Screaming at the top of her lungs Lina exploded through the forest, the barking growls of the beast at her heels. The forest floor dipped and rose unexpectedly and several times Lina half expected herself to tumble to the ground, but somehow the momentum of her fleeing for her life, kept her going.
With a surprised yelp, Lina suddenly fell down a shallow bank and splashed into the cold waters of a small tributary. Coughing and spluttering the water from her face, Lina didn't dare lose a beat and instantly pushed herself to her feet.
Stumbling over the unseen pebbles and rocks beneath the flowing waters, Lina clambered up over the other bank, her hands and knees covered in slippery mud, she forced her arms and legs to work through the muck.
Her lungs burned with each breath as Lina urged her leaden legs to drive her faster and further than they seemed capable. To allow her body to quit, even for a moment, would mean death.
Hopelessness seeped into her heart as she struggled to keep running, her legs wobbling with each step as the salty tears coursing down her face drippled into her mouth. She knew she couldn't outrun the coyote much longer as a single glance over her shoulder drew a screeching whimper from deep within her throat; the beast snarling ever closer, almost upon her.
Momentarily distracted, Lina wasn't concentrating on where she was going, her foot caught between two mossy mounds and she instantly went down. Tumbling to the side, Lina suddenly began sliding down a steep decline. Nettles, twigs, rocks and fallen branches tugged, pinched and battered her as Lina slid and rolled uncontrollably down the gully side.
With an oomph, Lina crashed to a stop on her belly, the air driven painfully from her burning lungs upon impact. Cuts and bruises peppered her body as Lina moaned, rolling onto her back in a daze.
Everywhere hurt, though as she flopped her arms over her forehead and straightened her legs, she knew nothing was seriously damaged; no shooting, agonising pains erupted anywhere so that was something.
Despite no bones being broken, it didn't alleviate the aching agony she received from the battering on the way down. Groaning, her mind raced to catch up to what had happened.
One moment she was bolting through the forest, the next, she went careering down a hill. Her eyes were suddenly thrown wide as she remembered the snapping maw of sharp teeth chasing after her and Lina instantly pushed herself up onto her elbows.
Laying on the trickling base of the gully, she was at least gifted with a little more moonlight with which to scan her surroundings. No sign of the coyote. She held her breath as she strained to listen past her hammering heart. She couldn't hear the snarling beast, though, she knew that didn't mean it wasn't right on her trail.
Groaning through the pain as her body rejected each movement, Lina forced herself to her feet. She cried out when she attempted to put her full weight on the foot that had disappeared between the two moss mounds and swiftly shifted her weight onto her other foot. Great, that's just great.
Dusting off her muddied hands on her trousers, Lina glanced around her. If she wasn't lost before, she definitely was now. Tears once again welled as panic replaced the adrenaline rush. Chewing the inside of her cheek, Lina knew she couldn't stay here; the creature wouldn't be far behind.
Reluctantly, Lina tested her painful ankle by easing her weight onto it gently. Biting down on her lower lip hard, she winced as tears anew trickled down. She could weight-bear at least, but with agonising aches pulsating around her ankle with each step.
Feeling very sorry for herself, Lina forced herself to move, moaning and groaning through barred teeth as she began hobbling up the gully. She didn't know where she was going but she couldn't stay here.
As she staggered slowly up the small trickling rivulet on the gully floor, she decided she needed to find a good vantage point. She needed to know just how screwed she had become.
Shivering and teeth chattering, Lina rubbed her arms furiously for warmth. Her clothes wet and muddied from the stumble in the river earlier had not done her any favours. She wasn't sure how long she had been struggling and hobbling up the gully, however she had at least made good progress and even managed to climb out of the small depression on her hands and knees.
Though, it had been through many tears and many moments on the verge of giving up. Her body felt battered and broken, the cuts peppering her skin everywhere stung and itched and she was exhausted; not just physically.
Pushing past her body's comfortable bounds, had been far more mentally taxing. Yet, the urge to survive and the thoughts of a warm hearth and sweet tea pushed her ever through those boundaries and Lina was now limping her way towards a gathering of tall oak.
Stumbling up the the thick trunk of the one nearest her, Lina glimpsed up it's height, peering up at the branches and limbs above. Panting in the night air, the forest seemed quiet, serene all around with naught but the chirps of insects as she eyed the broad tree sceptically. With her ankle the way it was she hesitated.
A howl abruptly erupted through the dense forest freezing Lina in her tracks as her gaze whipped about furiously. It was close. She knew it was the coyote, hunting her trail, stalking her. Shivering with more than just the cold, Lina clenched her jaw and groaned through critted teeth as she reached for the nearest handhold.
She had come this far, pushed her body beyond what she thought possible. The instinctive urge to survive drove her onward and gave her fatigued limbs a new burst of energy; from where, she didn't know.
All she knew was she couldn't outrun the beast should it burst through the undergrowth and she hadn't the energy or capacity to fend it off. Her only salvation would be to make it up the tree.
Two birds one tree, she would hopefully be safe from the creatures clutches and also potentially be able to find her bearings; she just had to make it up this tree.