Escape from Eden (Original Series book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

weaknesses of every creature out here if I can’t see them.
    Just ahead there’s a small clearing. Link stops when he reaches it and whispers, “This is where we go out. Watch the back and sides.”
    “Got it,” I say and follow after him, my head on a swivel.
    At one point this must’ve been a trail, but it’s all but grown in now. The ground is extra muddy here, threatening to suck my shoes off every time I take a step. Link seems to be having the same problem in front of me. He curses under his breath.
    Another branch snaps. I glance behind me and to the side, my grip tightening on the handle of the spear. Link pauses and looks around, but after a few seconds he proceeds forward.
    As far as I can tell, we are moving in the direction of where the parachute landed, more like crash landed by the way the thing was spinning. I hope they’re still alive, whoever it is.
    Link reaches up to push aside a thin and prickly plant. My brain immediately fires, and I grab his arm, stopping him.
    “That’s poisonous,” I say, my voice low.
    He glances back at me. “How do you know?”
    “I read it.”
    He mouths the word “nerd” and turns back around, smiling. Maybe I shouldn’t have stopped him.
    We go a little farther when the hairs on my arms bristle. We're being watched. I grab Link's arm and shush him before he can say anything.
    I lean up on my tiptoes and peer into the forest searching for our predator. A limb moves, then another. There’s a flash of black and orange, which could either be really good or really bad. I slowly lower to the ground to feel for a rock with my free hand, never once glancing away from the trees. My fingers latch tightly around a stone the size of my fist.
    “What are you doing?” Link whispers.
    “Syth or a vargon. Not sure yet.”
    I toss the rock into the direction of where I saw black and orange. I follow it up by beating my spear against the leaves and branches in front of me, creating as much noise as I can without actually yelling.
    Sounds, much louder than mine, grunt and squeal. I beat the trees again. Link lifts his spear and points it into the trees, his muscles rigid.
    Because we haven’t been attacked yet, I figure it’s a vargon, which resembles a black bear but is much thinner and has a distinct orange stripe that runs from head to tail. It’s a carnivore, but a timid one. If I can frighten it enough instead of the other way around, we may just avoid a fight.
    “Let’s get out of here,” Link whispers.
    He reaches for me, but I avoid his grip and take a step into the forest. I hit my spear onto the trunk of a nearby tree and move deeper into the forest. Link comes after me.
    More snorts. I catch glimpses of the vargon’s long, black hair through thick vines and leaves. It’s swaying back and forth. I beat the branches again. This time Link joins me. The added noise frightens the creature, and it turns and disappears. I drop my shoulders and lower my head.
    “How’d you know to do that?” Link asks.
    “It was in the books my father wrote. Doesn’t anyone read those?”
    "I've read them, but I don't remember half of what's in there. Besides, we could've just fought it. I think we could’ve taken it.”
    “That’s not always the answer. Any time you can avoid a battle, you should.” I walk by him to get back on the trail. “How close do you think we are?”
    Link slips by me to take the lead again. “Hard to say. Maybe another—”
    A whistle sounds to our left. I grab Link’s arm and stop breathing. A second shrill blast whistles through the air.
    “Don’t blow,” Link whispers. “Don’t blow.”
    I’m thinking the same words in my head. The whistle blows a third time. Someone is in danger.

4
    “ L et’s go !” Link says and plows into thick overgrowth beside us, slashing his machete at branches and gnarly vines.
    I reach down and pull a knife from my boot to help him. It’s a difficult task. The branches of trees and bushes snag our hair and