The Prey Read Online Free PDF

genuine fear shifts in her eyes. “They’re getting craftier and stronger. They’re getting more innovative, more determined by the day.”
    She’s right. This is the first time they’ve hunted prey with smarts and determination to match. They’ve become craftier out of necessity.
    Sissy taps against her thigh. Frustration seethes in her eyes.
    “We have to dock, Sissy!” Epap shouts. “If they’re in front of us, we can’t simply allow ourselves to drift toward them.”
    She stares down the river. “It could be a trap. There might be another group of hunters behind us anticipating we’d pull over. Let’s not get outsmarted here.”
    “I don’t think that’s their game plan,” I say. “That’s not how they operate. When it comes to hunting hepers, they’re irresistibly selfish. Altruism for the benefit of another group doesn’t enter into their thinking. If there is another group behind us, then the group that just passed us doesn’t stand to benefit at all.” I gaze into the river ahead of us. “No, I think there’s only one group. The one that sprinted ahead.”
    “And they’re setting a trap?” Sissy asks.
    “I think so.” I grimace. “I don’t know.”
    “Then what are we waiting for?” Epap says. “Let’s dock now.” He starts moving for the pole.
    “Wait!” Sissy says. “Maybe that’s what they’re hoping we’ll do. Maybe they’ve circled around and are secretly trailing us even now from behind those hills. Maybe tricking us into docking is the trap they’ve laid; they’re just waiting for us to stupidly self-remove the only barrier we have between us and them: the river. We dock, and they’ll be on us in ten seconds flat.”
    “What do we do, Sissy?” David asks.
    A steely determination glints in her eyes. “We stay on the river. If they’ve laid a trap ahead, we charge through. Whatever they have for us, we fight. But we don’t wait for them, twiddling our thumbs. We chase our fate, whatever it is.” She looks at me. “That’s how I operate.”
    *   *   *
    For almost an hour, we see nothing. The boat flows down the surging river, every second fraught with tension, an eternity of uncertainty. I’m at the stern, eyes peeled, searching. The river froths white against the banks up ahead where it narrows. Don’t let up, I keep telling myself, not even for one sec —
    The boat is suddenly stopped in its tracks as if we’ve hit a cement wall. We’re thrown forward and sprawl all over the deck. I’m almost tossed overboard—only a quick grab at the boat’s edge keeps me from plunging into the river. Sissy is the first on her feet, and she’s swinging her body around, trying to get a sense of the situation.
    I see what’s stopped us. A rope spanning the entire width of the river, now pulled taut by the boat. The contraption the hunters had been carrying must be a harpoon. They used it to shoot the rope right across a narrow river bend.
    “I think my ribs are cracked,” Epap says, gritting his teeth. His hands fold gingerly before his chest as if cradling an invisible baby. “I can’t breathe, it hurts even to breathe—”
    “Sissy!” I shout. “Give me your dagger! We’ve got to cut the rope!”
    The sound of feet pounding the boards, then Sissy slides feetfirst toward me, splashing up water. She stares into the river, sees the rope. Horror dawns across her face. She’s about to reach down to slice the rope when she pauses.
    “Cut it, Sissy!”
    “What if they’re hiding in the water?”
    “They can’t swim underwater!”
    “Then where are they?”
    “I don’t kno—”
    Something splashes in the river a few feet from us, sending up a huge spray.
    “What was that?” Jacob cries.
    Then another loud splash, closer to the boat this time.
    “Are they in the water?!” Jacob says, moving away from the splashes. “Is that them?”
    “No!” I shout, “they can’t swim!”
    “Then what—”
    A thrack explodes next to my foot, sending up