She didn’t dare look back. She couldn’t.
Looking back would slow her down.
Whoever was following her wasn’t slipping on the ice. Wasn’t gasping for breath.
No, he was gaining ground on her.
Her lungs burned. Each inhale scraped raw in her throat. Her thighs trembled.
How long could she keep doing this? She wasn’t sure.
Her foot hit something, and she stumbled again. She barely caught herself.
Keep moving!
She glanced up. Just ahead, the trees thinned.
It was a ridgeline maybe. Or a clearing.
Or a trap.
It didn’t matter.
She aimed for it anyway. Maybe help was waiting there.
Please, God! Can You send a guardian angel? Are guardian angels even real? Are You even real? Right now, I want to believe more than ever.
She took another step, and snow gave way beneath her boots.
Then the earth vanished.
Her body lurched forward into nothing. Air swallowed her.
She pitched into the dark, the woods tilting away behind her.
Then gravity took hold.
She stifled a scream as the ground rushed up to claim her.
