“Carmen’s things…”
“Leave it, Ben.” Carmen’s eyes blazed.
I tore the pack off my chest and immediately my shoulders ached less. “Sorry, Car,” I said as I dropped it by the checkpoint.
I caught hold of Lizzie’s elbow in one hand and clutched my axe in the other. Will slung Carmen’s good arm over his shoulder and together we raced after Grady.
“Oi!” The chasing team were shouting after us, as if we’d stop and let them catch up.
“This is … a nightmare,” Lizzie gasped. I was half-carrying her. She lifted her spear, trying to stop it from tangling in her ankles.
“Ignore them. They wouldn’t be shouting if they could catch us.” I propelled her forwards. “We just need somewhere to hide.”
Grady was stumbling ahead of us, panting loudly. He was a dark shape, just visible in the grey murk. To our right, Will was hauling Carmen.
“Hey, you!”
Lizzie gave a choking sob and I teetered sideways as her ankle gave way. I yanked her close to my side, put my arm around her waist, and we stumbled on.
The wind died. All I could hear was my own rasping, Lizzie’s sobbing pants and the mismatched thud as our feet hit the ground. Rasp. Pant. Thud.
My boots crushed moss, tore through grass. I stumbled in a clump of mud.
Lizzie twisted in my arms. “They’re … catching up.”
“No … they’re not.” I pulled her harder. Where was Will?
My ears rang, blood pounded. Did I just hear Grady cry out?
My leading foot came down on air. I couldn’t let go of Lizzie. I dragged her with me, hurling the axe sideways to stop us rolling on the blade. We were sliding down a slope. Gravel in my elbows, scraping my face. Lizzie didn’t scream, but there was a loud snap as her spear broke.
Finally we stopped and lay tangled together, gasping.
“Ben, is that you?” Grady floundered over.
“It’s us,” I whispered. Will leaped down the slope after us and Carmen cried out as his landing jolted her arm. I started to stand, but Lizzie grabbed me and pointed.
We had landed in a deep ditch. At one side was a low overhang, crowded with shadow. If we crawled inside, we’d be invisible.
I gave her a thumbs-up and commando-crawled beneath the deep overhang. Lizzie and Grady followed. Will pushed Carmen after us and then rolled inside.
My heart pounded. I pressed my fist into a growing stitch as Lizzie jammed her face against my shoulder.
“Curtis, where are they?”
The voices sounded older – perhaps twenty, the top end of the age limit.
“Split up. Look for them.”
Torchlight haloed the sky and then scanned the slope in front of us. My eyes widened as I saw my axe. It lay in the open on the other side of the ditch.
Light gleamed from the iron blade, but there was no outcry. I almost sobbed in relief when the light moved on.
We remained in a silent huddle as time dragged by. Shouts passed us, sometimes far away, sometimes close enough to drive my heart into my throat. I was too afraid to go for my axe.
The gaps between shouts grew longer. “Have they gone?” Lizzie whispered.
“Maybe they’re searching the cliffs,” Grady whispered.
I checked on Carmen, who had slumped to one side. “Car, are you all right?”
She didn’t answer, and I started to crawl towards her. Suddenly I froze.
“Stay right there.” The words were almost a hiss. “I’ve got a knife.”
Behind Carmen, further back beneath the overhang, two figures watched us. We were not alone.
Chapter Fifteen
Very slowly, I retreated.
“Will?” I whispered.
Will switched on the penlight he kept attached to his belt.
“Switch that off!” the voice rapped.
Will directed the light towards the sound and the slender beam picked out two girls huddled together. One was holding a large knife. She kept her other arm around the girl beside her.
“We won’t hurt you,” Grady said.
“Put down the knife.” I held up my hands, trying to look non-threatening. “Are you Prisha? I think we saw your team earlier.”
The girl shook her head. “Somia.”
“What happened? Where’s the rest of your team?”
The knife tip tilted downwards. “Who d’you think we’re hiding from?” Somia glared. “Liam and Sanjay wanted to take Pasha’s finger. I told them we’d do it in the morning. Then, when they were making camp, we ran.” Her eyes went to Carmen, who was sat at the edge of the pool of light, tears welled and the knife swept back up. “You did that to her?”
“No!” Lizzie crawled to my side. “We’re hiding from the people who did … and from the team who were chasing us.”
“We’re hiding from everybody,” Grady muttered.
“Well, you can’t stay here.” Somia gestured. “This is our place. Find somewhere else.”
“Why don’t you come with us?” Lizzie begged. “You’re not safe alone.”
“Says you!” Somia glowered. “You can only find this hiding place if you actually climb into the ditch. And if someone does try to drag us out, they’ll get cut. We’re safe enough until the competition’s over. One more day. Then we’ll come out.”
“You’d be better off with us. We can protect you.” Will flicked his hair and offered her one of his rare smiles.
Somia stared for a second. “Yeah? Like you protected her?” She pointed the knife at Carmen. “And how do I know you don’t want some body parts of your own? You’re in this too.”
Pasha whispered frantically in Somia’s ear.
Somia shook her head. “I don’t trust them.” She looked back at us. “They’ve gone. You can leave.” She feinted with the knife and I slid backwards.
“Be reasonable,” I begged. “Carmen’s out cold.”
“Wake her up,” Somia snapped.
I started to move forwards.
“Not you!” She held me at bay. “Her.” She pointed to Lizzie.
Lizzie started to edge around me, but I touched her shoulder to hold her back.
“It’s OK.” She slid out from under my arm. When she reached Carmen, she placed her fingers on her pulse, sighed with relief, then shook her. “Carmen?”
Carmen groaned.
Lizzie looked at Grady. “She’s burning up!”
“It must be an infection.” Almost in tears, Grady pulled his medical kit from his pack. “She should’ve been taking antibiotics from the start! I didn’t think… Can you get her to take these?” He handed two capsules to Lizzie.
Lizzie sat Carmen up and pushed her matted hair out of her face. “Anyone got water?”
I handed her the bottle from the side of my pack. Somia watched, her knife hand unwavering, as Lizzie wetted Carmen’s forehead and then poured water into her mouth.
Carmen choked and opened her eyes.
Lizzie tucked the capsules into her mouth and poured water after them. “She’s due another painkiller, too,” she reminded us.
Grady nodded and Lizzie gave her the paracetamol she had stashed in her trousers.
“Now go!” Somia barked.
“You’re really going to make us take her out there?” Grady hunched over his pack, glancing nervously up at the stars.
“You can’t stay,” Somia repeated. “Too many people will draw attention here.”
Delirious, Carmen shoved herself away from Lizzie. She crawled out into the open and wobbled to her feet. “We can’t let them win!” She swayed. “Where’s m’knife?”
Lizzie handed it to her.
“I can’t believe she’s still focused on that.” I rubbed my face. “We can’t go for the next checkpoint. We were lucky to get away this time!”
Carmen started to swear at me in Spanish and Will caught her before her legs folded. “Don’t worry,” he soothed. “Ben didn’t mean it. We are going for the next checkpoint.”
<
br /> “I did mean it!” I snapped. “And no, we’re not!”
Carmen swiped at me with her knife, but missed. Lizzie held her arm.
“All right, Car, we’ll keep going.” Lizzie looked at me. “It won’t hurt to at least check it out.”
I folded my arms. “We should find a place to hole up. Somia’s got the right idea.”
“No!” Carmen howled and Grady clapped his hand over her mouth.
“Stop upsetting her, Ben!”
“You are going to bring people here!” Somia cried, furious.
Pasha whimpered.
“Fine.” I ground my teeth. “Give me the map. I’ll show you where the checkpoint is.” I checked the numbers, then tapped my finger on the folded paper. “There. It’s right at the other end of the island near that chapel. We’d have to walk north half the night to get there.” I looked at Lizzie. “Do you want to carry Carmen?”
“I will.” Will tightened his arm around Carmen and they both glowered at me.
“I’m not the bad guy here!” I growled.
Lizzie took the map and Will’s torch. “We can go through those trees.” She pointed. “And look – there’s another building and the chapel. Loads of places to hide.”
“Yeah?” I muttered. “Loads of places marked on the map. Places all the other teams will like the look of too. We’ll probably walk right into someone else’s camp.”
“We just have to be careful,” Will said.
“The faster we get to the end of the route, the faster we find help.” Lizzie took my hand.
“If we get to the last checkpoint in the fastest time we could still win.” Grady avoided my eyes as he clipped the straps of his bag over his chest.
“This isn’t about winning any more. It’s about surviving. Haven’t you been paying attention?” I dragged my hand through my hair and reached to pick up my axe.
“We’re not letting them win,” Carmen grunted.
“Yeah, but, Car, what are you willing to risk to stop them?” I exhaled, trying to regain control.
Lizzie held my gaze. “We’re going to take it slowly and be careful. We’ll go from one hiding place to the next and walk without the torches. If we can get ahead of everyone else, we’ll be OK.”
“You think we can overtake the other teams?” I pointed at her ankle.
“They’re still trying to complete the geocaches. We’re not. We just have to get all the coordinates and move on.”
“Wearing our cloaks of invisibility?”
“Don’t be like that, Ben.” Grady stood beside Will and Carmen. “We know how to move quietly, stay low and walk below the horizon.”
I rubbed my eyes and felt Somia watching us. “I’m only trying to protect us.”
“If we can get two more checkpoints completed tonight, while most of the teams are camped out, we’ll be exactly where we planned to be by tomorrow,” Grady said hopefully. “If we only sleep for a couple of hours, then we can stay out in front.”
“You girls decided yet?” Somia sneered.
“I don’t like this.” I pulled out of Lizzie’s grip and walked past them all.
“Don’t have to like it, chico,” Carmen spat. “Just have to do it.”
We needed to walk back across the river mouth – we hiked in silence, our torches unlit.
Grady located the north star and we used it to guide our way. The moonlight cast a faint glow on the scrubland, helping us to keep our footing. The wind bit through my jacket, but the midges and bats were gone. It was too late even for them.
We moved slowly, carefully; once we were over the river mouth, we stayed away from high ground and avoided the cliffs.
Will half-carried Carmen and I supported Lizzie. I could sense unspoken words cutting her lips. She hated silence, always had to fill it, but I was grateful for the quiet. I’d said my piece and been overruled. Now I had to force every step, while my brain screamed at me to go to ground. However carefully, we were going towards danger. I hated it.
“Through the trees, or around them?” Grady’s words shattered the quiet. My heart pounded.
“What do you think, Ben?” Lizzie whispered.
“What do you care?” Resentment sharpened my words and she glanced at me, surprised. Then she looked at Will. “There’s more likely to be teams camping or waiting in the woods, don’t you think?”
Will nodded.
“Then we should go around.” She sounded confident, but I could feel her trembling.
We kept the treeline to our left and moved even more slowly. A campfire glimmered among the trees and I held my breath as we passed it. From Grady’s direction, a stick snapped and we all froze.
“Don’t lift your feet! Push your toecaps along the ground,” Lizzie hissed.
We stood still and listened. Muffled laughter rang through the night. There was no pursuit. We continued with even greater care. Tension wound my muscles to breaking point. What if I fell and drew the other teams to us, like caiman in a swamp?
The campfire faded out of sight. At least there was one team with no night vision. I rubbed my own straining eyes. What had they been thinking?
Slowly we passed the woods and headed back into the open. The sound of water lapping in the night breeze came from the loch on our left and a glow radiated from the broken windows of the building further around the water. A beacon, I thought. Perhaps that’s where all the hunters will converge.
I realized with a shudder that I had been thinking of us as prey for a while now.
To the right, outlined against the midnight-blue sky, the shape of a cross blotted out pinprick stars. I touched Lizzie’s shoulder and pointed. It was the chapel. We were nearly there.
The moorland turned to meadow and long grass tickled our legs, wet in the dampening night. An owl swooped, its wings almost touching my face, then it was gone. I wiped my sweating hands on my trousers.
Finally Lizzie spoke. “I didn’t mean to ignore you, Ben.”
“I know,” I whispered shortly.
“You have to forgive me.” Her voice almost broke. “What if we don’t—”
“We’re not going to die, Lizzie!” I caught her gaze. “Anyway, I’m not angry with you, just afraid we’re walking into trouble.”
Lizzie shuffled forwards. “We have to reach the end,” she said.
“You still think there’ll be help there? The last box had a finger in it.”
“I don’t know what’s going on here,” Lizzie said. “But there will be someone at checkpoint seven–there has to be. We just have to be strong for one more day.” She swallowed. “Twenty-four hours. Less.”
I forced a smile. “When you put it like that.”
She took my hand. “So you’re OK?”
“If you are.” I looked up; we were getting closer to the chapel. “Lizzie… I remembered what you and Carmen were saying when I was … ill.”
“Ah.” She tried to pull her hand away, but I didn’t let her.
“Why didn’t you tell me your dad’s sick?”
Her jaw tightened. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“You haven’t,” I lied. “But how can I be there for you if I don’t know what’s going on?”
For a long time the quiet was broken only by our footsteps. Then she spoke.
“Now you know how I’ve felt our entire lives.”
I caught a breath. “You—”
“I’ve always known there was something going on with you. Even before your dad left, but you never told me. If I tried to ask, you changed the subject until I stopped asking. I figured our relationship just wasn’t like that. We don’t talk about the big stuff.”
“But we do!” I insisted. Then realized my voice had raised. “Don’t we?” I whispered.
“Not really.” Lizzie shook her head. “When your mum was hospitalized that time, I found out from Matt, who heard it from his mum. It’s OK. I found a way to be there for you, just by … being normal. And that’s how you’re there for me. We don’t talk
about the bad stuff, we keep it light, and that’s a good thing.”
“Y-you don’t trust me?”
“Of course I do.” Lizzie shrugged. “But I still don’t know what’s going on with you. Maybe one day you’ll tell me, but what I’m trying to say is … if you don’t, that’s fine too.” She leaned against me. “I love you, Ben. You’re my best friend.”
I smiled as my chest ached.
We stopped about a hundred metres from the chapel, behind a crumbling drystone wall. The chapel was as broken as the house we’d sheltered in – one whole side of it caved in, like a sandcastle smashed by a spiteful foot. The moonlight picked out gravestones – weathered, leaning or completely shattered. I thought of the number of houses that had been marked on the map. For only three homes, there were a lot of graves. Generations.
“Is there anyone in there?” Grady said under his breath.
“Impossible to tell.” Will cocked his head. “I can’t hear anything and there’s no firelight, but that could just mean they’re smarter than the team in the house back there … or they’re laying a trap.”
“Is the checkpoint inside?” Lizzie asked.
I shook my head. “It’s behind the chapel. In the graveyard, most probably.”
“A good place for an ambush,” Will pointed out.
“We can still head into the hills and find a cave,” I said, but Carmen turned, her head wobbling on Will’s shoulder like a broken doll. She glared at me and I held up my hand. “All right.” I sighed. “Don’t freak out.” I leaned my axe on the wall. “So, we do what we did last time. Will solves the riddle now, while we’re hidden. We only go for the box when we have the answer.”
“Agreed.” Lizzie pulled out her notebook. “Here, Will.” She dug her calculator from her bag.
“I’ll need more light.”
“It’ll wreck your night vision,” Lizzie warned.
“The moon’s not bright enough for maths,” Will whispered.
Grady got out his torch, but didn’t switch it on. We looked at one another. Then Lizzie pulled a dirty green T-shirt out of her bag and wrapped it around the torch.
“Everyone except Will, cover one eye,” she warned. “You’ll keep your night vision that way.” Then she dragged us into a circle and aimed the light at the ground.
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