Marcus Pelegrimas - The Breaking

Frank, on the other hand, wasn’t so eager. “You’re just going to leave?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Cole replied. “Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do after successfully breaking out of prison?”

“You’re a Skinner, aren’t you? If Skinners are good for anything, it’s hunting things like them,” he said while pointing a leathery hand at the howling Full Bloods. “Now you just want to leave?”

Cole stepped up so he was toe-to-toe with the Squam. Even though he had to look up into Frank’s yellow eyes, he glared at him as though doing so from higher ground. Normally, he was on the receiving end of stares like that, and when he saw the hesitation in Frank’s eyes, he realized why Paige used the tactic so often. “In case you haven’t noticed, this isn’t exactly a normal day of monster hunting. They’re hunting us, and so far they’re winning. Even if we did run back there to try and take on a pair of Full Bloods using nothing but a few crappily prepared sticks and foul language,” he added while holding up the confiscated club, “those cops would shoot us and toss us back into a cell before we had a chance to get torn apart. Either way, we wouldn’t be able to do much more hunting, and those Full Bloods would still be able to do whatever the hell they want!”

“They’re doing that already,” Lambert said, pausing to look back at them. “Let’s just get to steppin’!”

“You want us to do something, Frank?” Cole asked without budging. “Then tell me what I should do.”

The Squam’s mouth remained closed so tightly it resembled a line scribbled across his face with a pencil.

“No?” Cole challenged. “Anything you want to do?”

Although the muscles in his face jumped beneath the scales embedded in his skin, Frank shook his head.

“Didn’t think so. We’re getting the hell away from here. You’re welcome to try your luck on your own, but if you want to come along, then spare me the speeches.” With that, Cole turned his back on Frank and the ruined prison so he could join Lambert as he headed for what looked to be a distant access road. A few cars raced by, but the drivers were too preoccupied with the werewolves tearing through a small army to notice a few figures making their way through the trees.

They ran for a mile, heading west through a patch of rocky terrain. Since the cars were coming from a highway to the north and helicopters were still flying in from the east, Cole didn’t see any alternative but to press on into the hills. Never before had he so deeply regretted not being a Boy Scout when he’d had the chance to learn more about wilderness survival or navigating using the sun’s position in the sky. When he thought the prison was far enough behind him to stop and catch his breath, he heard another explosion that spurred him onward.

Once they were deeply entrenched in what appeared to be some sort of park or nature reserve, Lambert slowed to a halt. “All right,” he gasped. “Enough of this. Before I take one more step, I need to know who I’m runnin’ with.”

Frank looked at the wheezing, sweating inmate and replied, “I refuse to explain myself to—”

“You sure as hell will,” Lambert cut in. “Right now.”

Cole looked at the Squam and said, “He’s a wanted fugitive just like the rest of us. We’re in this together. If he was going to turn on us, he would’ve done it already.”

“You can trust me or not,” Frank said while hunching over so his chest was a few feet from the ground. “Rather than defend myself to you two, I’ll find out if anyone’s after us. You should move on, so don’t wait for me. I’ll find you.” And with that, he scurried around a nearby cluster of trees.

Since he couldn’t possibly follow the Squam, Lambert said, “Maybe we should just put a pin in this for now.”

“Put a what?” Cole snapped.

“Something my ma used to say. It means it might be a good idea if we stuck this shit somewhere else for a little while until we’re not so close to a bunch of wild animals and cops who want us dead.” Shrugging, he added, “My ma was an interesting lady. What’s your plan from here?”

Cole laughed and stooped, placing his hands on his bent knees and catching his breath. “I gotta level with you, Lam. I knew something would be coming to tear that place down, but I only kept that chunk of the bar because I thought it was charmed metal.”

“And it was,” Lambert said proudly.

“Right. I figured I could jam it into something’s eye or …that sounds pretty stupid, huh?”

After a short pause filled by the thump of distant explosions and howls, Lambert said, “Yeah. That does sound pretty stupid. But no dumber than me running from the law with you and a lizard man.”

Something crawled out from the trees behind Cole. Without casting more than a quick glance at the wide-shouldered figure that had crept up behind him, he asked, “What’s our situation, Frank?”

“Nobody’s following us yet. The cops are too busy sorting through the rubble and keeping out of the way of those two Full Bloods. Looks like plenty of people were hurt. Maybe worse. Ambulances are coming. Helicopters are hanging all around. Some are bringing wounded to the hospital and others are just trying to get a closer look.”

“Reporters,” Cole grunted. “Perfect.”

“Nobody’s after us?” Lambert asked. “You’re sure?”

“I said it once,” Frank hissed. “But that could change if we stay here.”

The Squam’s face wasn’t the kind that inspired trust, but Cole decided to accept what came out of it. “All right. We need to keep moving.”

The rumble of the exploding Gulfstream was still ringing through her ears when Paige tried to open her eyes. Something pressed against her lids along with every other inch of her body. She felt like she was falling, but suspended at the same time. Her ears, nose, and mouth were filled with dirt, which meant she hadn’t been delirious when she thought she’d been pulled underground.

Panic set in.

When she felt rough hands grabbing her arms and cinching around her ankles to drag her deeper into the earth, panic became a fond memory.

She tried to shout but her muffled voice couldn’t make it past her lips.

She tried to kick and actually felt her feet bust through into empty space beneath her, but the grip around her ankles tightened to prevent her from moving again. There was another sharp pull and Paige was dislodged to fall to a hard surface, landing with a jarring impact she felt all the way up into her molars. One hand pressed against the back of her head while more hands scrambled to search her and take away anything they could find.

At first she was too stunned to react. After a few seconds that feeling was replaced by an instinct honed over several years of getting jumped by any number of creatures. She hadn’t liked it the first time it happened and liked it even less now. She put her left hand flat against the floor to prop herself up and balled her right fist. With a sharp twisting motion of her upper body, she brought that elbow around in a blind swing that connected with something solid.

“Hold her down!” someone grunted from the direction of where her elbow landed.

From directly behind her someone else voice replied, “I am holding her down.”

“Use both hands, idiot!”

In the time it took for that little spat to take place, Paige had already wriggled onto her side and pulled one leg free from where it had been pinned to the floor. Even after she twisted her head around to get a look at where she was, she couldn’t make out much more than a crowd of shadows cast by a dim light.