Ground Zero by Adrianne Lemke

Author:Adrianne Lemke [Lemke, Adrianne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-06-22T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty-Two

My fingers fumbled with the lighter as I moved along the back edge of my wood piles. Eventually, I was able to get the dry leaves to catch fire. Before long the fire caught one of the smaller branches, so I moved along the line to another section and got it started.

The skin on my face started to feel tight from the heat. The flames were dancing in the dark. People in town should start to notice soon.

“It’s started,” I said into the walkie-talkie.

“No kidding,” Ben’s voice responded. “Get outta there, kid. Hang onto the walkie in case you need help. Keep it turned off until you need it.”

I backed away from the fire. The cool night air was a relief after the burning heat. “Done. Thanks for your help.”

I clicked the button to turn it off and made my way toward the others. My part in the escape was complete. All I could do now was hope the boys would be able to get out of the town safely.

Getting back to the others was a bit tricky. The woods were dark now that the moon was so low in the sky. Once I moved away from the glow of the fire, I couldn’t see. Sticking too close to the edge of the woods would be risky. Once the fire was discovered, it wouldn’t take long for them to determine it had been purposefully set. The guards would likely try to search for the culprit.

Yells echoed from behind me, and I knew someone was working on putting out the roaring fire. I bit back a curse when my foot twisted on a branch, or tree root, or something. I caught myself before I could fall. The twinge in my ankle on the next step took away any hope that I’d managed to avoid injury.

Letting my hand rest on the nearest tree, I took the weight off my foot. Rotating the ankle, I cringed at the sharp pain. Continuing the rotation, I was pleased to note I still had full motion available. It simply hurt. Maybe a strain or sprain.

I kept moving, limping slowly through the trees. The sun was rising when I finally reached the clearing where the others had set up camp.

“Z!” Prati threw herself into my arms.

“You made it! I was so worried about you, Prati.” I returned her hug, needing the positive contact after all the worry of the night before.

The little girl smiled up at me, and pointed toward Mike. “Your new friend is nice. He got me back safely.”

Mike shifted and glanced down toward the ground. I had no doubt he would be comfortable with the group before long, but he was accustomed to being on his own. It could take some time before he would open up to the others.

“Thank you, Mike.” I moved toward the center of the group.

Scout frowned in my direction. “You’re limping. Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” I said with a nod. “Just twisted my ankle a bit. It’ll be fine.”

“Probably,” he agreed with a nod.

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