The road twisted through the mountains now, thick primeval forests encroaching hungrily on either side of them as Nicole maintained her speed on the straightaways, only slowing at the last second for the curves. In a car optimized for gas mileage rather than agility, it began to unnerve Seth. Especially with her single hand on the wheel. She took a sip from her Monster.

“We’re close. Twenty minutes now.”

Thunder rolled throughout the mountains.

She had yet to conceal her British accent. “My friends will help us with the next steps… I didn’t expect Hunter to find me so soon. I thought I’d have at least a few months to lie low and continue my research. But my hand might be forced.” She glanced at him. “I’ve thought about it. I won’t hold it against you if you want to take your risks and head back to your home. They may leave you alone. You’ll be asked some questions at some point, but they might leave you be. Or you might wind up like my friend in Missouri.”

“What happened in Missouri?”

“Same thing. Only she stayed behind. Wouldn’t run with me though she knew she should. They killed her. Or took her. Either way doesn’t matter, she’s gone and no one knows where she is. If she’s alive, she’s probably about two hundred miles south of us, at Lewis.”

Seth’s phone buzzed in his lap. Emma.

“I swear if you-”

Seth fought internally for a moment, then let the call ring through. Reception up here wasn’t good anyway.

“Good, you’re learning.”

One voicemail.

“She’s worried.”

“Is she your girlfriend?”

“She’s…” Was she? They hadn’t become official. Seth had never asked her to be his girlfriend. They hadn’t really even gone on a date. They just hung out at her place, had fun together, and… Seth pulled his mind back. But what did things like that matter anyway? No one respected them these days. “No.”

“Then she can wait.”

“What would you have said if I said she was?”

“Tough.”

“Fuck off.”

“You’re in a dark place right now, Seth. And there’s monsters in the dark. You can’t afford to turn on a flashlight, not even for a second, because they’ll see it and come running to eat you alive.” Her knuckles were white on the wheel. She swerved hard to the left without warning, cutting down an almost invisible mountain road, running even further upwards toward one of the nearby peaks.

“The Hunters, you mean?”

“They’re not the only monsters in the dark.”

As they ascended the rough, unpaved road through the tangle of ancient pines, a shiver ran down Seth’s back. He felt like something was watching them.

***

Ten minutes of ascension and the road leveled out. The forest swept away to reveal a moderately sized glade, maybe two hundred feet across in all directions. A lonesome log cabin butted up against the furthest edge of the trees. Nicole pulled to a stop well over a hundred feet away from the house.

“No sudden movements. Let me get out first.”

Seth looked at the cabin, the two windows to the left of the door dark. A wisp of smoke rose from the chimney.

Nicole exited the car and stepped around, hands in the air. “Ben! It’s me! I have someone with me.” She looked back at Seth through the car windows. “I’m approaching your front door!”

She lowered her hands and walked in a straight line from the car to the unassuming green-painted door of the cabin.

BOOM!

The windows on the car shattered inward and Seth flung his hands up in front of his face, feeling the glass slice open his exposed forearms. His ears rang. He couldn’t hear anything else. He threw the door open and nausea overwhelmed him, causing him to spill beef jerky from his stomach all over the dirt road. He looked up. Nicole lay on the ground in one place… One of her legs was missing. A smoking hole in the yard of the cabin revealed some kind of explosion had gone off.

“Nicole!”

Seth forced himself to his feet through another wave of nausea and sprinted toward her.

“Stop!”

Nicole sat up on one arm, her left leg a stump from mid-thigh down. She held one hand out. “There’s more. Don’t come closer.”

Seth came to a standstill, swaying as his inner ears tried to reorient themselves and failed. He stumbled, and felt his foot land on something hard, hidden in the grass. His eyes widened.

“Don’t. Fucking. Move.” Said Nicole. Seth managed to obey, and as he did so, he finally noticed. Nicole’s stump wasn’t bleeding. She rolled to her other side, facing the cabin. “Ben you bloody asshole. Get out here right fucking now and fix your bloody mess!”

A moment later the door opened, and a dark-skinned man in his late thirties leaned against the frame. “I was making tea.” Same British accent. He raised a hand aloft, two fingers up and together, and made a quick flick of his wrist. “Blondie. You can move now. Nicole. Sorry about the leg. That’s my fuck-up.”

“Damn right it is,” she growled, forcing herself to a full seating position. Seth’s eyes were still locked on the bloodless stump. A million thoughts were racing through his head. The wound wasn’t cauterized. Her leg should have been squirting blood. She should be faint by now if it was ripped off at an artery. Seth’s head swam again, the ring still there, the nausea returning in full force. He stumbled and fell over, flat on his back.

“Bollocks,” said Ben. “Blighter’s got a TBI, hasn’t he?”

“You’re the one who rigged the minefield.”

“Can’t be too careful with all of America’s alphabet lads. Especially your Hunters. A man has to conduct his work in peace.”

Seth could hear them, but as he stared at the roiling thunderclouds above them, they were out of his field of view. Lightning flashed overhead, accompanied by a bass roll of thunder and it began to rain, softly. It felt good.