White Space Season 2

see us!”
    Before who sees us? Billy looked around, but saw no Indians.
    Father fell silent, staring at Billy, mouth open wide with nothing leaving.
    “Father?”
    Why isn’t he answering?
    “Father?” Billy repeated, his voice in a girl’s pitch.
    Father fell forward, an arrow in the back of his skull.
    Billy screamed.
    Another arrow flew by, thunking into the ground beside him. Billy couldn’t see who fired the shot, and might not have been able to, even without the thick smoke watering his eyes.
    For his entire life, Father had always told him to, “Root your heels to the dirt and raise fists for a fight,” but now Father was gone, along with Ma and Jonny. Father’s final advice was a contradiction, but Billy made an about— face and followed it anyway, running away from the farmhouse, toward the forest, and the caves within it, hoping the Indians’ arrows wouldn’t strike him down before he reached the woods.
    Billy ran, as fast as he could, pumping his feet and darting through the grass as the sky opened up and rain poured down, soaking him in an instant. He dared to look back, once, to confirm that there were two Indians, on horseback, chasing him. Perhaps there were more he could not see, but he didn’t dare stop to look.
    There was no time.
    There was no way on Earth he could outrun Indians on foot, let alone on horseback, yet he had no choice but to try or die. He wanted to cry out to God for taking his family, for being so damned cruel, for not giving him a chance in hell of getting away — but he had no time for tears. Not if he wanted to live.
    One of the Indians screamed something behind him, and it sounded so close, he could imagine an arrow wouldn’t be too far behind. He forced his legs to work harder, run faster. His heart pumped just as fast, and he was suddenly thankful for the many vegetables his mother used to fill his plate. “They’ll make you strong, like your brother and Daddy,” she’d said.
    But they were both dead. He needed to be stronger. Faster.
    The thick, dark tree line was just 50 yards away when he saw, and heard, an arrow sail by him. He also heard the thunder from an approaching gallop.
    Billy wondered if he should zig and zag as he ran, to keep himself from being an easy target. But doing so would only slow him down. He kept soaring forward, pushing his legs straight toward his target.
    Billy slipped. As he hit the cold wet grass, he heard one of the horses gallop past him.
    Oh, no!
    Billy leapt to his feet, surrounded on either side by two Indians on horseback.
    One was thin, young like him, holding a bow, aimed at Billy. The other was older, muscular face concealed beneath paint, eyes boring straight into Billy, as if judging his fate.
    The Indian said something Billy didn’t understand. He wasn’t even sure if the man was speaking to him or the younger Indian.
    Billy’s heart pounded against his chest as the older man reached down and retrieved a large blade from a pouch on the horse. He held the blade up, ready to strike …
    Then the sky was ablaze in lightning, thunder booming loud enough to rock the earth.
    Both horses whinnied, rearing back, as their riders tried to hold on.
    Run!
    Billy seized on the moment and sprinted, faster than he’d ever run in his life, straight for the woods. It was the longest 50 yards Billy had ever run, and he was certain that he’d be cut down the moment the Indians managed to get their horses under control.
    He didn’t dare look back.
    An arrow flew past, striking a tree in front of him.
    Oh, God.
    Billy remembered Jonny saying that Indians never missed their targets. But this Indian had missed Billy three times. He was certain his luck would not hold for a fourth miss.
    He reached the woods and kept running, eager to find the caves his father had showed him a few months before. Would the Indians also know of the caves? If they’d been on the island longer, surely they would, but he had no other options. Even if they knew of the caves, there were enough to make some a mystery and give Billy a chance.
    Hopefully, he wouldn’t get lost himself.
    His father said run to the caves. So run, Billy did.
    Lightning crashed again above, followed by more thunder, even louder than before. Billy wondered if perhaps God was helping him escape, even though He had seen fit to allow his family to die.
    Don’t think about them now; just run.
    It had been months since he’d been to the caves with Father. Months since he’d been