“I know I can’t, but I do. I can’t explain it.”

Buttons licked her ankle. She patted his head, her shoulder aching from the simple act, and he rose on his hind legs to put his head in her lap. He was covered in brambles and dirt. It looked as if he’d gone rolling through the woods the way little kids tumbled down dandelion-filled hills, laughing with the joy of total innocence.

“I was so worried about you.” She kissed him over and over.

“I’m just glad he didn’t try to attack that thing,” Andrew said. “There’s no telling what it would have done to him.” He cringed when he looked to Ryker.

“Did it do that to Ryker?” Kate said.

Nikki nodded, fresh tears springing to her eyes.

Kate’s stomach felt as if it were filled with hot lead.

“Who sewed him up?”

The flesh between the stitches was puffy and raw.

“I did. It’s a shite job, but I had to stop the bleeding. I’m just worried about infection now, especially after what you said.”

Kate looked at everything piled against the doors. “Maybe when it’s light out, we can get him to the hospital.”

Andrew got back on his feet, the rifle in his hands. “We tried that earlier after you had a seizure. That’s when we were attacked. The…the thing destroyed the car too.”

A wave of crushing guilt pounded Kate square in her constricted chest.

“Ryker’s hurt because of me?”

Nikki was quick to hold her hand. “No, Katy. It’s not your fault. It’s that monster’s fault. It was more than just going to hospital. We wanted to get the hell out of here.”

Andrew caressed her shoulder. She refused to let the pain show on her face. “She’s right. You can’t pin the blame on yourself. We’ll get Ryker help. I promise.”

Without a car, electricity, or cell service, Kate wasn’t sure how exactly they were going to do that. Setting out to walk in those woods would be the same as committing suicide. If they took her along, all she would do was hold them back. In her condition, she couldn’t go faster than a slow walk. If that beast came for them, their only chance was to leave her and save themselves – but she knew they’d never do that. They would all die because of her.

She buried her face in her hands and cried.

Andrew said, “Someone has to have heard it. I mean, some of those screams were loud enough to have been heard for miles. And when I shot it. Jesus, the noise it made when it attacked the car. We’re remote but not that remote. Help will come. I know it will.”

No one had the strength to speak for the rest of the night, the silence creeping into the first golden rays of dawn.