Chapter 187
~ Franklin ~
The movement didn't stop. It hovered there, a shadow among shadows, just beyond the ragged perimeter of the tree line. It was watching—measuring our weakness with the patient, cold intelligence of a natural-born killer. My vision struggled to hold the image steady; the world was still tilting on a sickening axis, the fever humming in my ears like a hive of angry bees. But I knew what I was looking at.
This wasn't a small scavenger. This wasn't harmless.
"Raquel..." My voice was a dry rasp, barely a ghost of a sound.
She didn't answer immediately. She had seen it, too. I could feel the change in her—the way her spine went rigid, the way her hands froze mid-motion over the open first aid kit. She stopped breathing, as if the very sound of air in her lungs might invite the darkness closer.
"What is that?" she whispered, the words trembling.
