CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY THREE – NEVER BACKING DOWN, NO MATTER WHAT

Gathering Becky close, Karina fell into step behind her husband as he led them away from the cabin at a ground-eating lope. Her heart thundered in her ears with each smashed twig or crunching step, imagining Sanctus agents converging on them from every shadow among the thickly-clustered evergreens. Long minutes crawled by in taut silence, the only sounds their ragged breathing and Becky's occasional murmured whimper. Just when Karina felt her chest might burst from the strain of holding her respiration so measured, a voice pierced the gloom up ahead. "Spread out and search the area! They couldn't have gotten far - not with a brat in tow." John went rigid, holding up a hand to pause their advance as he cocked his head, scenting the air intently. Dropping into a feral crouch, he signaled for Karina to hang back as he crept towards the source of the voice. Peering around the bole of a thick pine, Karina watched with bated breath as her husband scouted ahead with predatory intensity.