The hunter tried to turn back when they reached the first marker.
He had been carrying the abandoned case before the leader made him leave it. Now, with a wider passage ahead and the injured man still being moved, he seemed to believe there was time to repair that one loss. Eli saw him shift his pack and angle toward the side opening.
“Where?” the leader asked.
“I can get it without the frame in the way.”
“No.”
“It isn’t only mine.”
“Neither is the time.”
He looked toward Eli, as though an outsider might find her unreasonably strict now that the immediate barrier was behind them. Eli kept his position on the carrying frame.
