No Exit by Taylor Adams 2

5:44 a.m.
“Daaaaarby.”
Yes, Ashley Garver was following them, a ragged shadow
silhouetted against the roaring blaze. Nail gun carried in his
left hand now. His right was injured, clenched under his
armpit. He was fifty yards behind them, a shambling figure in
smoking clothes, raising his unhurt hand to wipe his mouth.
He was too far away to shoot.
Darby’s marksmanship was too uncertain, and she
couldn’t waste her single bullet. So she concealed the pistol
behind her waist, and at her back, the headlights intensified as
the snowplow chugged closer.
A murderer approaching behind them, and the assistance
of a stranger ahead of them — it should have been an easy
choice.
Jay tugged her. “Let’s go—”
And in a way, she realized … it still was.
“Darby, let’s go. We have to run—”
“No.”
“What?”
She nodded at her ankle. “I’ll just slow you down. You
run.”
Alarm in Jay’s eyes. “What? No—”
“Jay, listen to me. I have to stop him. I can’t run anymore.
I’ve been running from him all night, all freaking night, and
I’m sick of it.”
The headlights grew brighter, cutting shafts in the smoky
fog, drawing harsh shadows in the glittering snow. They
burned Darby’s eyes. And behind them, the shadow of Ashley