All living things seemed to be converging inward from every direction. They had to break out of this closing circle—had to find a way to escape!
Using the momentum of his full sprint, Hayes slammed through several blind, ill-timed mutant creatures that strayed into their path. Albert seized every opening, darting in to deliver a few extra slashes, making sure none of them could recover and counterattack.
Behind them, the juvenile Dreadweaver Spiders surged forward like a tide, sticking close to their mother and the cat, terrified of being left behind.
They had thought that reaching this point would finally let them breathe a little.
But it was precisely those conspicuous little spiders at their backs that caught the attention of the poison dart frog. Abandoning whatever it had been eating, the creature hopped toward them—springing forward with startling agility.
The moment Albert saw this, his heart sank.
