Infinity's Reach Read Online Free PDF Page A

rain made it impossible to know where the sun was.
    Infinity looked at me, just as confused. Then I could see her make a decision.
    “That way,” she said, pointing in the only direction that gunfire wasn’t coming from.
    I threw the backpack onto my shoulders and followed her into the trees.
     
    The rain went from a drizzle into a downpour as we ran through the trees. I could barely see Infinity in front of me. The trees, which were spaced out fairly evenly where we had camped, grew smaller and thicker as we ran cross country. I kept looking for a trail, and I knew—or at least hoped—that Infinity was looking for one too. We followed the shoulder of the hillside as it grew steeper. The rain ran in little rivers off the side of the boulders. Finally we came to a cliff, and Infinity had to turn to the left, which I hoped was south. We followed the cliff for a while down the slope of the hillside until we were able to climb down over some large rocks.
    Below us, the hillside opened up again into some larger trees. Infinity held up her hand and we both listened. Neither of us could hear rifle fire, which was a relief to me. We looked at each other.
    “Do we stop and wait for Evangelist?” I asked.
    Infinity shook her head. “He said to follow the river until dark, and then he would find us.” She looked down the incline. “Let’s pray the river is down there.”
    The incline was pretty steep for a while, and we took turns preventing each other from going too fast down the embankment. The mud took turns either holding our boots so we couldn’t go forward, or being so slippery that we risked sliding down the whole hill. The backpacks were heavy, and we were desperately out of shape, but we were also desperate. Twice I suggested leaving the backpacks behind, stating that we could move faster without them, but Infinity said no. We were traveling cross country, and we’d need all the resources we could get.
    After about half an hour of going downhill, we stopped again. The rain had finally stopped.
    “Finn,” I whined. “I’ve got to stop. I’m exhausted.”
    She nodded, then perked up. “Listen.”
    I listened and heard the wind through the pines. Then I heard another noise. It was the sound of running water. A lot of it.
    “Water running off the hill?” I asked.
    Infinity shrugged. “Won’t know unless we look. Do you think you can carry that backpack just a little farther?”
    I gritted my teeth and nodded. It’s amazing what a little hope will do for a person.
    It was a river. It was a very big river.
    “Finn?” I asked, as we sat on a log with our feet in the cold water of the river, looking across the water at the foggy far side.
    “Yes?”
    “You know I didn’t pay too much attention in geography class,” I said. “But Evangelist had said we were in Tennessee. Does that make this the Tennessee River?”
    “Dunno. I guess. Not sure what other rivers are in Tennessee. Cumberland River?”
    “Finn.”
    “Yes.”
    “Didn’t Evangelist say that we were to follow the river west?”
    “Yes.”
    “Well, if the sun came up over there, and it goes down over there, then that means the river is going south. Not west.”
    Infinity didn’t answer for a while, then she brightened.
    “Maybe it goes south for a little while, then turns west again.”
    I paused before answering.
    “Well, couldn’t it just as easily go north and then turn west?”
    Infinity frowned, then shook her head.
    “All the rivers here dump out into the Mississippi. That’s west of us. We follow it downstream, even if it goes east for a while.”
    I smiled, relieved. “I’m glad I have a smart friend.”
     
    We rested our weary feet, weary shoulders and other weary parts for about fifteen minutes—once again guessing at time, since neither of us had a watch—before saddling ourselves again with our backpacks. I realized that it was harder to put the backpack on than it might have been if I had just rested with it on my