Read Walker's Run for Free Online

position would be screaming or dead.
    “I’m so sorry,” Braedyn whispered, placing layers of gauze over the wound, and then taping it down. He damned his large hands, wondering if he’d caused her any more pain than she already had to deal with.
    Braedyn lifted the blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders, as if that were any real comfort. He could tell the meal and what little time she’d been up had already taken it’s toll when her lids began to droop. His insides twisted over her predicament.
    “Here, let me help you lie back. You need to rest. With any luck, you can sleep through the worst of it.” He cradled her, laid her down, and then pulled the sleeping bag over her, once more hoping he wasn’t using too much force or pressure.
    “Do you think they’ll come looking for me soon?” Fear was evident in her eyes and voice.
    Seeing it all, he couldn’t lie, not to her. There was no use getting her hopes up, the more she knew the better off she’d be.
    “It’s snowed off and on since that first night, Casey. In some areas, I’m sure the drifts will well be over eight feet or more. I don’t know if a search unit will chance coming out for a few more days.” Her eyes filled with tears. Braedyn took her hand and berated himself for causing her more stress. “I promise I won’t leave you, and I will do everything I can to keep you safe.”
    His brow furrowed as her eyes closed, and she drifted off into another restless sleep. The next few days were going to be horrible for her. He hated what she was going to have to deal with from here out.
    Focusing on cleaning up the mess he’d made, his mouth set in a grim line, he tried to press the concerns from his mind. Staying busy was key. Bradeyn would worry about other things when they came.
     

 

Chapter Four
     
    Casey was lost. Alone, afraid, and only nine years old. She wandered through the woods, having called out for her father and Dean until her voice was almost gone. Thirsty and hungry, she sat on a tree stump and cried.
    It was their annual, week long, holiday camping trip. Her father warned her not to go into the woods on her own. He’d left explicit instructions not to leave camp while he and Dean went to collect firewood and check their traps.
    Thirty minutes poking at the fire after they’d left, she’d grown bored and started to wander off when she noticed a wolf peering at her from behind a tree. He’d raised his head. Although not huge, he wasn’t quite a pup. There was a playful look in his grey eyes. His ears perked up and his mouth opened, his tongue lolling out the side.
    She giggled and stuck out her tongue. He cocked his head to the side with an amused expression she’d seen on her German Shepard at home. They played peek a boo around the tree for a while, and then she followed him. Somewhere along the way, she’d gotten lost.
    Trying to predict how her father was going to act when he found her, apprehension coiled in her belly. He’d never been heavy handed, in fact she couldn’t account for a single spanking in her young life. The horror stories her friends had told her of their spankings were enough to scare her straight.
    Tears snaked down her cheeks, and she wiped her nose on her sleeve.
    “Snotcicles,” she said and laughed at her father’s silly name for frozen boogers.
    The joke only succeeded in making her feel more alone and helpless. The sun had begun to set, and her fear piqued. She huddled into her parka and prayed her father and brother would find her soon. Her only weapon was the small pocketknife her father’d given her just a few days before. That wasn’t much help for anything.
    Twigs snapped. She jerked toward the sound. It was the wolf she’d been playing with accompanied by an enormous male. Casey’s mouth went dry. She began to shake.
    Her father warned her never to show fear to a wild animal, but she couldn’t stop.
    The adolescent she’d played with crossed to her and nuzzled her arm; then