Embattlement: The Undergrounders Series Book Two (A Young Adult Science Fiction Dystopian Novel) by Norma Hinkens Page A

dare ignore. I signal to him to stay. I can hear something moving through the undergrowth. Still some distance away. Rustling sounds, coming at us from several directions. Encircling us . If it’s Blade, he’s not alone.
    I motion to the others to ready their weapons. Trout slides Izzy off his back and hands her to me. I stash her in a clump of willows and put my finger to my lips. She promptly jams her thumb in her mouth and hunkers down out of sight. If there’s one thing she’s good at, it’s hiding. I cock my rifle and pan the undergrowth and wooded mountainside beyond. I don’t see anyone. But I feel eyes on us.
    A bullfrog bellows from the grass behind me. Adrenalin shoots through me. I swing my gun around and aim it into the shadows, fingers trembling. My pulse pounds a frenzied beat at the back of my throat. Trout looks at me quizzically, his face pale and slick with sweat. We’re all on edge, wondering who, or what is out there. I gesture to him and the others to spread out.
    Tucker gives another deep-pitched growl and stares intently uphill, ears pricked forward.
    That’s when I see the first set of eyes, glittering amber, observing me from between a clump of trees less than a quarter mile uphill. From a rocky knoll farther up the slope, the commanding howl of a wolf pierces the crisp air. My blood chills. We’re being stalked. As if conscripted by the eerie call, several gray shadows skirt a deliberate path down through the pines and boulders, descending the slope at a healthy pace.
    There’s a panicked buzz among the Council members when they spot the unmistakable shapes of advancing predators. I tighten my grip on my gun. “They must have picked up the scent of Izzy’s blood,” Trout hisses at me. “How many can you see?”
    “Ten, twelve, maybe.”
    “There’s only six of us with guns.”
    I grimace. “We can’t risk giving Won or Rummy a weapon. We’ll have to take out the wolves by ourselves, but we need to be accurate. If we miss, they’ll be on us in a heartbeat.”
    “What about Izzy? If they break our ranks, they’ll drag her off first. They always go for the weakest prey.”
    I give a grim nod. “I’ll take care of her.”
    I make my way over to the willows and kneel down beside Izzy. “Think you can climb a tree?”
    She gives a solemn nod.
    “Good, I need you to get up in this tree right now. Go as high as you can.”
    Her eyes widen. “Is the bad guys here?”
    “No.” I swallow hard. “Just some bad dogs.”
    She clambers out, and I pick her up and set her on a shoulder-high branch. “Climb up a little higher and don’t come down until I tell you to.”
    She sets her lips in a determined line and pulls herself awkwardly up onto the next branch. When she’s safely settled into the fork, I give her a thumbs up before returning to the others. “What’s happening?” I ask, dropping down between Trout and Sven.
    “Nothing, yet,” Trout replies. “They’re keeping their distance, assessing our numbers and strength.”
    “They won’t make a move unless the alpha male gives the command,” I say.
    “Haven’t spotted him yet,” Trout replies.
    “Maybe they’re just passing through,” Sven says.
    I throw him an incredulous look, but then it dawns on me. He doesn’t know the first thing about wolves—he’s probably never even seen one before. I wish I could reassure him that the pack’s just skirting around us, on their way to wherever they’re going, but nothing could be further from the truth. This is a hunt, and we’re the prey. The wolves have become intrepid man-eaters since the meltdown, fangs sheering through Undergrounder flesh like butcher knives when they make a kill. Sven could probably take down a wolf if he had to, but I don’t think even his enhanced build could withstand an attack by a pack.
    “Trout reckons they picked up the scent of Izzy’s blood.” I lock eyes with Sven. “They’re looking to feed, and even you are vulnerable. Their