Page 57 of Ozzie

Twigs break under his feet only a few yards away. Then he stops. I slow my breathing, trying not to make any noise. The forest is silent, not even a bird or squirrel making any noise. It’s as if they sense they, too, shouldn’t gain John’s attention.

The footsteps draw closer. I’m yanked out from the bush. John has a hold of my shirt. He drops me.

“Stand up,” he commands.

I don’t want to. I know what’s coming.

“Don’t make me tell you again.”

As I stand, I grab a thick stick from the ground and quickly spin and hit him with it hard. He doesn’t even flinch.

My leg is on fire from running when I should be resting, but I ignore that as I raise my leg to kick him. But this time, he sees it coming and he twists it, forcing me to fall.

I get to my knees, and that’s when his fist connects with my face, knocking me onto something hard.

“Stand up!” he yells again. He aims his flashlight at me.

I feel around. That something hard is a large rock. If I try to hit him in the head, he’ll see it coming. Instead, I stand up, keeping my back to him.

“Turn around!”

In one fast move, I spin and throw the rock as hard as I can at his face.

“Oh, fuck!” he yells as it connects.

I brace myself and kick him as hard as possible. He falls back onto a log and screams in agony.

I run to the flashlight, grab it, and aim it at him. Expecting he’s twisted his ankle or broken it, I shine the light at his feet. But they are fine.

He’s lying with his back across the log, not moving. “Help me!” he yells.

It’s a trick. It has to be. I don’t move.

“Piper, I fell onto something sharp. It stabbed me.”

“Don’t move. Your lung could be punctured. Where’s your phone?”

He groans. “It’s not my lungs.” He tries to stand up but instead rolls onto his stomach.

That’s when I see red covering the back of his pants and a broken branch sticking out covered in blood. The branch does appear to be very sharp.

“John, where did that branch stab you?”

He’s holding onto his rear end. “Right in the cheek. It hurts like hell. I think I got splinters.” He reaches into his pocket for his phone. “Dammit! No service.” He looks up at me. “Piper, please get help.”

He’s got to be kidding. “Not a chance in hell, John.”

I turn and walk away.

“Piper!”

I turn back to see him lunge for me. But when he puts his weight on his left foot, he falls.

He crawls toward me. I turn and run as fast as I can. Even injured, he’ll never stop coming for me.

CHAPTER 17

Ozzie

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