Sin: A Survival Romance Fiction (Her Story Trilogy Book 1)

by Kensley Hatch

  “How would we defend ourselves against such a pack?” Mccarthy was looking at the scared looks that Tania and Adeline were trying to hide.

  “I don’t know.” Summer admitted. “Our best bet is to try to get away from them. I know they’re probably long gone, but let’s try to look for any paths left by The Caravan. Wild animals don’t like large groups of people.”

  In a short amount of time, they were on their way. They abandoned all of the tents but two and left them bundled up on the stacked up sleds that were no longer serving them. They moved slowly for Meline’s sake, who was still suffering from hacking coughing fits. Everyone but Meline was armed with some kind of weapon, even if it only consisted of the large stick that Mccarthy used to walk with. Ever since Bridger had left and the wolf tracks were found, the mood switched to active defensiveness among the group. Summer’s eyes were roaming not just for The Caravan’s trail, but also for those who she feared would attack them in their vulnerable state. Ever since her confession to her family, she felt like a new person, but the reality of their current dangerous circumstances was not missed by her and she remained sober and alert.

  The night came and was accompanied by the howling of wolves that filled the wind menacingly.

  “Those sound like a lot more than just two,” Michael commented as his family and Adeline huddled in the tent.

  “They’re echoes. It’ll make it sound like more than there actually are.” Summer didn’t think that echoes could make that much sound, but it seemed to comfort Michael for the time being.

  The next morning, no tracks were found, and they continued on their journey heading further down the mountain to travel on even ground and potentially leave the woods that belonged to the animals. Summer wasn’t quite recovered when they had started to move again, and any additional action seemed to require energy that she just didn’t have. She and Michael took shifts guarding the tents at night, but twisted dreams of Bridger hunting them down, played in her mind making any sleep she tried to get impossible. He and Phil had left without any supplies of their own, and the dream version of Bridger was a mix between a half starved animal and a massive mountain trying to crush her in her sleep. There was no way to see for herself, but Summer could feel the dark circles around her eyes, and her sleep deprived mind felt hazy and afraid.

  As they hiked down, Tania pointed to an opening in the rock wall up above them.

  “It’s a cave.” She pointed excitedly.

  She scrambled up the side of the hill with Michael following her.

  “There may be something inside of there!” Summer warned and left her place by her mother to race after them.

  The three of them stood at the dark entrance of the rock structure, and Tania took a lighter from her pocket that had been given to her from Adeline. Before Summer had time to process and hold her back, Tania already was walking into the cave with the small glow of her lighter to show her the way. The light was surprisingly efficient in illuminating the interior of the cave, and it revealed that the cave was fairly shallow and didn’t go deeper than ten feet before Tania came to the back wall. She came back out with a smile on her face.

  “Let’s stay here tonight.”

  “No, this is probably an animal’s home. Do you want to get mauled in the middle of the night?”

  “There are no droppings and no signs of anything living in here. Feel it. It’s warmer than the tents and already set up for us.”

  Summer knew she should protest more, but she was too tired to come up with anything legitimate to say, and the air was indeed warmer inside the cave. She went back down to help Meline climb the hill that led up to the cave, and everyone positioned their sleeping bags along the cave floor. Mccarthy was starting a fire outside of the entrance, but Summer had already laid down on top of her sleeping bag. Her stomach growled and she figured everyone else’s stomachs were giving similar complaints. She would have to go hunting tomorrow, but for now, the slightly humid air of the cave lulled Summer’s body into a heavy, dreamless sleep.

  When Summer awoke, the smell of smoked wood brought her back to consciousness.

  “I’m going hunting. I’ll be back by nightfall.” She announced to the small circle of people around the campfire.

  She took only her axes and the bag of ropes for the traps that she would hopefully carry her prey in when she returned. Summer headed up past the cave and waited in the forest trying to become a part of it as she stood against a tree in an effort to blend in. It was clear that if it came down to a contest of speed, Summer would lose against any animal with enough energy to run away. The hike up the mountain alone had made her breathless and lightheaded, so instead, she set up a trap and waited. The hours slipped by with only the sound and no sight of life stirring in the forest. Summer accidentally fell asleep, and she awoke with a start to find a ginormous shaggy moose standing no more than fifteen feet away from her. Summer tried not to breathe as it seemed to be unaware of her presence so far. It didn’t have a rack of antlers, but the calf at its side told her that it’s motherly instincts would be far more dangerous than any bull moose. Their brown coats were patchy with the shedding that came along with spring. When spring came in its fullness, they would match their forest home, but for now, they were only half camouflaged in the dirty snow. They eventually made their way out of Summer’s sight, and she was alone once more.

  Within that same hour, a line of quails came darting through the trees, and Summer slowly reached for her ax. Two of them walked across the trap’s position and the others scattered when they were suddenly scooped up by the ropes. Summer threw her weapon and nailed one more before the rest disappeared. She quickly used her other ax to kill the two birds caught in the trap, so they wouldn’t have to suffer the slow death of suffocation that she had rigged her traps to cause.

  Relief warmed Summer’s mind as she put the dead birds into her bag for the ropes. Night was coming fast, and the fear of catching nothing was finally lifted from her shoulders. Her axes were much bigger than the small birds she had preyed upon, and the one she had struck was in much worse condition than the others. She knew she should take the time to undo the ropes and take down her trap, but it would be there tomorrow and Summer’s only desire was to get back to camp and roast the meat. She tossed her bag over her shoulder and hurried down to where her family was waiting.

  Upon arriving at the hill that led to the cave, Summer waved at Tania, who was standing outside of the cave’s entrance, and happily slid down the rest of the way until she had reached her. She expected to see Tania’s face light up when she held up the bag holding their dinner, but instead Tania was looking up past her with a look of terror.

  A howl rent through the air and Summer whipped her head around to look behind her. What she saw made her want to vomit. Along the place that she had skidded down the hill, there was a small trickle of blood. She lifted up the bag and saw the bottom darkened with the stain from where the quails’ blood had leaked out of it. In a panic, Summer dropped the bag and fell to her knees, shoveling snow on top to try to hide the scent of the blood. She frantically moved up along the trail, but suddenly a grey wolf appeared at the top of the hill and Summer’s body went limp as its yellow eyes met hers.

  Chapter 24

  Tania raced inside the cave and grabbed an object on top of her sleeping bag. She came back out and shot a flare into the sky, holding the flare gun from the cabin above her head. The shot jolted Summer from her momentary trance with the wolf, and her eyes darted to the top of the hill as more wolves emerged among the trees. As if by a given signal, two of them started trotting down the hill, picking up speed as the other four joined them. Summer ran back and threw the bag of quails as far away from the cave as her arm could propel them. Tania yelled to alert the others inside the cave. In a swift moment of decision, Summer looked inside at her family desperately and jumped off the ledge that lifted the cave above the ground. It was
about a ten-foot drop, and Summer tucked and rolled when her feet hit the ground.

  She could hear the trampling of the pack’s feet behind her, and she began running downhill, hoping to draw them away from the cave. Turning around, she flung one of her axes at the closest wolf and the ax connected in its side. It yelped in pain and fell to the ground, sliding a few feet further as its momentum continued. The sudden attack caused the other wolves to skid to a halt, and they stood around Summer growling angrily. She had run to the bottom of the hill and found herself stuck in the gully that led to another hill going up.

  A brown wolf to her left snarled and opened its mouth to reveal rows of dagger sharp teeth. The wounded wolf whimpered with the ax still protruding from its ribs, and the first grey wolf cautiously walked over to it while bearing its teeth at Summer. It sniffed the ax and tried to lift the dying wolf up with its head.

  Summer bolted to the left where the gully ran with water pooling into it. Two of the wolves broke off in pursuit and Summer’s feet sprayed water from the puddles as they pounded the ground furiously.

  However, she wasn’t fast enough, and she buckled to the ground with the weight of the faster animal tearing at her back as it leapt forward. Summer fell face forward with the wolf landing on top of her. She cried out in pain as it sunk its teeth into her shoulder blade. Warm blood poured from her back as the teeth punctured her skin and ripped into her flesh. Her hand was pinned underneath her body, and Summer tried to wrestle it out to reach for the other ax that was still holstered at her side.

  An immediate stab of pain ran to her brain from her calf as the other wolf bit into her leg and began dragging her backward. Summer succeeded in flipping her body around, and the first wolf stumbled off of her. Quickly, she reached for her ax and slashed it when the wolf tried to return for a second attack. It skirted away from her at the sudden introduction of the deadly weapon and snarled fiercely.

  Summer was still being dragged by the other wolf, and she reached down to hit its nose with her ax. A howl of pain blasted in Summer’s ears, and the wolf tore itself away from her with its bloodied snout.

  The grey wolf was behind it, and it stalked forward with its head down growling threateningly. Two white wolves moved behind their leader, and Summer stumbled backwards with no hope of escape.

  Suddenly, a rock whizzed downwards and hit the grey wolf in the rear. The leader jumped and looked up the hill at the sudden assault. Tania was standing at the edge of the ledge with Michael’s sling in her hand. Another rock came whistling towards the wolves, and the two white wolves rushed back as the rock barely missed their bodies.

  Summer looked on with dread as she saw Tania searching the ground for more ammo and Mccarthy was fumbling to try to work Bridger’s crossbow.

  The grey wolf snapped at the air above it and started hauling up the hill with the other four wolves following behind it.

  “No!” Summer screamed and threw her body up the hill after them.

  Mccarthy dropped the crossbow clumsily and its arrows scattered onto the ground. Tania’s scream cut into Summer’s ears as she watched the wolves’ run get closer to the cave with death in their eyes.

  Desperately, Summer flung her ax uphill, but it landed tragically short for its mark and fell to the ground harmlessly.

  She continued to push her body up the hill, but there was no way she could ever beat the wolves to their destination.

  “Get out of there!” She cried, watching helplessly as the wolves ran around the ledge that led up to the opening of the cave where her family would be trapped.

  It was too late. The grey wolf had already rounded the side of the ledge, and Tania fell backwards as it lurched for her throat.

  Suddenly, a figure appeared on the top of the cave, and the blast of a gunshot reverberated down the mountainside. The grey wolf fell dead at Tania’s feet, and another shot sounded, causing the white wolf behind it to yowl and jump back in fear. It stared at the barrel of the gun and the dead alpha in front of it. With a wailing howl, the white wolf turned its back on the people at the cave and ran across the side of the hill joining the others that then followed its flee.

  Summer remained breathless as she watched the person jump down from the top of the cave onto the ledge.

  “Julian!” She heard Tania cry and wrap her arms around him.

  Michael ran from inside the cave and bear hugged their savior as Mccarthy stood speechless at the reappearance of his dead nephew. Meline and Adeline joined in the hug.

  “How did you find us?” Michael questioned, pulling away and staring at Julian in ecstatic disbelief.

  “I’ve been looking for you for the past week. You guys should have fired that flare gun a long time ago. It would have saved me a lot of trouble.” Julian laughed, tousling Michael’s hair endearingly.

  Julian looked down and paused when he saw who was watching them further downhill. He moved his way past everyone else and stood at the edge of the ledge.

  “You’re alive.” Summer tried to shout, but the words came out choked back with emotion.

  He jumped down from the ledge and ran towards her as Summer struggled to join him limping up the hill with her injured leg.

  He reached her first and picked her up, wrapping his arms around her tightly. Summer cried out in pain, and he quickly released her when he felt the sticky substance on his arm.

  “You’re hurt badly.” Julian pulled back to examine Summer’s torn coat and shirt that was covered with blood.

  “I thought you were dead.” Summer wrapped her arms around his neck and frantically clung to his jacket as if he would disappear again at any moment. “I’m so sorry for making you come with me. You were right.” Summer rambled, in between her breaths of hyperventilation.” I should never have tried to run away. I made Bridger leave. There was hardly any food, and I thought I had lost you.”

  Julian interrupted her by kissing her lips fiercely.

  “No, you were right.” He said, holding her face with both of his hands. “The Caravan does exist! I found them after I lost you in the storm. That’s how I got the gun. They’re waiting for me now because I told them I had to find you. They’re less than a mile away. We can make it there by sunset if we go now.”

  Summer was frozen in shock.

  “We found them!” Julian hollered and Summer’s eyes filled with rapture as the news finally sunk in.

  “We found them.” She repeated quietly.

  A Sneak Peek of the Second Book in the Trilogy: Her Fury

  Bridger was fuming. He had been so close to teaching Summer a lesson for her defiance. After she had forced him to leave the camp, he had gone far enough away to where Summer’s group wouldn’t be able to see him and Phil, but their intent was to return the next day when her guard was down.

  However, that’s not how things turned out. They had gone further down the mountain the next morning in an attempt to ambush Summer’s family as they were traveling. Bridger and Phil were just coming down from a hill when they saw the group of men, but by then it was too late. Phil tried to bolt up the hill, but Bridger immediately pulled him back when he saw more than ten guns suddenly aimed at their chests.

  “We’re friends!” Bridger shouted, holding up his hands in surrender.

  “How are you doing here?” A man wearing a fur-lined ushanka shouted from behind his gun and heavy accent.

  “We’re lost.” Phil butted in before Bridger could get out a word. “Need help. Can fight.”

  “Suka!” The man cursed at Phil’s attempt to communicate. “We speak English. You can speak in full sentences.”

  “Are you a member of the terrorist group known as The Caravan?” A man with a British accent demanded, causing Phil to let out a nervous laugh.

  “The Caravan doesn’t exist.”

  “Do you take us for idiots?” The Brit threw back at him, readjusting his aim on him
.

  “The Caravan does exist.” Bridger cut in before Phil could deepen the amount of trouble they were in. “But we’re not a part of it. We’ve just gotten lost, but we were hoping to find some representatives of the Invaders to turn ourselves into and offer up our service as soldiers.”

  The group paused and looked to their leader, who was standing behind his soldiers, smoking a cigarette. The group was a mix of different nationalities from the coalition that had arisen to join China, but their leader was from China’s mainland. The man was handsome with slanted eyes and sleek black hair that had only slightly outgrown his cropped military haircut. His frame was about the average height for a man, but nevertheless he carried a commanding aura in the way he held himself. He flicked the ash from his cigarette onto the ground, apparently unfazed by the two lives that were waiting for his decision.

  “Load them up.” He finally said, before turning away in disinterest.

  The Russian looking man brought out two bags and pulled them over the prisoners’ heads before escorting Bridger and Phil down the hill even further. Soon, they were stopped and a command was shouted at them to sit in the back of a box truck while their wrists were tied. That was all the information given them before the truck door was slammed and the engine started. As the truck started to bump its way along the winding roads leading away from the mountains, Phil started to complain.They were not given any food all day and the jerky ride would have been enough to make anyone sick as they were jostled back and forth. However, the poor conditions of their captivity only served to add to the anger already mounting inside of Bridger. As much as he had hated those blasted mountains, he had been the one in charge up there and it was relatively easy to get what he wanted. Now, because of Summer’s insolence he had once again been captured by the Invaders and was being taken further away from where he could exact his revenge.

  It was impossible to tell the exact passage of time, but it felt like the hours and miles were combining to create an eternal state of uncomfortable unknown. When the truck did finally stop, Bridger stood up slowly, giving his cramped muscles time to adjust to movement again. The door swung open and brought light into the truck, though the prisoners were still prevented from seeing much through the mesh of the bags covering their faces.