Chapter 4 - The Deadly Woods
Daniel grabbed me by the hair and yanked me out of the van.
I hit the dirt road hard, scraping the skin off my elbows and knees.
The woman stepped out of the passenger seat holding a silver pistol.
She pointed the weapon directly at my chest.
Daniel climbed into the back of the van and dragged Noah out by his collar.
He dropped my convulsing son onto the damp grass beside me.
I screamed and crawled over to Noah, wrapping my arms around his shaking body.
Daniel laughed and told me to save my breath.
He explained that the toxin was a highly specialized chemical compound he bought on the black market.
He said it systematically shut down the central nervous system over exactly two hours.
He wanted to throw our bodies into the abandoned rock quarry right behind the trees.
The police would simply assume we got lost hiking and suffered massive heart failure.
The woman raised her gun and told Daniel to hurry up because it was getting cold.
I looked at the thick, dark woods surrounding the dirt road.
I knew if they got us near the edge of that cliff, we were dead.
I reached into the dirt and grabbed a handful of loose, dry gravel.
I threw the rocks directly into the woman's eyes with a desperate scream.
She shrieked in pain, dropping her hands to cover her face.
Her pistol discharged wildly into the air.
Daniel lunged forward to grab me, but I kicked him squarely in his knee.
He stumbled backward, cursing loudly into the night.
I grabbed Noah by the shoulders and hauled him up with a burst of hysterical strength.
We sprinted blindly into the dense, terrifying darkness of the woods.
Tree branches whipped against my face, cutting my cheeks as we ran.
Noah's legs gave out, and we tumbled down a steep, muddy ravine.
We hit the bottom hard and rolled under the massive roots of a fallen oak tree.
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I covered Noah's mouth with my hand to muffle his heavy breathing.
Suddenly, my own vision blurred, and the forest around me began to spin violently.
