“A small group was still tracking us,” Sig responded.
The idea that they’d not only kept up with the pace we’d set, but had been so close to us this entire time made my skin crawl. There was no way for me to tell what time it was, but I knew dawn was a long way off.
“What are we going to do?”
“Climb,” Rafe told me, then took my hand and we started walking.
We walked for hours, the stars above our heads shifting in patterns, denoting the passing of time. Soon my feet were aching just as badly as my butt had been from days of riding. I was breathing hard, but I kept up, marching along with them despite the elevation as we climbed.
It didn’t seem to matter how fast we moved, the sounds of the men chasing us got closer and closer. We came to a small gorge and Rafe turned to face the rest of us. We’d been walking single file along the narrow pathway. I couldn’t even look to my right, because the sheer drop off there was terrifying. The moon illuminated it enough to know I didn’t want to step off the edge.
We weren’t even that high into these mountains yet, but it was enough that if you fell, you’d die when you hit. I hugged a little closer to the rock wall to my left.
“This is going to have to do,” Rafe said, voice grim.
It was dark out, but I peered around. There was nothing here. What was he talking about?
The other two nodded and they ushered me farther up the trail. We only walked for a few more minutes before it opened up and I could see that there were multiple paths to take now.
“Isn’t that little cave around here somewhere?” Arsen asked.
“This way,” Sig answered and we followed him.
Arsen came over to me and ducked. “Stand on my shoulders, Colby.”
I knew things were serious because he was using my name. He almost always called me Little Warrior. Swallowing, I squinted up at the rock face we were in front of. It was too hard to see in the darkness, but it was possible there was a shadow a few feet up in the air. I looked back at Arsen and obeyed. There wasn’t time to argue.
The other two helped steady me as I clambered onto his shoulders, though I was on my knees. Arsen stood and I bit back a yelp as I flew up through the air. Reaching forward, I grasped the ledge that was indeed up there and pulled myself into the cave. It was more of a shallow indentation. Turning, I looked down at them.
They handed up the small packs they’d grabbed and the last thing Arsen handed me was an AK-47. My mouth went dry. If they were arming me, it was because there was a chance this wouldn’t go well and they wanted me to have a way to defend myself. This was bad, it was as simple as that.
“Guys-”
“Shhhh,” was all the response I got. Their faces were illuminated briefly by the waning moon overhead, then they disappeared before I could say anything more.
I watched their shadows run away from my position and take a path that would lead them down into the gorge.