the man? Where is he going? You will restrain him! You will do so immediately!"
"Stay there! Stay there! Stay there!" Ramon shouted over his shoulder as he bolted off after the other man. The alien likely wouldn't remain where it was, but even if it only paused for a moment, it was a moment more than they'd had. As soon as he thought Maneck could no longer hear him, he turned all his energy and attention to just running. If they could get to the raft, get out onto the river, they could still outpace the bastard. They could still get away. If only Ramon hadn't built a lean-to. If the pinche river could have kept its waterfalls to itself. If anything that had made them pause in the journey hadn't happened, Ramon wouldn't have been crashing through the forest, lifting his legs high to clear brush and roots and stones, the alien and its new pet chupacabra close behind. He found himself calling out to the man, his twin, who was already so far ahead that Ramon couldn't see him.
"Go!" he shouted. "Run! Go, you bastard!"
If he could just reach the river ...
Ramon reached the river. The water was fierce and the roar of the cataract louder than he remembered it. The other man was nowhere Ramon could see, and where the raft had been, deep muddy furrows angled down the bank. It took a moment for him to believe it. Powered by mortal fear, desperation, and panic, the other man had somehow managed to launch the raft by himself, something Ramon wouldn't have believed possible. He ran out, his feet sinking into the mud, cold water soaking his knees and thighs. There, five meters out from the bank and ten or more from where he stood, the raft bobbed on the rushing water, his twin crouched at the helm. Ramon could see his wide, fear-rounded eyes.
"Stop!" he shouted. "Get back here! Stop!"
The man on the raft waved; a wide, frantic gesture that carried no meaning. Ramon spat out a stream of invective, wading uncertainly out into the water. When he looked over his shoulder, Maneck and the chupacabra were just coming into sight, slowed only slightly by the cumbersome leash and Maneck's wounds. Ramon lifted a hand to the alien, his palm out; a gesture that was intended to mean "It's okay, I've got it." And then, before waiting for the alien's response, he took a deep breath and dove. His robe soaked through in an instant, but he didn't stop to shed it. Under the water's surface, the river seemed misty - tiny bubbles from the cataract and floating silt conspired to hide anything at more than a meter's distance. Arms and legs flailing, Ramon struck out for where he thought the raft would be.
The man, like him, was at the mercy of the water, Ramon told himself. They'd be pulled along at the same rate. All he had to do was make up the distance. The turbulence was hard, though, and Ramon felt the water buffeting him as he fought to rise up for air.
"Motherfucker!" he shouted as his head broke the surface, and his mouth filled with water before he could say more. The raft was closer, but not as near as Ramon had hoped. A blast of energy lit the air; Maneck firing from the shore. The man yelped and started working the oar as Ramon took another breath and dove again. Maybe Maneck would hit the sonofabitch and solve Ramon's problems for him.
The cold here was unpleasant, but not the vicious, deadly chill it had been farther upriver. Maybe they were farther south than Ramon had thought. Or maybe there was warmer water from rain swelling the flow, as he'd expected. The water above him glowed twice more as Maneck fired. So at least the raft was still that close. A swirl in the gloom warned him a moment before he struck a wave of powerful turbulence, the water hitting him in the gut with the power of a fist. He lost his air, the bubbles rising awkwardly as he clawed his way after them.
The river was definitely faster. Already, Maneck seemed like a tiny figure on the distant shore. Inexplicably, the chupacabra was loping down the bank, free of the sahael and running like all the demons of hell were after it. Ramon spat and bobbed, trying to find his twin and the raft. The other man had drawn farther out into