Neither of them spoke.
Timing was everything. Ana’s thumb pushed into the rusty metal. No time for self-doubt. She took a deep breath and did it.
Three steps towards Ellis. He rose up, ready for the attack. One hand gripped the wheel and turned.
Suddenly Ana swerved, changing direction, sprinting to the front ofthe tractor. The metal creaked as the gears started up, straining to turn. Ana bent low, reaching under the hot metal hood.
Ellis looked thrown. He was expecting a full-blown attack, ready to defend his position.
Before he could reset, Ana opened her fist and rammed the bolt hard into the rusty gears. There was an earsplitting shriek as the metal was ground up, wedging itself firmly in place. The entire tractor groaned, straining, but the bolt held.
The rope stopped moving, the death machine ground to a halt. It had worked!
As Ana pulled back, straightening up, her relief was short-lived.
In two long bounds, Ellis covered the distance from the wheel to where she was standing. Before she could react, he grabbed her by the hair, pulling her roughly away from the machine. She strained at his grip, but his hand was firm.
Ellis glanced across at the gears, the top of the bolt sticking out between the teeth. He smiled.
“Once again, I underestimated you.” He pulled her close to him. Ana could feel his breath, fast and hard on her face. “Last time I make that mistake.”
Slowly Ellis extended the arm that was holding her, stretching until she was held at arm’s length. His other hand reached out to grab her neck, his fingers nearly circling it, closing tightly.
She’d fucked up. She knew it with complete certainty. All the time she’d been focused on Ellis’s weakness, she’d made the exact same mistake. She’d underestimated him and what he was capable of.
This was it. This was how she was going to die. Strangled, choking for air on the desert floor. She couldn’t speak, her hands reached out for anything she could grab. But Ellis held her firmly. There was nothingshe could do.
Ellis tightened his grip. Ana choked and gasped, her vision darkened.
“So long, Danny’s sister,” Ellis said coldly. “It’s been a trip.”
Ana closed her eyes. Game over.
42
Alex
08:52
How did football players do it?
Alex was lying on the desert floor after taking down Ellis in a spectacularly clumsy headlong tackle. He’d somehow completely upended Ellis and sent him flying backwards while simultaneously flipping himself hard onto the death machine.
Everything hurt—his head, his shoulder. He was too winded to talk.
There was something wrong with his right ankle. He glanced down and saw that it was resting at an odd angle. He must have cracked it on the rusted tractor when he fell. He tried to move his toes and a searing pain shot up his leg. He gasped and winced, squeezing his eyes shut. This was not good. But he’d done what he needed to do. He’d taken down Ellis before he could hurt Ana.
The good thing about lamp cords—they didn’t make very tightknots. While Ellis had been killing time on the tractor going on and on about his dad, Alex had worked at the knot over and over, loosening it just enough that when Ana was still talking, he managed to wiggle one hand free. Just in time.
He looked around for Ana—she was on the ground next to Ellis, pulling herself to her knees, shaking her head and neck.
Ellis was flat on his back. He must have been winded too—he wasn’t moving, for now. They had a chance, if they were fast, Ana might be able to make a run for it before Ellis woke up.
As if to emphasize the danger, Ellis moaned and stirred slightly—one arm lifting and then dropping again to his side. There was no time to waste.
“Ana,” Alex said, rolling to his stomach. Every movement hurt; breathtaking jolts of pain shot up his leg. He didn’t want to think about it, but his ankle had to be broken. “Ana, are you okay?”
Ana looked around groggily. Her eyes focused on Alex.
