I nodded as I picked up the beer I’d been working on the whole night. The girls picked up their shots and killed them one by one, and with some stro...g encouragement, and will power, I matched Chris as we downed three beers back to back to back. While we were drinking the song “Shots” came on, and everyone in the party cheered and poured themselves one, Ashley had everyone hold their shot glass up and count to three, then knock it back. I had to admit, I was having a blast, and so was everyone. Her heart beat fast inside her ribcage, but she didn't let herself feel it. Her mind shut out everything that wasn't the next step.It was hard to say when she noticed the change. The forest was still silent, the moon still full, the trail still there at her feet as plain as day. But something was wrong. She should be catching up by now, but the tracks didn't look any fresher. They were uniform and regular, the impressions nearly identical, every broken branch and bent blade of grass leaning at. I had been ‘requested’ — read ‘commanded’ — by the Chief of Medicine, to handle the Adams family as diplomatically as possible. It seems that they were hoping to tap Mr. Adams for a large donation and my treatment of his son was considered to be a great opening for the moneygrubbers (pardon me: ‘University Development’ staff) to use. So I was going to do what I could, within reason, not simply to treat the son, but to satisfy the father.My process starts easily enough, the same as it has for. I hurt in places I didn't know I had.I have no idea how many times she had knocked me down. It seemed like at least fifty times. I move better to my right than to my left, so all of my escapes were in that direction. Marie eventually figured that out, which was why my escapes were getting closer to not succeeding. My brother had pointed that out to me during the practice matches, and his yells of "go left" finally registered. The first time I got up and escaped to my left, while Marie turned,.