... unless...

The idea struck me so hard it took my breath away. I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of this already. Of course! What's one thing humans can do that dogs can't?

"We have to climb a tree!" I yelled over the caterwauling of the canines. They sounded like hounds, baying as they pursued a fox.

No one answered, they were too out of breath, but no one objected either. So I took the lead. More trees flew past. It was impossible to discern one from another, not to mention if they were suitable climbing trees or not. My mind started to sink into a state of panic. Where could I take them where they would be safe? What if we couldn't all get above ground in time? I sucked in air in rapid, hysterical gasps. I was running so fast, I couldn't even see the world. Find a tree, Harper, find a tree! Thirty more seconds and the dogs would have us.

"Harper!"

Chris's voice brought everything to a standstill. I stopped dead, sliding in the snow, and turned. He sounded so far away. I found him staring at me from beside the trunk of a tree. Ben was hoisting himself onto the lowest branch. Alice was nowhere to be seen, probably hidden in the higher branches. Chris stared at me intensely, holding out one hand in my direction.

The tree was at least thirty five feet back. I'd run right past it.

Go, go!

The next ten seconds were a race. The dogs changed course, heading straight for the tree, and I rushed to beat them there. My heart was one continuous rhythm. It shook through my whole body, pulsed through every nerve. To any spectator at that moment, I must have been a blur streaking towards that tree, because I've never felt my legs move so fast. I wasn't running, I was flying. And I didn't land until my hand fell into Chris's.

"Hurry! Hurry!" he urged. But no one had to tell me. I scaled up the trunk and perched myself in a Y-shaped branch just above Ben, gasping for breath and trembling from head to toe.