Wild by Alex Mallory Read Free Book Online Page A

tucked it in her pocket. “I’m not afraid. I’m curious. I mean, if he wanted to hurt us, he could have slit our throats last night while we were sleeping.”
    â€œThat’s real comforting.”
    â€œThat’s the point,” Dara said, scrambling back to her feet. “He didn’t. And I told you, there was something about him. The way he walked, his clothes . . . I don’t know what it is. But I want to find out more. What if he lives out here? What if he’s got a story to tell?”
    Setting his jaw, Josh glared at her. “What if I tell you I’m packing my stuff and you can stay out here on your own?”
    That sounded like an ultimatum. If she’d had doubts about staying, that would have burned them away completely. Since she didn’t, all it did was fire her resolve. “Go for it,” she said. “Have fun explaining to my dad why I didn’t make it home from Orlando with you.”
    There was just enough threat in that. Josh said nothing. Instead, he turned over in his sleeping bag. Punching the pillow a couple of times, he dropped his head into it. Pointedly, he put his back to her, and pulled his hoodie over his head.
    Fine. If that was how he wanted it, then that was okay by her. Grabbing an extra pair of socks and an extra sweatshirt, she ducked out of the tent again. Heading for the water had worked yesterday, so that’s what she would try today. Somebody was out there, and he wanted her to find him.
    So that’s exactly what she was going to do.
    Â 
    The pile of fish on the riverbank grew.
    After a while, sheer cold had quieted Cade’s mind. Once he had silence inside and out, he found his balance again. His body remembered how to do this. He found a regular, steady pleasure in forgetting everything and just working.
    Still, he should have stopped three fish ago. He could only eat so much in a single day. There was still ice to be found in some of the sheltered ponds, but he hadn’t brought his cooler with him.
    Sprawling on the ground, Cade tossed the gig aside. He rolled back, laying on the cool, clay earth. Rain kissed his face, and he smiled. Steam rose off his skin. It happened sometimes, when he worked too hard in the cold. Though it wasn’t mystical at all, it seemed like it. There wasn’t a lot of magic in his life. Plenty of beauty, but no wonders or marvels.
    At least, not until Dara came. She had music in a magic box. Her ticky box. Fire in a tube, lamps that glowed without flame or smoke. In his heart, he knew it was technology. His parents had talked about the world before the fall. But to him, it was stories. To see it working—magic.
    Suddenly, the brush crackled. Rolling over, Cade plastered himself to the ground. He held his breath so it wouldn’t reverberate in his ears. There were a hundred sounds the body made that could distract a tracker. Gritting teeth dimmed sound; grinding them blotted it out. Sharp breaths muddied the direction. Swallowing could obscure it completely.
    Breathless and motionless, Cade listened. It only took a few seconds to figure it out. It was human, and it was heading that way. Panic roared inside him, but outwardly, he stayed calm. Grabbing his gig, he pierced three of the fish. Two more went inside his shirt. That left two on the ground and he hesitated.
    That was good food. Even if he couldn’t preserve it, he could stuff himself with it tonight. But he had one free hand left. That meant no way to climb if he needed to. No way to catch himself, to fend anything off. Eyes darting, he peered through the hazy morning in search of motion.
    Footsteps, light, purposeful. Just one. It was Dara; it had to be. The rangers always came in pairs: their boots thumped, their radios crackled, they talked. It couldn’t be them. It moved too keenly to be Josh . He tramped around behind Dara with feet of stone.
    Any other time, Cade would have already been gone. Some wandering