Chapter 14: The Hounds
The hounds found her scent by mid-afternoon. Chloe heard them before she saw them—a deep, resonant baying echoing up the river valley. She scrambled down from the hunting blind, panic injecting a fresh dose of adrenaline into her exhausted veins. She remembered Lilith’s voice during their hurried survival lessons in the Nevada desert: Dogs track disturbed earth and crushed vegetation just as much as scent. You want to lose them? Take the water.
Chloe plunged into the freezing river. The cold was a physical blow, driving the breath from her lungs. The current was strong, pulling her downstream, but she fought it, wading chest-deep against the icy flow, keeping to the shadows of the overhanging willows. She heard the crunch of boots on gravel. Peeking through the roots, she saw three men on the bank. They wore dark tactical gear, carrying suppressed rifles, led by two massive Belgian Malinois. The dogs were spinning in circles near the hunting blind, confused by the sudden end of the trail. One of the men raised a radio to his shoulder. "We lost the trail at the water. Requesting thermal drones at sector four." Chloe held her breath, submerging herself up to her nose in the freezing water, praying the thick canopy above would mask her heat signature.
