Chapter 74 - Six Bullets [https://cdn.midjourney.com/66285009-2891-466a-95ed-b48b2bc2a157/0_2.png]

In human form, Kennedy kneeled next to Red’s bear. The Lost bears lingered in the distance, moving through the trees in a wide circle. If they attacked, they would be at a distinct disadvantage.

“I’m not sure we should do this,” David said, with one hand resting on Red’s flank. “What if another change kills him?”

Kennedy shook her head. “We can’t move him in this form. He’s too big. We can take turns carrying him on our backs once he is in human form.”

“You are not carrying him.” David said. “It is a burden I want. I should have been more cautious. It was stupid of me to be so easily fooled by my family. I risked all of you. Let me carry his weight.”

“No chance,” said Jeremiah, pale and in pain with every breath. His broken ribs would take time to heal.

Terry grumbled, fingers on Red’s furred throat. “Weak.” He looked at Kennedy and nodded. “Change now.”

Sliding her fingers through Red’s rough fur, she took a deep breath, seeking a spark in her own body, trying to light a turn within him. A burning itch slid along her calves and under her wrists. Her body was exhausted. All of what she had, she sank into him. David, Jeremiah, and Terry joined her, reaching, forming a ring of potential around his inert form. She felt the baby join them, full of sparkle within her. A tickle slid up the inside of her tummy.

Red’s will to live flourished within his broken shell. Within the bear, she felt his soul and his human shape. Carefully, she pulled at him, easing him outward, toward the change. When his body finally split, he shifted fast, navigating around the damage, the bullets, the blood loss, and the broken bones. She had to fight to keep him in transition long enough to clear the foreign bodies from his flesh. He fought them weakly, as the bullets fell to the leaf mulch. When the last one was free, she released her hold, and he claimed his human body with a force she never would have expected from someone so injured.

A wave of relief flowed through the ring, one into the other as he came complete, wounded but still alive. Broken, his left arm bent distressingly. His ribs on both sides were purpled. Dark red patches encircled by yellow green discoloration decorated the holes in him. She could have stuck her finger into them. How was he still alive?

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Anyone this stubborn deserved to live a second life. Kennedy gasped with relief as his chest rose and fell. A blood tinted bubble rose from the hole above his nipple. If she pressed her finger into him, would she brush his beating heart, touch his meaty center?

“I don’t know if we can move him,” Kennedy whispered.

“Can,” Terry said, “Must.” They were not leaving him behind.

“I claim first carry,” David said. Jeremiah started to argue, but David stopped him. “I am the least wounded. Don’t shame me by denying me this.” Jeremiah’s jaw flexed. His hand rested on his unconscious brother’s side. Reluctantly, he nodded.

Immediately, David changed into his bear shape, warm brown like cocoa, enormous paws, gentle eyes. Once he was settled into his shape, he lowered himself to the ground. Terry gingerly lifted Red’s broken body from the earth and draped him over David’s back as Terry tied his damaged arm close to his body. They draped David’s clothing over Red’s bare body. When they turned to head toward the path they had left.

The dancing girl’s father was waiting in the gap, still as a stone, so quiet of step that they hadn’t heard him. “He lives?”

Terry grunted assent.

The moonlight through the trees dappled light across his face. “My daughter sent me.”

“We are leaving. Isn’t that enough?” Kennedy snapped. “Do you want your water back?”

“You misunderstand. I have a truck. I could get you somewhere…” He gestured toward the direction of the high camp. “Not everyone in the community is happy with the choice that was made. Some are angry about the vote.”

Eying him, Kennedy asked, “Have you changed your mind?”

“Never. My daughter is alive. My people have lost children to first change almost every year. There was a time Old Joe could save them. It’s why we brought her with us to the council and joined their first change ceremony. Without you, I would have been burying the light of my heart.”

Kennedy turned toward Terry. “I don’t know what to do.”

He lifted a scratched and bruised hand and signed. “Trust.” Jeremiah repeated the sign.

She stared at the man, taking in how relaxed his body was, how soft his worn face was and lifted her hand to repeat the sign in acceptance. “How far is your truck?”

“Not far. I brought it as close as I could. Amana trailed you lit by my headlights. That much blood makes it easy for a skilled tracker like her.”

Turning to look for the woman amongst the trees, she saw only shadows.

“She is waiting in the truck with Tim Johnson.” He pointed to Red’s torn and battered body. “They didn’t want to see your man if he was dead.”

Kennedy lingered to claim six bullets from the forest floor as the others headed to the truck.