CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY SIX – PLANNING FOR THE FINAL SHOWDOWN

Without further preamble, she strode out into the sheeting rain, her boots splashing through the saturated gravel path. Exchanging wary looks, John, Karina and Zaya followed after her retreating form. They walked in tense silence for the better part of a mile, until Nancy led them off the crumbling roadway, picking her way into the shadowy treeline of the encroaching forest. Karina kept Becky bundled in her arms, cradling the baby's head against the gusting downpour. Just when she feared her calves would be shredded raw by trudging through the tangle of brambles and undergrowth, Nancy came to an abrupt halt. She turned to face them, lifting her hands with a grim expression. "From here on, we'll travel a...quicker path," she intoned, her voice taking on a weighty resonance that set Karina's teeth on edge. "I must ask that you all stand very still and hold your focus." As the trio watched warily, Nancy closed her eyes, the rhythmic cant of indecipherable words escaping her lips. A lo