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"I was dreaming," I said. "Again."
"Can't say I blame you." Daniel eased back as I moved away to sit on the ground. "Been having a few anxiety dreams myself."
I looked at him and the events of the last day slowly returned.
"You shouldn't be here," I said. "I'm still dreaming, aren't I?"
"That depends. Am I better looking?"
I gave a soft laugh and shook my head.
"Do I at least smell better than I did yesterday?"
"No. Sorry." I rubbed my eyes and yawned. "Where are the others?"
"Sleeping a couple hundred meters that way." He pointed. "I figured that was far enough from you."
"I thought I told you we should separate."
"And you expected me to listen? The point was that we shouldn't be close enough together that the bad guys could swoop in and nab us all. Gotta admit, though, when you looked like you were going to sleep in that cabin, even Sam was tempted to join you. We would have, too, if you hadn't come out and set off again."
I stretched. "Well, Kenjii isn't tagged. I--" I stopped and blinked harder, then murmured. "Or was that a dream...?"
"What?"
"I shape-shifted in my sleep. But if you were nearby all night and I'm dressed..."
"Your T-shirt's on backward. Your socks and shoes are off. Your jeans aren't zipped. And I'm pretty sure those aren't Kenjii's."
He pointed to two large cougar tracks in a patch of dew-damp earth.
"But how...?"
"I stayed downwind so Kenjii couldn't smell us. She probably didn't wake because she was exhausted. As for the clothes, I guess you do more than shape-shift in your sleep. Which is convenient."
"So I really did...?" I looked at the tracks again. "Wow."
"And you're going to tell me all about it, right?"
I zipped my jeans and pulled on my discarded socks and shoes. "Later. Right now, I need to tell you what I heard."
I gave him the amended version. Very amended, because I couldn't tell him about seeing Nicole or he might want to return for her. I was still determined that he'd never find out that Nicole went after Serena. And he'd certainly never find out why. No one deserves that kind of burden. Especially Daniel.
I told him I'd found the camp and overheard that Kenjii had escaped and Hayley had failed to trap us, so they'd shipped her off and were looking for other ways to find us. That was all he needed to know for now.
It was still morning when we found a paved road. Actual vehicles traveling that road would be even better, but apparently, too much to hope for.
We walked about fifteen minutes before we heard an oncoming car. Corey stepped into the middle of the road. A pickup whipped around the curve. Corey waved his arms. The guy in the pickup laid on his horn and veered past, sending Corey stumbling as his bad knee gave way.
Daniel and I helped him up.
"Oww ... ," he said.
"There'd have been a bigger oww if he hadn't swerved," I said. "That would not look good on your obituary. Survived a helicopter crash, armed kidnappers, and three days in the woods, only to get mowed down by a passing redneck."
"From now on, we'll flag down cars from the shoulder." Daniel looked at Corey, who was rubbing his sore butt. "Or maybe the ditch."
The next vehicle didn't come for a long time. It was a car full of guys not much older than us.
