Eva Adams's Arc

Chapter 1 of 1

Eva Adams knelt at the edge of the forest and pressed her fingers into her daughter's footprint. Sarah was alive. The tiny sneaker marks proved it. Eva had crossed a beach of black sand, killed a rotting thing with a spear, and buried her fear to find these prints. Now the trail split into two forks, and the light was nearly gone. She could not tell which way Sarah had gone. Mark crouched beside her. His Hawaiian shirt hung in rags. His blue eyes searched the ground. "Left or right," he said. "We have to choose." Eva looked at both paths. The prints faded into shadow. Pick wrong and they might walk all night the opposite way from their girl. She hated the choice. Her hands shook. Then a sound cut through the trees. Barking. Sharp and fast, coming from the right fork. "That way," Eva said. She grabbed Mark's arm and ran. Branches tore at her rotting clothes. The barking grew louder. It led them to a clearing where a battered store slumped in the dark. Broken windows. A caved-in porch littered with splintered wood and torn sacks. A German shepherd stood chained to a pole out front, straining and barking at the open door. Eva froze. The dog was not attacking. It faced the store, tail high, calling. She stepped past it and looked inside. Shelves lay smashed. Cans rolled across the floor. In the far corner, behind a fallen counter, a small shape huddled with knees pulled tight. A pink backpack. A grimy doll clutched to a filthy chest. "Sarah," Eva breathed. The girl's head came up. Her huge eyes found her mother's face. For a second she did not move, as if she thought she was dreaming. "Mom?" Eva crossed the room and dropped to her knees. Sarah crashed into her arms. The doll pressed between them. Eva felt the small body shaking and heard the sobs break loose. Mark wrapped them both, and his tears fell into Sarah's tangled hair. "I heard the dog," Sarah said into Eva's shoulder. "It found me. It wouldn't stop barking." "You're safe now," Eva said. "We've got you." Sarah pulled back. She wiped her nose. "The dog is nice. It's just chained up." She said it plainly, like a fact she needed them to know. Mark went out and unhooked the chain. The shepherd bounded to Sarah and licked her cheek. She almost smiled. Eva held her daughter's face. "We have to get off this island. There are things here." "I know," Sarah said. "There's a boat. I saw it. I can show you." Eva stared at her. The girl she had crossed the island to find now held the way out. "You're sure?" Sarah nodded. "By the water. It floats. I checked." Eva stood and took her daughter's hand. The reunion was over. The trail was no longer footprints in the dirt. Now it led to a boat, and to whatever waited between here and the shore.