From his chest down to his groin, he’d been torn open. Her first thought was that it looked like a grenade had gone off inside him. Because of all the larvae, she couldn’t see well enough to be certain, but it looked as though all of his internal organs were missing.

There was another body almost right next to him, but that was in even worse shape, having apparently been there longer. The bugs and animals had really gotten to him, but from what Harper could see, he looked like he’d been left in the same state as Luke—his whole torso torn open down the middle.

A few feet away from that, Harper could only see a leg sticking out of the weeds. If it hadn’t been for the old Reebok sneaker on the foot, she actually wouldn’t have been sure it was a leg at all. She would’ve just thought it was a rotting stick.

The disturbing truth was that she might have stayed there all day, staring at the dead bodies, if Alex hadn’t turned and bolted back toward the path.

“Alex!” Harper called and ran after him.

As soon as he got to the trail, Alex hunched over and threw up. Her own stomach lurched, but Harper managed to keep her food down. She stood next to Alex and rubbed his back. Even after he’d stopped vomiting, he stayed bent over for a minute.

“Sorry.” He wiped his mouth with the back of his arm, then stood up. “I didn’t want to contaminate the crime scene.”

“That’s probably a good idea.” She nodded. “We should go get help.”

They started out walking on the trail, but before long it had turned into a full-on sprint. They raced all the way to the police station downtown, as if they could outrun death.

19. A Way Out

NINETEEN

A Way Out

Gemma had gone to swim practice because she’d decided to try at this life. Spending the afternoon with Alex yesterday had cemented her belief that she couldn’t walk away from all this yet. She had to at least try to find a way to make it work.

Sleep had been difficult, though. She lay awake, tossing and turning all night. The ocean called to her, almost like a song. The waves beckoned her, and it took all her energy to ignore their pull.

In the morning, Coach Levi had been hard on her about missing practice this week, but her times were so amazing, he couldn’t fault her too much. Now, though, swimming in the pool wasn’t as much fun as it used to be.

The chlorine irritated her skin. Not that it gave her a rash, but she could almost feel it chafing her flesh, like itchy burlap rubbing against her. She couldn’t wait for practice to be over.