Deep Woods

I crept back to Bethany and hugged her tight. Then I gently examined her injured hand. There was a lot of bruising and it looked like one of the fingers was broken, but she’d heal with treatment. I got out the first aid kit and strapped the broken finger to the one next to it. Then I took her face in my hands and just looked at her.

The sun was just sinking below the horizon and the last rays painted her black hair with amber and gold. Those big brown eyes looked up at me, still wet with tears but lit up with such steely determination. I couldn’t imagine how much pain she must have been in. She was the bravest person I’d ever met. I bent down and kissed her. It was only supposed to be a quick kiss: we didn’t have time for anything else. But as soon as my lips met hers, I was lost and I had to force myself to stop.

As the sun disappeared and the moon rose, I led her forward. The bastard who’d trodden on her hand had been in a group of three and the other two were still ahead of us.

We crept closer, Bethany moving as silently as I did. The other two had realized they’d lost their buddy and were calling for him. I raised my rifle and shot the first in the leg, the second in the arm. Given what they were involved in, I wouldn’t have had much problem with shooting them right through the heart. But wounding them would tie up more men to help them limp back to the helicopter. I grabbed their rifles, threw one far off into the bushes, and gave the other one to Bethany.

Now there was no one in front of us. But watching through the trees, I saw another group of three behind us. Dammit. Beyond that, there was nothing: everyone else was either way behind or had spread off to the sides. There was an opening to escape, but we had to deal with these three first.

The moon went behind a cloud and I heard the hunters cursing as they peered into the blackness. Maybe they’ll go a different way. I flattened myself against a tree and pulled Bethany hard against me, and we waited.

A river lay to the east of us. I heard the hunters wander that way and my hopes rose, but then they turned and headed back towards us. The sound of the river muffled their footsteps and I wasn’t sure it was all of them, at first. Then they heard something move in the bushes and let off a flurry of shots, and I counted a rifle, a shotgun, and then the roar of an assault rifle. Three weapons. Three hunters. They were all moving straight towards us. My guts twisted. I’d have to ambush them, but this wasn’t the same as the first three, when I’d been creeping up from behind. We’d be face to face. I wasn’t sure I could take all three without them getting a shot off and in their panic, they might hit Bethany…

I thought desperately. What I had to do was get her somewhere I knew she’d be safe. The sound of the river made me look that way and an idea started to form. I knew this part of the forest and what I needed was just a few minutes away.

I led her to the river, keeping the hunters behind us. The river was only about ten feet across, but it ran along the bottom of a canyon, far too deep to climb down. And just a few hundred yards downstream, exactly where I remembered it, was a moss-covered log that formed a bridge across. It was the only way across the canyon for a few miles either way. And I knew all three hunters were behind us, on this side.

“What’s the plan?” Bethany whispered.

I hesitated. The last thing I wanted to do was lie to her. But I knew she’d never agree to it and I had to protect her.

“We’re going across there,” I said, nodding at the log. “You go first.”

She nodded and carefully sat down on the log, then inched her way across. When she was halfway, she looked back at me uncertainly.

“Go on,” I told her. “I’m right behind you.”

She nervously inched the rest of the way, then climbed off onto the opposite bank. She looked back at me in confusion. Then, when she saw me bend and pick up my end of the log, she went pale. “No!” she hissed. “What are you—”

I heaved the log around and let it fall into the river. There was an almighty splash and I heard shouts of surprise from the hunters. Bethany stared at me, horrified and scared.