Page 96 of Savage Rancher
"Contact in thirty seconds," Mason says, his voice steady as ice.
98
EMMA
Iresist the compulsion to look back, instead leaning forward, urging Smoke faster through the trees. Branches whip at my face and shoulders.
The headlights strobe across the forest around me—bright, relentless, closing the distance.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” I grip Smoke’s mane, hunkering into him. “Come on, boy. Faster.”
My heart is a fist pounding against my ribs. Smoke is fast, but he's not faster than a truck, even on a narrow dirt road. I need trees.
I need Jake.
The headlights get brighter.
Closer.
I push Smoke harder, and he responds—a magnificent, desperate surge of speed. We fly, crashing through undergrowth, the ridge opening up ahead of me. The trees thin. The ground becomes rocky.
The headlights swing wide, trying to cut me off.
But then?—
A silhouette. Dark. Massive. Parked perpendicular to the road ahead.
A truck.
Jake’struck.
Relief floods through me so violently I almost fall off the horse.
“Jake!”
99
JAKE
The horse is flying toward us now. I can see her face—wild, terrified, determined.
The pursuing vehicle accelerates, trying to cut her off before she reaches us.
Not happening.
I'm already moving. Mason grabs his sniper rifle from the truck bed, moving low toward the ridge line. Luke's beside me, sidearm drawn.
The horse reaches us, rearing. Emma's eyes lock on mine for one split second—relief, fear, love, all of it compressed into a single look.
"Make sure Emma is secure," I say to Luke.
“Got it.” He moves toward the horse, hands out, catching Emma as she slides off, gripping her camera.
I turn my attention to the vehicle screaming toward us. The headlights are maybe fifty yards out.
I step into the road.
100
