RED SENSED THAT THEY were being pursued even before he heard the footfalls and knew that he’d led them astray. For an animal was coming—the animal, he knew, Napoleon—and it was coming on fast. True, they could turn and fire and hope that the thing dropped before it had killed every last one of them, but almost no one in the group save himself and Frank Miller were experienced with firearms, and he knew such an action would only lead to a greater loss of life. Better to be picked off one by one as they ran (so that at least someone would make it) than that—and yet there was another option he was almost too terrified to consider ... but he did consider it, and the longer he considered it the more real it became in his mind.
The question was, would Charlotte allow it? Would anyone allow it?
