Shannon would pace if he weren't shoved up in a goddamn tree. Twice now the kids had needed “pee breaks” and he felt more like a camp-counsellor than their sole protector.

What the fuck were they thinking? He tapped his fingers against his leg trying to distract himself, without success. Just running off towards screaming. That’s how people die out here! Wanting to holler the words at the top of his lungs in their direction was anything less than smart, so Shannon tapped.

He was lucky on one account; the kids were still in shock. Nothing severe but they were quiet and talked soft enough that only a firm look from him up to their party branch sealed silence for a time.

Minutes, that felt like hours, passed since he'd heard anything from where Ashley and Reid ran. They're dead. He picked at the bark on his branch. Fucking ate and decaying leaving me with them.

But they were safe. Despite the pee breaks, there was no need to leave the tree. Rain provided clean water, Ashley’s pack had enough dried meat to keep them alive for maybe two days, if it was just the four of them. Shannon knew what a bad situation was and theirs could be worse.

“You think they'll come back?” Cooper asked in a low whisper. The same question was tossed around after the silence started to bother the kids. Cally would sniffle and Shane would answer them. Every fuckin’ time.

“Yes.”

“You can’t know that,” Cally hissed.

“She’ll come back. She promised.”

“No, she didn't.”

Shane pulled on some bark as he shrugged. “Not in words.”

“That doesn't make any sense.” Cally carefully turned her arm, examining the black and blue skin. Reid had seen to it that morning but it still looked painful. At least it’s not her leg. Shannon couldn’t imagine dragging all three kids back.

He thought about getting them moving but it hadn't been long, and whatever was out there would love a young snack. So he sat back and listened to them arguing. Would she come back? Were they dead? What would they do? Where were they going?

When their voices grew, Shannon turned and glared them into silence.

Could they have gone on without us? Shannon didn't know Reid well enough. He knew he didn't like him but that didn’t really mean he was a bad guy. He’s not terrible at what he does, even if he’s a fuckin’ prick about it. That and Reid managed to keep Laurence’s ire fixed on him, so that was helpful.

Would he just run? And would he run with her? Sure, he and just about everyone back at the college wanted a piece of the bitch that did this but Shannon could imagine letting go of the hate to survive. And Ashley's clearly good at that.

A curse danced from Shannon’s lips. He hadn't used her name yet. Not her first name. Just thinking it made him squirm. She was a person. Someone named her, she had a mom, a dad, and maybe other family. Humans were hard to hate and kill and he'd always tried to think of her as a wendigo instead. But no one called wendigos by name anymore.

Shannon pulled another piece of bark off to reveal fresh wood underneath.

This is some bad shit.

He closed his eyes and tried to map the route he knew they were supposed to take and make a new one for where he was now. He could do it but could he make the trip with three kids? Opening his eyes he looked up to the tots fussing with their clothes and the tree.

Gotta try, I guess. He closed his eyes again and let his mind wander to the first camping trip he'd ever been on. The smell of wood, rain, and dew. Suntan lotion, bug spray, and burning marshmallows. It wasn't so far off from where they were now in his mind, somewhere north, maybe Muskoka or was it east by the St. Laurence? He could be anywhere right now, making plans to fish with his dad, setting up tarp tents, or waiting in the car until the rain subsided. In his mind Shannon was miles away, safe and relaxing until the sun came back.

 

He felt the fingers first before the little hands gripped his arm and pulled him awake. The dirty fingers reached up and grabbed his arm and Shannon nearly fell out of the tree.

“Grab her!” Reid hissed and Shannon snapped into action. With his long arms, he leaned down and grabbed Wendy and lifted her light body straight up into his chest. She looked around at first a little shocked but held tightly onto Shannon.

“You gotta climb up there, girl,” he said.

It took a second but she nodded and with the help of Cooper and Shannon she was lifted up to another branch.

Then Ethan reached up, who unfortunately was heavier. It took a bit more and reminded Shannon's muscles he'd been sitting too damn long. The boy was less inclined to hold on and immediately made his way to a branch, huffing and breathing hard.

“She's insane,” Reid groaned as he climbed up. “I mean, I knew she had to be nuts but that was fucking insane.”

“Where is she?” Cooper called, all their little eyes looking questioningly.

“Is she…?” Shannon didn't want to say it. He should be able to, how many had they presumed dead? But he didn't. It's for the kids, he told himself but deep down he knew it wasn't just for them.

“She's not.” All eyes snapped back up to Shane. “She'll come back soon.” He went back to his bark, peeling at the layers and tossing them down to the ground.

Shannon looked to Reid who didn't seem to share the same optimistic opinion as he caught his breath.

“What happened?” Shannon asked. Above them, the kids were having their version of the same conversation.

“She drew them away but instead of running she just,” Reid shook his head.

She ran. Everyone runs.

“She stood her fucking ground.” Reid swallowed. “I couldn't have done it. If I had to stay and fight them, I couldn't have done it. She must have gone through ten, maybe fifteen of them before I ran with the kids.”

“No one comes back from that.” Though Shannon's voice was low, the kids got quiet above them. He'd said what they didn't want to hear and even Reid looked a touch betrayed.

“She'll come back,” Shane repeated.

She’s not coming back, kid. Shannon looked to Reid and he seemed to understand. “We need to get the fuck out of this valley.”

Finally catching his breath, Reid nodded and leaned into the tree. “It's too far on either side to climb up without being seen and the slope isn't steep enough to discourage wendigos from following. We can loop back to where Laurence planned to climb up, but with the kids…” Reid hesitated to say the rest.

“Yeah. I know. We're not fast enough.” Shannon breathed deeply. But we're still alive. We know where we are and we know where we have to go. It could be worse. “South is out?”

Reid nodded. “She led them there and even if she gets out it'll be a bloodbath. It could draw more out from the forest.”

“Backtrack?”

“We don't know what's behind us. And I’m not going anywhere near the suburbs.”

Shannon ran a steady hand through his hair, flicking drops of water away. “We can wait a few days but with the fuckin’ rain-”

“We can't wait.” Reid’s voice was firm. “We leave at midday. Cut across the valley and head up the sides. Risk being seen but… I don’t see a way around that.”

“What about Ashley?” Shannon expected it to be Shane but Ethan spoke up. His eyes locked on Reid. He seemed like a different kid than the one who whined about his Dad’s broken gun. Not really like a kid. Less scared but… Broken. Everyone had a piece of it but it was deep in his eyes now.

“If she's here by noon then we leave with her,” Reid said.

“And if she's not?” Ethan pressed.

Reid shoulders sagged. “Then she's not.”

Not long ago we wanted her dead, man. What's with the gloom? But Shannon got it. Even just considering digging into Reid about it, he understood. She’d stuck her head out and saved every damn one of them. And more than that, the plan. The original plan, the whole goddamn reason they trekked out into the fucking wilds in the first place.

If we come back empty-handed… It wasn’t just their lives in the lurch and as much as Shannon hated it, they needed her. They needed Ashley Cazalla alive.

 

A few hours passed in tense anticipation. They packed up and went over the route a few times in case they were split up. The kids got another bite of food. Shannon and Reid passed up on the dried meat and drank enough rainwater to keep hydrated.

Reid smacked Shannon's arm and pointed down to the forest floor. There was something crawling through the brush. Reid pulled the hunting knife free and Shannon fished out his own pocket knife. It wasn’t a gun, but it was something.

Are we ready to run? Shannon glanced at the kids who waited, tense and watching. They know. They're ready.

She emerged absolutely soaked from the river. Cuts and scratches lined the skin of her forearms, but nothing seemed to bleed. The way she crawled from the bush worried him; slow, desperate and exhausted with every staggering step.

Reid slipped out of the tree without hesitation and rushed to Ashley’s side. With a stagger, she leaned into the tree’s trunk.

“You look like shit,” Reid muttered and she chuckled tiredly.

“Overshot… had to swim back.” Ashley took the arm that Reid offered to guide her up the tree.

Shannon put the knife away and reached down. Before, she’d climbed with ease, but this time all the strength seemed sapped from her body. It took Reid giving her a push from behind and Shannon nearly dead-weight lifting her up to get her in.

Her sweater was gone and the bandage on her shoulder barely stuck. The skin beneath it looked raw and dark. For a brief moment, she leaned into Shannon’s chest as though not just her body, but her soul, was exhausted.

What the fuck happened to you? He was sure she’d tip in a stiff breeze. She stepped away and instead of climbing higher, she lowered her body clumsily down onto the branch.

“I knew she'd come back,” Shane whispered and the kids seemed to relax.

But not exactly much use to us like this, are you? Shannon ran a shaky hand through his hair. Carting the kids around was gonna be a bitch, but her? Like this? It felt like they’d taken ten steps back.

Reid hurried up, with Shannon’s help, and slipped beside her. Without asking he started to check the wound. Not wanting to see, Shannon climbed up to another branch.

“Don't bother,” Ashley exhaled.

He noticed the way Reid worked around her, the way he talked even before it all started. Sure he hated her because of what she was but she was the hero now. Reid, the damsel. Shannon chuckled to himself. They always fall for the fuckin' hero.

“You're filthy. I can clean them out.”

Ashely shook her head. “No point. It’ll just get dirty again.”

“I disagree.”

“That's nice. Fuck off and leave it alone.” She managed a small smirk and Reid’s stern frown faltered.

Shannon rolled his eyes. “We're leaving in an hour. Can you keep up?”

“Oh? Where are we going? Somewhere fancy?” Ashley sat up a bit, wincing as she moved.

“We're thinking of heading west up the valley side,” Reid said.

“No you're not,” she countered. “You're thinking of going south.”

“Uhhh, no we're not,” Shannon said. “From what Doc says we're looking at a bunch of dead wendigos.”

“Yup. About twenty or so, maybe more live ones in an hour.”

“Why the fuck would we go south then?”

Ashley only smiled, cupping enough water to let it trickle in her mouth.

“They had it right.” She motioned to Ethan and Wendy above them. The sister had nodded off earlier and although awake, she had those groggy eyes. But Ethan’s were wide and alert.

“We can't outrun a mob. If we take the slopes they'll just follow but wendigos suck at climbing.” She rotated her shoulder, cringing every time. “We climb the rubble, get to street level, and get you to your camp.”

Shannon frowned when he looked at her and Reid stopped fussing with her shoulder.

“You'll help us get there?” Shannon asked, with no small measure of disbelief. “We fuckin’ hunted you down, tied you up. We were pretty much planning on trading you like some prize cow at the-”

“Were, ” Ashley cut him short.

Reid grinned.

That fuckin’ smug, smirking, piece of-

“I'll take you there and then I'll leave. You'll tell them I'm dead and the hunting stops. You leave me the fuck alone. That’s the deal.”

Safety for freedom. If he hadn’t already considered it Shannon might have taken a little longer to mull over it.

“Deal.” Shannon didn’t wait for Reid to weigh in.

“Good. Now, I'm going to rest for a few minutes.” She leaned back after her shoulder was dressed. “Wake me when we leave for the party.”

He watched her eyes glaze over as she leaned back. Reid glared up at him from below his branch and Shannon shrugged.

Safety for freedom. He would have pitched it himself. It was the best way to ensure their own safety, they could use the muscle. And we’ll be getting her nice and close to the college. His gut ached at the thought, he didn’t want to even consider it, but Shannon looked at the young faces around him. There’s no safety back there. Only a different death. We need out. We need to follow through.

He sighed and leaned back, letting himself relax as much as possible. Fuck… this sucks.