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Tildy took advantage of the sudden deceleration and threw herself against the passenger door, her fingers scrabbling for the handle. It flew open, and she pushed off with one foot in an attempt to get clear of the vehicle. Garrett grabbed at her shirt, getting a fistful of hair, fabric, and the thin gold chain around her neck. Tildy twisted wildly to try and break his hold on her as the truck continued to slow down.
The chain broke, her shirt tore, and she didn’t want to think about how much of her hair and even possibly her scalp had torn free in Garrett’s hand as she half-jumped, half-fell out of the cab. Garrett, trapped on his side by the boulder, clawed his way over the seat after her, refusing to let go. Tildy grabbed the door with both hands and slammed it as hard as she could. Garrett howled as it smashed his arm against the truck’s frame. He finally lost his hold on her.
Tildy stumbled, her shoes losing traction on the packed dirt and rocks. She glanced over her shoulder to see Garrett scrambling out of the truck. The road meant death, she realized, so she turned away from it. Garrett was sure to be faster and would catch her in minutes, if it even took that long. Another streak of lightning came down, drawing her attention to the canyons to the left. Thunder cracked loudly. The storm was almost on top of them. Fat raindrops began to plaster her hair down as she spun and took off toward the relative safety of the canyon. There were boulders and arroyos for miles. If she could beat Garrett to the rock line, she could hide.
She sprinted as fast as she could, losing one ballet flat to a rock half-buried in the dirt. She didn’t dare look back; she could hear Garrett shouting, cursing at her. Suddenly, another loud crack sounded, but Tildy realized it wasn’t thunder. A scream tore from her throat as the boulder next to her splintered. This time she did look back. Garrett was running toward her and aiming at the same time. She instinctively darted left as he squeezed off another round. This one missed her too, though she didn’t see where it went.
She made one final push for the canyons; she was more than halfway there. Another boom sounded; this time Tildy didn’t know if it was thunder or another bullet. Her blood was pounding in her ears, and the rain was distorting her hearing. As she made it to the edge of the rocks, her bare foot came down on a jagged stone, and she fell. She clawed at the ground and righted herself. At the same time, she twisted her body around a large boulder, cutting off the line of sight to Garrett. She took two more steps, another loud crash sounded overhead, and suddenly all was lost.
Tildy had made it to the rock line and quickly, too quickly, because she couldn’t stop herself from careening toward a steep arroyo. Her barefoot slid, and the ground gave way underneath her. Tildy fell, and began sliding downwards. Rocks cut her arms and hands as she tried to slow her decent into the canyon below her. There were several large rocks at the bottom. If she landed on one she’d definitely break bones.
She twisted her body to aim herself between the two largest rocks, still hitting the flat bottom of the canyon very hard. Pain shot up through her arm as she tried to keep from hitting her head on the hard ground. Glancing over her shoulder, she could make out Garrett’s shape trying to negotiate the perilous edge and she crawled behind a boulder as another shot rang out.
The rain was coming hard now, and Tildy was trapped in an arroyo that was quickly flooding. She didn’t know if Garrett would take the risk of coming down after her to finish her off. Since he couldn’t walk down, he’d have to slide, and there was a very good chance he wouldn’t be able to climb back out while it was raining. Tildy’s hands were flat on the ground and now an inch deep in water. If it didn’t stop raining soon, Garrett wouldn’t need to pursue her at all.
He seemed to have realized this as well, because she couldn’t hear any sounds of him coming down to get her.
Lightning struck overhead again, illuminating the canyon, which Tildy could see was more like a hole. There was no way out, except up the steep walls. She flexed her right hand and tried to move her wrist. It was painful, but she could manage it. She couldn’t tell if it was broken or just sprained. Even if Garrett was not there, waiting for her to stick her head out, she was uncertain she could make the climb.
