Cat looked up to see a gun pointed at her by one of the men. All three were looking at her. Another, the one called Harry, had his hand on his holster and was pulling out his pistol.

“Put the knife down,” The first man commanded.

Cat briefly considered running but the man was close enough that even if he were a poor shot he’d probably get in a hit. Given they hadn’t killed Alana yet, but had shot the guy who ran, it was probably much safer not to risk it. She raised her hands.

“The knife,” the man repeated.

Cat opened her hand.

“Luey, tie her up,” the leader commanded to the other guy.

Luey approached Cat slowly.

He’d almost reached her when what sounded like a man’s voice called out from the forest on the other side of the clearing. “Alaaaana!”

The men all turned to look.

Cat saw her chance. She grabbed her machete from her hip, pulled Luey closer to herself so she stood behind him, and held the knife to his throat. “Don’t move,” she threatened.

The man with the rifle spun back to face her. He pointed the rifle at her.

“Careful, you don’t want to hit Luey,” Cat told him.

He shifted his rifle to point at Alana. “Let him go or I shoot her.”

Harry, meanwhile glanced nervously at the forest on the other side of the clearing. “He was dead right? I checked, he was dead for sure.”

“Shut up Harry,” the leader replied.

A suppressed shot sounded.

A bullet pierced the leader’s skull.

It came from the forest behind Cat.

The man stared straight ahead a shocked expression frozen on his face for a moment before he fell face down next to his rifle.

“What!” Harry exclaimed. He appeared to panic for a moment before coming to his sense and grabbing the one thing that might save his life, Alana.

He held his pistol to her head.

Meanwhile the guy in Cat’s grasp took the opportunity to jam his head backwards into hers. Then he spun and attacked her while she was still dazed from the blow.

Cat ducked. She took a swipe at his knees with the machete but he leapt backwards out of the way just in time. They continued taking swipes at each other, moving further into the middle of the clearing as they did.

Harry also dragged Alana back into the centre of the campsite and pointed the pistol at her head. “Whoever else is out there come out with your hands up or I’ll shoot her.”

Cat took a swing at Luey and it hit him square in the jaw sending him half way to dizzy land, but he got her back with a sharp shove to the shoulders. She fell away long enough for him to run to his fallen leader. Cat leapt at him from behind. She got a lock around his throat and squeezed. He choked, and in a desperate measure threw them both down.

Harry had made a mistake. He stuck his head out just enough from behind Alana. There was another sound of a suppressed rifle being fired and Harry also lay dead on the ground.

Luey reached out with one hand aimlessly as Cat struggled to get another hold on him. He managed to grab his leader’s rifle. He turned it and fired. Cat dodged to the side but not fast enough. She felt a sharp pain in her side.

Luey shoved her off and turned the rifle on Alana. He fired. Then, taking the rifle with him he turned tail and ran.

Cat got to her feet, ignoring the pain in her side, and started to chase him.

“Cat! Wait!” Kass yelled at her.

Cat turned, hand pressed hard over the wound at her hip, to see Kass walking in to the clearing carrying a rifle. She was walking towards Alana, who lay on the ground alive but coughing blood.

“Let him run. He didn’t have a gun. We need to deal with her,” Kass told her. Then she noticed blood soaking through Cat’s singlet and over her fingers. “Are you okay?” she asked eyes wide.

Cat nodded, holding one hand to her side. “Yeah, it’s fine.”

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

Kass eyed her unsure but then knelt down next to Alana. Unfortunately for her, Alana’s wound was in her chest.

Alana was rasping and spluttering. Her lips were covered in blood.

Kass pulled what clothing she could away from the wound. She placed her hands on top and applied pressure then looked up at Cat. “Do you have a first aid kit?”

Looking at how bad the wound was Cat almost wanted to tell Kass that there wasn’t any point. Alana would probably be dead soon. Even if they did stop the bleeding they had no quick way to get her out. Cat shook her head. “Amanda probably does.”

Kass, hands still applying pressure, looked back down at Alana who now seemed to have passed out.

“Roll her on her side,” Cat told Kass.

Kass was already ahead of her. She tucked her knees under Alana’s arm and back then rolled her over so she could keep the pressure on her wound.

“Do we need to drain the fluid out of her lungs?” Cat asked as she bent down to help Kass with the roll.

Kass shook her head and whispered back. “I don’t know. I don’t know how to treat a chest wound.”

Alana was quiet. Cat briefly wished her on again off again partner Baz was here. He’d know what to do. He’d treated plenty of Cat’s injuries out of his little backwater cabin in the woods. He made half his money treating people who’d rather not visit a hospital.

Cat reached over and felt Alana’s pulse.

“Don’t tell me,” Kass whispered.

“She’s dead,” Cat replied.

Kass gave a sad sigh like she’d been holding her breath. She removed her hands from Alana’s chest then felt for a pulse herself. She sat back for a second looking sad then she eyed Cat. “How’s your wound?”

Cat glanced down. She’d almost forgotten. It didn’t actually hurt too much, it just kind of throbbed a little, more so when she moved. “It’s fine.”

Kass reached forward as if to have a look but Cat dodged out of the way. “Hey, don’t you touch my wound with those hands, they’re covered in her blood, I know how infections work.”

Kass pulled her hands back.

Cat lifted up her shirt so she could inspect the wound. “See it’s barely even bleeding.”

Kass made a circular motion with her finger. “Turn around.”

Cat frowned but did so.

“No exit wound. That was a low powered rifle, the bullet’s probably still inside,” Kass told her.

Cat shrugged. “I’ll get it out later.”

“We could try now.”

“With what? Your bloody hands? You know what the rules are about removing penetrating objects in wounds. Leave it in until you get to a hospital, or similar.” Cat added that last bit and thought of Baz’s small cabin. She’d be fine until they got back and then he could help.

Kass nodded. “At least cover it up.”

“With what exactly?”

“Anything clean, just put some pressure on it.”

“It’s barely bleeding.” Cat rolled her eyes but she looked around for something to wrap the wound. Then, remembering their packs, she walked off toward them.

Cat carried one pack half way back then had to sit down against a tree to keep from passing out. Kass came along a second later to help. While Cat rested against the tree Kass dug through her pack until she found a clean travel towel, which she tied around Cat’s waist with the help of some long thermal clothing.

“I told you it needed covering,” Kass said.

Cat glanced down and realized her top was now a lot more covered in blood than it had been a few minutes ago. Trying to move the packs on her own had not been such a great idea.

They sat still for awhile before eventually Cat asked where Kass had gotten the rifle she’d been shooting with.

“It’s mine, I brought it with me. It breaks down into smaller pieces.”

“That was in your pack?” Cat asked not quite believing her, especially given she’d rummaged though it earlier looking for the pack liner. She didn’t remember the rifle but maybe Kass had wrapped it in her clothing.

Kass shrugged. “Just in case. Thought I might do some hunting. There’s the odd wild pig up here.”

“So much for not being armed, and I thought you said you didn’t have anything breakable in your pack?”

“It was protected.”

“And you said my four knives were excessive.”

“Four knives is excessive. I only have the one gun.”

Cat leaned back against the tree and closed her eyes.

Kass glanced nervously back toward the clearing. "We should keep moving, in case that guy comes back."

Cat opened her eyes and followed Kass's gaze.

They could just see Alana's body laying unnaturally still in the sun.

Cat returned her gaze back to Kass and noticed Kass was now eyeing her wound.

After a moment's thought Kass asked, "Do you think you'll be alright to hike?"

"Not much choice is there?" Cat replied stoically.

Kass bit her lip. "We're not that far from the car. Only one of us needs to take the sunscreen."

"Mmm, I think it's better we stick together, especially with that madman still out there," Cat eyed the clearing again.

"You think he might come after us?"

Cat shrugged.

Kass got up and returned to the clearing. Cat watched as she checked Alana's pulse one more time then picked up her rifle and started disassembling it as she walked back to Cat.

"We still have to climb that cliff," Kass reminded her as she packed the rifle back into a small hard case and then into her pack.

Cat watched with interest. She'd spent some brief time in the past building her own guns just for fun, for backyard target shooting and a bit of hunting. Cat didn't really hunt herself, that was more Baz's thing, but she did have a general interest in machinery. Cars, guns, and anything mechanical that wasn't too overly electronic. Kass's gun wasn't one she recognised and it looked well-designed. She wondered about how well the compactness combined with the accuracy and power of the gun itself. Whether there was a trade off or if it was magically enhanced. Kass had been a sniper during the northern vampire wars so she knew her high-powered rifles. She'd probably picked something that didn't trade off too much in accuracy. The compactness was certainly appealing. It was probably stupidly expensive but Kass didn’t tend to spend money on much of anything else.

Kass finished packing her rifle away and looked at Cat waiting for an answer.

Cat shrugged. "It wasn't that big of a cliff. Worst case you can rig up a pulley system."

Kass bit her lip again.

Cat rolled her eyes and got to her feet. "Oh stop worrying, I'll be fine."

Kass stood up and put stern look on her face. "Fine but if you start bleeding out I'm not carrying you out." She slung her pack over her back.

"If I start bleeding out then go get Amanda and she can cauterize it," Cat replied.

"Not fast enough. I do have a lighter," Kass replied. "We could do that now? Heat up something metal."

Cat shook her head. "Increases the risk of infection."

Kass nodded but added, "and decreases the risk of blood loss."

"Well save it as an option for later," Cat replied as they started their hike toward the base of the cliff they still had to climb.

“I don’t think that’s how that works,” Kass replied.

But Cat was already on her way.