The seat belt released and Cait sagged forward against the wheel. Her whole body was lit up with pain. “Cait, can you hear me?” She managed a grunt. “Can you put your arms around my neck?” Cait tried but couldn’t lift them. She fell back against the seat. “It’s okay,” Rebecca murmured. “Don’t worry.” Hands tugged at her shoulders. Cait yelped as a bolt of pain shot through her left arm. “Okay, it’s okay,” Rebecca soothed. “I think your arm is broken. I’ll try to be careful, but we don’t have much time.” Arms around her waist, tugging, pulling. Her body shifted. Pain shot through Cait like an arrow.
She must have passed out from it, because when she opened her eyes, she was half in the passenger seat and Rebecca was climbing over her to the driver’s side. Cait watched her lower herself into the seat and fumble at the keys.
Rebecca turned the key in the ignition. The engine stuttered. She tried again. Stutter, stutter, cough. Cait could hear the death rattle in the Jeep’s throat. The engine had flooded. She reached a finger toward Rebecca. “The gas . . .” she whispered. “Push the gas pedal . . .”
Her words were drowned by a long, shivering scrape of metal on metal. The two women froze. They heard soft footsteps on the ground outside, a hand rattling at the door handle, another long scrape along the Jeep’s battered body.
Rebecca fixed her wide, terrified eyes on Cait.
“It’s him,” she whispered.
The door wrenched open and the silhouette of a man filled the frame.
Rebecca looked up at the man blocking the doorway. She had never seen him in her life.
She watched as confusion filled his dark eyes, followed by anger. “Who the fuck are you?” he asked, and he punched her square in the face before she had the chance to answer.
Her head snapped back against the seat. Stars swam in her vision. She covered her face with her hands just in time to block the next blow, this one a firm backhand to the side of her head. Her skull seemed to swell. She closed her eyes and let out a whimper. “Get the fuck out,” the stranger said, and he reached in and started dragging her out of the Jeep.
She swung her arms out wildly, hands scrabbling for purchase, fingers probing for weakness. She jabbed a thumb in his eye, and he reared back before reaching for her neck and tightening his grip until she felt her trachea crack. He let go just before she passed out, then watched as she bent over the wheel and retched.
“Get out,” he said again, wrenching at her arm, and she felt herself begin to slide out of the seat.
She swung her legs out to kick him. She caught him square in the chest and he stumbled back. “Cait,” she shouted, pulling at the girl’s arm. “You have to wake up! You have to get out!”
The man caught Rebecca’s bad ankle in his hands. His palms were cold and slicked with sweat. She thrashed like a fish snagged on the hook, but he held on and pulled her body out the door. She landed hard on the ground, and the back of her head scraped against the edge of the doorframe, sending a shock of pain down her spine.
Her fingernails scraped along the dirt as he dragged her into the scrub.
“Who are you?” she screamed, just before he kicked her in the stomach and the world went black.
The air was cold on Cait’s face, and she tried to tilt her head away from it. She was cold all over now, her whole body shivering, every nerve raw.
From somewhere far away, she heard the sounds of a struggle, followed by a series of dull, heavy thuds. She kept her eyes closed and turned away from it. She just wanted to sleep now. Deep, endless oblivion.
A scream pierced the night. Cait’s eyes snapped open. Her face was tilted upward, and through the shattered windshield, she could see the navy velvet of the sky shot through with tendrils of purple and fuchsia. It was the most perfect thing she’d ever seen.
The scream again, cut short. Silence. Heavy footsteps coming closer. Her fingers twitched. Something deep inside her animal brain telling her to go, move, run. Her body wouldn’t comply.
The door next to her opening. More cold air whipping at her skin. A voice, murmuring. Hands on her body, pulling, lifting. A familiar