Chapter 33

Maya woke up with a start—and the sense that she was no longer alone. Her body braced automatically, used to attacks in her old home, but those were the times when she had the equipment to defend herself. This time, she made use of a stick she had sharpened for days, tucked it in her pocket, and waited for the leaves at the entrance of her spot to be rustled. When the sense passed, she inched her way out of her spot just in time to glimpse something leaving the forest she was in.

The man was her first assumption. She followed to the edge and watched as grass moved in a line, indicating where the figure was heading. Stillness came when the figure crossed to the bigger forest patch, deeming her space safe enough. But a nagging started in her head and wound its way to her belly until dread sat heavy, the warning bright: that those women were in terrible danger.

Create some noise. Distract. Don’t let them die.

Blood and screams stabbed in her mind until her feet were flying towards the fi