Read Online Evolution by Kyle West - Free Book Online Page B

them. I didn’t yell Anna’s name, though I wanted to. I needed all the surprise I could get.
    I burst out of the trees, finding myself on a dirt road. Four horses stood there, two men already mounted while two others were securing Anna to the back of one of the horses. She was wrapped in her net, and unable to break free. The men looked my way. Two of them reached for guns.
    Out in the open as I was, I had no chance against them. Cursing, I dove back for the trees, rolling behind a fallen, rotting log as the first bullets sprayed chips of bark in my face. From behind, Samuel and Makara slid next to me.
    “They have horses,” I said.
    The gunfire ceased for a moment. The men were yelling again, the horses nickering and snorting. They were about to set off. We had to do something now, or it was never. I wasn’t about to let Anna become a slave.
    Despite the danger to myself, I burst out of the trees, my Beretta aimed outward. It was then that the horses galloped down the road and into the night. They were heading in the direction of the settlement.
    I fired a few bullets at the escaping forms, but nothing connected. Samuel, who had run up beside me, placed a hand on my arm, drawing it back.
    I watched helplessly as the horsemen, with Anna, got farther and farther away. Despite the impossibility of catching up, I took after them.
    “Alex!” Makara shouted, from behind.
    This wasn’t over until it was over.

Chapter 8
    “A lex, wait!”
    I didn’t heed Makara’s second shout. I sprinted down the road, the thunder of hooves dimming as the horses sped away. I didn’t know how far it was to the settlement, but I didn’t plan on stopping until I got there.
    The road rounded a bend, and after making the turn, it led straight toward the gates. The horses stood in front, waiting to be admitted inside.
    I increased my speed, my body protesting at the strain. I was fueled only by my desperation to reach Anna. If they got inside, there would be no getting her back. The walls would completely surround her, and obviously, the guards would kill us if we tried to get in.
    The gates began to open. The hoses ran inside. I ran desperately, knowing as they began to close, that I would not make it in time.
    “No...”
    The gates shut, locking us out.
    I stopped in the middle of the road. Makara and Samuel skidded to a stop beside me. I didn’t say anything, watching the now closed gates with a sense of defeat. Shapes of guards materialized on top of the walls. They pointed their rifles our way.
    “Down!” Samuel shouted.
    We all fell in tandem as the first bullets sprayed the dirt. I fought the tears that came to my eyes. We had been outdone. Anna was gone.
    “No...” I said.
    “We can’t do anything about it,” Makara said. “We’ve got to get out of here.”
    A few more bullets entered the dirt road. For a moment, they ceased. That was when the gates began to reopen. I looked up, irrationally thinking that it could be Anna coming out. Of course, it wasn’t. It was men on horses – maybe five or six of them. The horses broke into a run, heading right for us.
    “We’ve got to move, now !”
    We scrambled out of the dirt, and gunned it for the tree line. If we could make it there, the vegetation would seriously hamper the horses’ speed. I looked back toward the city. It hurt, knowing Anna was in there, and knowing there was nothing we could do about it. We were leaving her behind.
    “We can’t fight them, Alex,” Samuel said. “We’ll all be killed, and the mission will be compromised.”
    “So what, we’re just going to leave her there?”
    Samuel didn’t answer, him and his sister pulling me into the trees. Rather than fight them, I started running. As much as I hated it, they were right. I wasn’t going to cause them to die, too.
    Die . Is that what was going to happen to Anna? No. Her fate would be worse than death. She was going to be enslaved, worked to the bone with little food or rest. And if her master