300 Days of Writing
Day 11: Fight
The woods were on fire.
Tinder and coral-orange coals burned her feet as she sprinted through the darkness that seemed to engulf her. Smoke filled her lungs as she panted, sending her into a coughing fit as she pushed through the trees, blindly looking for a way out.
The dogs barked behind her. She heard them sniffing the air, sensing her sweat and blood despite the burning air. They were running faster now, having caught her scent. The underbrush went skidding beneath their paws. She tried to count their steps, it sounded like three, maybe four dogs, were leading the way for him.
He shouted into the night. “Find her!”
Jared was behind the dogs, following them through the black night. The smoldering fire clouded the sky, blocking the moon, and the only light came from the fresh flames that licked up tree trunks. The fire spit and crackled but not loud enough to hide the sounds of her exasperated sprint.
She should have never run. She knew that. But she couldn’t have endured any longer.
That was when she felt a dog clench around her ankle. Falling into the moss, her face narrowly missed a pile of coals while her palms weren’t so lucky.
The heat was so intense it felt cold in her hands. She would have cried if she had the strength to, but Jared had caught up to the dogs and was pulling her by her damaged leg, aggravated the torn flesh and sprained muscle.
“Get away from me!” She screamed and with her already ruined hands, she clenched onto the burning coals and threw them behind her.
She hit him squarely in the face. His already bleeding lip from her earlier punch was scorched.
“You’ll pay for that,” he said. He kneeled onto her legs and whistled to the dogs. They surrounded her at his call, and the last thing she smelled was their foul breath.
Сайхан Бичээрэй!
H