See How She Runs (The Chronicles of Izzy #1)(50)

I had to make it to the river soon. I moved with sluggish steps, the adrenaline from my flight suddenly worn off. I finally heard the trickle of the river in the distance, and thanked God for getting me there safely. I did not want to risk building a fire so I set up my mat and went to sleep almost immediately. It felt strange to be so disconnected from everything. All of my dreams were swept away and I was left with a nothingness. I was a void which begged to be filled once more. I allowed that void to cradle me until morning. I found solace in its emptiness.

I was startled from my sleep by a sound nearby. I was sure that I had been discovered, but upon further inspection I found it was only a couple of elk at the river getting a drink. I looked back toward the forest and saw several more lingering in the brush. They were all eyeing me warily. Like I would do anything to the lot of them, seriously. They were huge beasts compared to me. I watched them for a long time as they drank up the river and grazed on the grass and underbrush. I was starting to get a cramp from lying in my current position, so I moved. I must have startled them, because a moment later I was alone once more.

I stood up and stretched thinking back to the first time I spent the night here. I looked back to where Kennan’s bag would have been. A lump formed in my throat and tears threatened to fall.

“You are doing this for him. Xavier said he would kill him. Well, pretty much, so buck up," I scolded myself.

I set about getting breakfast and looked around to make sure I had not been followed. I knew that I had two options. I could either wait it out here for another night to throw everyone off of my trail, or I could hike out tonight and haul tail to Bremerton. Thank God Mike wanted to be back at his old Navy stomping grounds, because Bremerton was just a few hours away from where I was.

I sat down and weighed my options, wondering what Kennan and Ian would have done in my position. I decided to stick it out for another night. I knew there was a very real chance they had been caught or had hauled butt out of there in search of me. If that was the case, they would probably be waiting at the last escape exit today.

I spent the day going through a lot of the different forms Ian had taught me. I took a run through the woods, but ran back when I spotted the elk again. I did not want to disturb them. Mostly, I did not want them to think I was some lady elk and try to mate with me. I knew the odds were slim, but it must have happened to at least one person. I got back to my stuff and took a quick bath in the freezing water. Afterwards, I built a fire and waited for darkness to come. I was grateful the constant rain had held off thus far, but from the looks of the sky, my luck would not hold out for much longer.

By the time night fell, the rain had started to fall again. I looked up at the sky, wondering why God could not have held it off for a little bit longer. Ultimately, I knew that the rain would cover any tracks I might have left. I just sucked it up and burrowed into my sleeping gear. I was pretty sure at the rate I was shivering my bag would work its way off while I slept. I was surprised to wake the next morning still safely encased.

I got up once again and steeled myself for the hike out. I plotted the points to make sure I hadn't missed any of the pitfalls I had come across during my last few hikes. I packed all of my stuff up and stretched out my tired muscles. I looked back at the clearing longingly and wished I could just hide out here and let the world pass by. Then I remembered that all I had left to eat was a power bar and some granola. My stomach won out. I did not have the fish catching skills of one Kennan O’Malley.

I sighed, a piece of me missing now that he was not with me. I had come to depend on him so much in the past few years and even more in the past month. I could not get the thought of his eyes out of my mind. I missed his smile. It had the power to transform me into a puddle of goo. I missed him and I promised myself if I made it through this I would tell him how I really felt. No more holding back.

Granted, if I did make it through this, he was probably going to want to throttle me. So maybe I would have to feel the room first to see where I stood. It would be my luck to show up, spill my guts, and then get yelled at. That would kind of ruin the mood.

I trudged on, thinking of nonsense. I won’t lie, I spent a good amount of time fantasizing about Kennan. God, I wanted that man. Not just physically, but in everything. I was kind of ashamed. I had spent so long being opposed to relationships, and really having no interest in them, and then all of a sudden there he was. It was like I finally opened my eyes and saw what was right in front of me.

My foot slipped, pulling me from my reverie, and I started to slide down the hill I was trying to trek up. The rocks came loose under my feet as the rain began falling more heavily. I slid all the way to the bottom of the hill, now covered in mud. I checked all of my joints to make sure I was still in working order. Yep, nothing but my pride was busted. I scrambled up the hill once more, this time crawling halfway. Once I got to the top, I stopped and got a drink.

I looked around, and noticed someone further up the trail from me. I hid off of the trail in some of the denser foliage and waited for the hikers to pass. I did not trust that they were out here just enjoying a hike. No matter what they looked like. At this point, the only people I trusted were Mike, Ian, and Kennan. I waited with bated breath for them to pass. It was a man and a woman and they looked completely ordinary.

Except the woman stopped and looked directly at my hiding place for a moment. I started to move but she shook her head. It would have been unnoticeable had I not been paying such close attention. She turned away immediately with the man and kept hiking down the way I had come up. I heard her talk to him in hushed tones.