Half Lost (The Half Bad Trilogy #3) - Sally Green Page 0,14

but her knees buckle and with her hands tied she can’t balance.

Shit!

I go to her and haul her up. She’s as light as a feather.

“There’s a small stream up ahead. We can get water and rest there.” I cut her zip tie and tell her, “Anything. Any trouble, any . . . anything and I slit your throat.”

She nods lots and says, “Thank you.”

I’ve no idea how far it is to the stream. I know I passed two on the way and followed the course of one for a short distance. So off we go again, slow but now she’s on her feet she’s OK.

Eventually we reach the stream. The water flows slowly but it’s clean. I fill the canister and watch the girl glug the water down. I find another chocolate bar and give it to her.

She eats this one more slowly. When she’s finished it she says, “I’m Donna.”

“Hi, Donna. I’m Freddie.”

She actually smiles a little at that. I guess she knows I’m no Freddie, but does she know who I really am?

I get to my feet, saying, “Time to go, Donna.”

“I thought we were staying here for the night.”

“It’s not dark for a few hours. We keep going.”

* * *

As it gets dark, I tell Donna, “This is a good spot. We’ll camp here.”

She doesn’t reply but folds up on herself and sits on the ground. We’ve walked a long way but nothing to what Hunters can cover in a day. I’m sure Donna’s fit enough but she does look really thin and weak.

It’s cold and she needs to save her energy for walking, not for keeping warm, so I make a fire and cook a couple of the dehydrated meals I took from the Hunters. She eats both. I’m not sure about tying her wrists again but I do. She doesn’t even complain, just lies down and falls asleep. I put some more wood on the fire and go to check if we’re being followed.

I run back the way we came, stopping frequently to listen for movement or for the hiss of mobile phones. I go fast in the dark. I can’t see that well, but I can sense my way. I run halfway back to the Hunter camp but I hear and see nothing. If it was a trap, what would I do if I was Jessica, my half-sister, leader of the Hunters, when I found out it hadn’t worked?

When she hears about that camp, Jessica will know I can kill eight Hunters on my own. So she’s going to want to follow us with more than eight. She’ll know we’ll go to an Alliance camp so she’ll want a lot more than eight. It might take her a while, a day maybe, to get enough Hunters in the right area. We’ve not left very obvious tracks, but they’re Hunters—they’ll work it out. We’ve probably got a day’s start on them, a day and a half with luck. But that’s not much. I’ve got to get Donna to Camp Three and then Greatorex will have to either be ready for a fight or move. Greatorex will want to move.

I get back while it’s still dark and start the fire again. Donna’s asleep. The forest is quiet. I lie down and close my eyes. I really need an hour or two of sleep.

* * *

I’m in a forest with Annalise. She’s running ahead of me and I’m chasing her, but it’s a game. She’s laughing and dodging and at first I’m pretending I can’t catch her but then when I do try to grab her she’s too quick and I’m snatching at air and she’s laughing again, laughing at me. And I get madder and try harder to grab her but she skips out of my reach and smiles and laughs and I get madder and I’m so angry and I have the Fairborn in my hand and I’m cursing her and still she laughs and then she stops and stands in front of me and says, “You’re my prince. You saved me.” But I’m so angry I stab her and slash her and the Fairborn cuts her and my arm is aching with the effort I put into it.

* * *

I wake up and open my eyes. It’s early morning. My arm is stiff and sore.

I turn my head and see Donna is watching me.

“Bad dream?” she asks.

“Is there any other kind?”

She gives a quick smile and looks down and very quietly says, “No.”

* *