My arms wrapped around her neck and my legs hung tightly around her waist. The impact caused us to tumble to the floor. Mona yelped in surprise, but collected herself swiftly enough to untangle me off of her. I fell onto my back. Mona placed one knee on my stomach.

"My lord, Kat," she panted. Her hair stuck to her forehead from sweat. The dirt followed, darkening her light skin. "What was that for?"

"You're one of them," I hissed through clenched teeth. "Aren't you?"

Mona's eyes widened. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't act dumb with me!" I shouted. "I know that you're a Backstabber."

"What? Kat, we don't have time for—"

"Why didn't you just leave?" I demanded. "Is it really worth the trouble to act like my friend? I've already killed a couple of you."

She rolled her eyes. "Don't be so cocky about it. You only killed one of them—at most."

All of my anger subsided. "Wh-what?" My brain went back to the wall. Weren't there five of them dead? Yeah, it couldn't be just one.

"I killed them while you were unconscious," she said. "It was that or us. Do you believe me?"

"But you said—"

"I didn't think that straight up telling you that I killed them would make you like me." Mona cracked a smile. "But apparently not telling you didn't work out, either."

The sounds of footsteps broke off my next response. With rounded eyes, Mona moved away from me. I took the chance to stand up. Mona snatched my arm, pulling me behind a large tree. The noise grew louder and more constant. I held my breath. The sound of growling and sniffing came from behind us.

Mona tensed next to me. Her hand shot to my wrist. I winced as I felt the sharp pain of her fingernails digging into my skin.

"What's going on?" I whispered.

She placed her finger to her lips. "Be as silent as possible. These aren't people."

"Then what are they?"

"Our next obstacle."

I peered past the trees and toward where the growling was coming from. Many pairs of golden eyes stared ahead, their pupils scanning the area. One locked eyes with me. I slid back into hiding.

Definitely not human.

"What are we going to do?" I whispered.

Mona wiped her hands on her pants. "We either run or hide, but I don't know which one will help us survive."

My hands began to tremble and my foot throbbed. God, how long will it take before my foot gets infected? I pressed all my weight on my good foot and placed my palm on a branch to balance myself.

It seemed like hours that we were waiting. What were we waiting for? I didn't know, honestly. For the chance to run? For the animals to go to sleep? For us to die? For the course to be over? Maybe it was all of the above.

A wet substance fell on my shoe. I looked down, watching the liquid slide off of the toe and onto the brown dirt. I tilted my head up slightly, my eyes locking with a pair of bronze ones. The eyes were attached to a square head and a thick snout, which was gaping open to show off its massive teeth. Its dark skin matched the dirt that was being thrown into piles as the creature's paws dug themselves into the ground.

It reminded me of a dog, but ten times larger. The animal bent its hind legs and prepared to pounce. Mona turned to the beast and rounded her eyes.

"Run," she said, "now."

Mona jumped out from behind the tree and broke out into a sprint. I flinched as I followed, my foot pounding with my heart. The pain of everything that I had done to my foot caused tears to well in my eyes. Not now, I told myself. Just keep going.

Remember when I was getting chased by Marcus? The feeling came back to me. Were the animals close? I turned my head. The dogs were right at my heels, attempting to snap at my calves. I yelped and tried to run faster. I pumped my arms, following Mona and the trail. The trees blurred next to me, but I swore that I saw more of the creatures coming from the forest.

I suddenly realized that Mona was gradually getting ahead. The dogs were catching up to me. One sank its teeth into my pants, tearing the material away from my skin. It shook its head violently, throwing the fabric behind it.
Another took its spot. Saliva landed on my skin as it tried to tear into my flesh. I jumped in horror, attempting to gain speed.

Mona turned around, sighing when she saw my struggles. She slid behind me and slammed the sole of her boot on the snout of one of the creatures. It howled in pain and cowered behind its friends. She then slid a blade out of her boot in a single motion, stabbing at any animal that came her way. They yelled and ran. Each wounded one was replaced by another.

"Let's go," Mona told me as she slipped her knife back into her shoe. I nodded. She hunched over. I hesitated, confused. "Jesus Christ, get on my back, Kat!"

I did as instructed, wrapping my arms tightly around her neck. She began running, her footsteps heavy. Mona was slower than she was earlier with my added weight, but she was going faster than I had gone by myself.

Mona jumped over something, stumbling as her foot caught on it. I turned, seeing a limp body with wide eyes and blood coming out of its torn stomach. Not it. He or she. I swallowed the lump in my throat and turned away.

"Up ahead!" Mona shouted. I squinted, trying to find what she was talking about. There was a pile of rocks with grainy sand around it. The trees seemed to suddenly stop growing, showing no sign of life on the other side. I grinned. It had to be only thirty feet away.

A dog accelerated its speed, its jaws wide open. Mona grunted as she ran diagonally, running through rows of overgrown trees. The tight space caused the creatures to spread out less, grouping into a small bunch. Mona made a tight turn back onto the track as the rocks grew closer. The animals howled and bowed their heads as a couple of them slammed into the trees.

Twenty feet.

I marveled at the speed and agility that Mona ran with. Not to mention that she was strategizing on the spot. Mona might have looked like a girl that spent her free-time listening to sad songs and putting on too much eyeliner, but she was certainly athletic and a genius.

As we inched closer, Mona began to slow her pace. Her breathing grew heavier and her face was growing red. I held the urge to take my hands away from her sweaty neck.

"I can run now, I'm fine," I reassured her over the wind.

She shook her head stubbornly. "I'm fine, just a little longer."

Ten feet.

The mob behind us was slowly thinning. Some were either too injured to go on or were trying to help their canine friends. The ones that continued to follow us seemed to slow down, too. The corners of my lips tugged. We're going to make it!

Five feet.

My palms shook and moistened against each other, threatening to let go. Mona's hair stuck to her neck and I could feel her shoulders tense. My hair swept over my face as Mona began to sprint. I attempted to blow my hair away from me, but it stuck to my face like glue.

One of the animals grabbed the back of Mona's shirt, nearly biting off my butt. The fabric tore, causing Mona to fall over. We tumbled to the floor. I groaned, wiping the gravel off of my palms.

The dogs howled in frustration as they backed away. They snarled and growled at the sand. I scooted myself away, my back hitting a rock. I allowed myself to rest there as I watched the canines run away. They disappeared into black dots, and then to nothing.

Mona laid on the floor with her eyes sealed shut. I used a stone to hoist myself up. I stumbled towards her.

"Hey, Mona," I said. "Are you okay?"

She shook her head. "Do I look okay?"

I didn't have the strength to laugh. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it." She rolled over and rested her back on a rock. Pebbles and sand covered her face, but Mona was too tired and didn't care enough to brush them off.

I stuck my hand out, but Mona swatted it away.

"I don't want to get up yet," she mumbled.

I shook my head, smiling. "Partners?"

Mona's eyes widened. I placed my other hand behind my back, making the formal request of an alliance. Her smile matched mine. Mona's fingers wrapped around mine.

"Partners."

Hello, everyone! I apologize for not updating a chapter last weekend. Because of that, I'll post a chapter sometime this week.

I hope that you enjoy this chapter nonetheless, and will read, comment, and share it with your friends. If you have a dog, attempt to slam its paw on the vote button. If not, then use your shoe. We all have one of those.
Stay cool everyone, and tune in for the next chapter!

The song for this chapter was one I wrote and will be in my bio if you'd like to listen to it. It's called The Wolves by Ben Howard. I really hope you guys enjoy it.