BOOK TWO
Six months have passed since Arryn's world went to the dogs. Six grueling months of searching for her betrayer and the friends he took with him.
Taking shelter in a small house, Arryn and Austin develop a routine. But all that changes one...
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She woke to a pounding headache. It was one of the worst ones she ever had. The kind that made you want to pull your hair out and scream. She blinked several times, her groggy eyes refusing to acclimate to the lights overhead. It wasn't as if the lights themself were blinding. As a matter of fact, they were quite dim. With this headache, everything seemed intensified.
She lifted her hand up to her eyes, trying to wipe the grogginess away. Purple spots danced across her vision momentarily from the pressure of her palm. When she opened her eyes, the world appeared a bit clearer. The confusion, however, did not fade.
She lay on a bed in a dimly lit room. Warm blankets covered her body. A fireplace blazed on the far wall. She rubbed her eyes a couple more times, just to make sure she wasn't dreaming.
Where am I? she thought, taking in her surroundings.
She tried to recall how she'd gotten here. The last thing she remembered was entering the zoo with Austin. Everything after that was a blur. They were running from a group of survivors––a group which they believed was bad news. A flash of a bear sprang into her mind and she inhaled a sharp breath. The group pursuing her had been chased off by the bear. Like dominos, the memories began falling into place as more and more images trickled in. She saw disfigured kangaroos hobbling on missing limbs, and bent neck giraffes with pale coats. A shudder ran through her at the thought of the creatures. A place once cherished had now become tainted.
Austin! The thought came on suddenly. She scanned the room for any trace of him, finding none. What had happened to him? She closed her eyes and focused. Running. She was running with Austin by her side. Her feet slipped on a patch of ice and she fell. Pain flared in her lower back and at the base of her skull, both in real-time and her memory. Austin knelt over her. He mouthed words to her she couldn't understand. Then he left and something huge flew over her body. She squeezed her eyes shut even harder, trying to remember what the object had been. She saw fur. And stripes.
It all came back. A tiger. A tiger had chased Austin. Two of them in fact. His cry of pain echoed in her mine, followed by the gunshots.
"No," she whispered. She tried to sit up but a jolt of pain sent her back to the mattress. "No."
