Page 52 of Marc

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I ran, Marc keeping pace beside me.

I glanced at him. “Your arm…”

“It’ll be fine. How are your burns?”

“I’m not even thinking about them right now.” That wasn’t exactly true, but I was trying to block out the pain.

He shot me a look that said he wasn’t buying my BS.

Get to the quadcopter. That was all I cared about.

We ran through the trees, our feet pounding on the dirt. Suddenly, there was a loud howl, and I stumbled.

What now?I turned to glance back.

Marc cursed. “Keep going. Don’t look back.”

Something was hunting us.

“Colbie, faster.”

Soon, my chest was heaving and my lungs were burning. My body was just one mass of aching pain. But I had to keep moving. I pumped my arms.

If I stopped, Marc would stop.

We broke into a clearing.

There was another angry howl, much closer this time.

Oh, God.

Marc scanned the trees, his face grim.

Then there was a wash of air from above. It whipped the end of my hair around. A Talon swung into view above the clearing.

Thank God. Elation hit me. What a gorgeous sight.

The quadcopter hovered above us and lowered a line down.

“Come on.” Marc clipped it to his belt. He wrapped an arm around me. “Hold on tight.”

I wrapped my arms and legs around him.

We started whizzing upward, just as the huge, shaggy wolf monster broke free of the trees.

My chest felt like a steel band was squeezing it. The monster ran and leaped into the air. Marc and I both tucked our legs up. The huge jaws snapped, just centimeters from our boots.

Then suddenly, arms grabbed us, and I looked up into the faces of Jameson and Zeke.

They hauled us into the quadcopter

“You two look like hell,” Jameson said.

“I’ve had better days,” Marc noted, his voice tight.

Jameson helped me up, while Zeke helped Marc into a seat.

“His arm’s broken,” I told them.

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