Page 93 of Madness & Mayhem

I glance around at the rest of them. Kyler looks angry, with his eyes narrowed, his lips pale, and his limbs looking like cement blocks as he can barely lift them out of the snow.

Then there’s Eloise, who drags her feet, creating tracks of snow behind her. She keeps her face buried in her coat, only her eyes and red hair covered in white crystals.

Archer carries Posie, but I can see from the look in his eyes it’s causing him a lot of effort.

Lakyn stands beside me, clutching her bad arm, dried tears covering her temples. Her face is also buried in her coat, and I can tell she’s losing her steam, and I’ll need to carry her soon.

This might be too difficult for all of us.

I’m beginning to wonder if we’ll even make it.

“The sun is up,” Lakyn rasps.

I glance up to the sky, seeing the sun beginning to peek over the horizon. It’s a little bit warmer today. The wind has slowed down and the snow has stopped, though not before adding about another four inches. My socks are drenched, my shoes nothing more than a sponge at this point.

“How much farther?” Archer asks from the other side of me.

I open my mouth, my lips splitting from the cold. I can taste a light flavor of blood, and all that comes out is a sigh.

If I’m being honest, I don’t know how much longer we have. The last town we passed was about an hour ago, and if my thoughts are correct, we should be arriving at the border shortly, but my mind is foggy and I almost don’t realize where I am. Are we going in the right direction? I don’t even know at this point.

“How much longer, Reign?” Kyler grunts, adjusting Posie on his back. Archer moved Posie over to Kyler about thirty minutes ago, but she’s been so passed out she’s like dead weight at this point.

I clear my throat, wondering if I should put a handful of snow in my mouth to wet my dry throat. “I don’t know, hopefully only like thirty more minut—”

The slow sound of tires rolling over snow has us all freezing in place.

“What is that?” Lakyn croaks.

A search light comes on up ahead, flicking through the trees. It’s off to the left, slowly moving toward us as the car continues to move. The lights illuminate the area a bit more, and that’s when the black police car comes into view.

“Run, run, run.” I clip the words out quietly and harshly, giving Lakyn a little shove in her good shoulder as we continue to move. Everyone picks up their pace, racing with such a quiet intensity that all you can hear is the snow flying up behind us. The light grows closer and I pick up my pace until we’re literally bolting through the trees. I can feel the light as it gets near my shoulder, and my feet fling up.

“Get on the ground,” I snap, flopping into the snow. Everyone drops, burrowing as far underneath the blanket of white as we possibly can.

I can feel the light above us, and I hold my breath as it slows in our direction. It stops, and my face scrunches in realization.

They found us.

“Run!” I roar, shoving against the snow. Kyler tears Posie off him, and she bolts to her feet. We all start running as the police lights flash on behind us.

“Stay together or split up? Stay together or split up!?” Archer barks.

I shake my head, my lungs constricting in agony.

I don’t fucking know.

"Reign!” Lakyn cries, her breaths winded.

“Split up. Stay together. I don’t fucking know!” I roar.

“Stay together. Fucking stay together!” Kyler barks.

We run straight, north, and I fucking pray that up ahead is the border. The border consists of a bridge, which I’m starting to think will be completely blocked off.

We are fucked.

“Stop where you are!” the officer in the car barks over a megaphone.