Wolv

14 - Fury

I back paddled as fast as I could, racing back towards the creek behind me. I could make out the people in the boat already; I had no idea if they'd seen me. I swung the kayak around again, and raced down the creek, snapping past hundreds of reeds in the process. Behind me, I heard the whine of the outboard motor grow unbearably loud before spinning down to an idle.

"You wanna take us on in down there?"

"Heck yeah, man. That's what we're being paid for." I could hear two male voices talking back and forth in the boat. Neither of them had the voice of Dr. Abrams, but I could still smell Abrams on the boat. Maybe they were in contact with him recently. I sure hope that's what it is! It wouldn't be fair to run into the man again after I'd traveled, quite literally, hundreds of kilometers in an attempt to escape him.

"You saw her go down there, didn't ya?"

"Oh, I saw 'er all right. She's fast, but I saw 'er." I lay may head down on the deck of the kayak, being completely obscured by the reeds that had infested this section of the creek. Who's "she?" They must've mistaken me for a girl. Ouch.

With my hands, I dog paddled my kayak to the shore and slid out, crawling on all fours up the muddy shore of the creek. I crawled to the edge of the grass and peered through, taking in the scene before me.

Two men stood in the center of a fair sized boat, talking with each other and motioning down my creek with their hands. One of them sported dark, black skin with hair to match, while the other touted a mop of blonde hair and fair skin, save for a nasty sunburn wrapping itself around his face. At the end of the boat, a native man sat with the control yoke of the motor in his hands. A sullen look hung on his face as he sat there, silently watching the other two chat.

"Alright, take us in!" The blonde-haired man motioned to the native man, and without a word, he gunned the throttle, and began edging the boat towards the edge of the creek.

Shoot. They're gonna go right past me! They're gonna see my kayak! My boat was still lying back at the shore of the creek; there was no way they'd miss it. I tensed, preparing to scurry back, when something glinted in the distance. I cocked my head and squinted, trying to make out the source.

Far off, in the same direction that the men had came from, a tiny speck floated down the river, approaching slowly. Sunlight glinted off of it rhythmically as it moved. My heart leapt in my chest.

Nadie.

Her faint scent reached my nostrils; carried across the waters by the wind. I could just make out the canoe that she paddled; with every stroke she made through the water, sunlight glinted off the edge of her paddle.

What are you doing here?!? I wanted to scream out at her, and warn her off. What if she was the one who the men approaching me had been looking for? It was entirely possible; she could have taken a slightly different route then they did at some point, leaving her behind and them--unknowingly--ahead. Then they would've mistaken me for Nadie, still thinking that they were on her tail instead of the other way around!

It doesn't matter! These men have been with Abrams. They cannot know she's just behind them! I finally scurried back through the grasses and plopped myself into my boat noisily, hoping they would hear me. Maybe I can lead them away from her! I jammed my paddle through the water noisily and raced down the creek, with reeds snapping loudly beneath the bow.

"Hey, you hear that?" one of the men asked in a hushed tone, excitement creeping into his voice nonetheless.

"Yep. She's in there." The motor revved again, and I paddled harder, trying to keep as much distance as I could between me and them. I'll never outrun them.