Bill had put a wide distance between himself and the trees before he finally turned around to start walking, by the time he'd made it to the road he had his gun holstered and had broken into a jog.

Lifting his radio he hesitated, fear twining around his spine. Would she answer? How many people had she gotten out? He almost didn't make the call for fear of interrupting her or distracting her from what she was doing.

Working his throat hard, he brought the radio up and pressed the button.

"Clarice, y'there?"