Page 95 of Ruger's Rage
A rustic cabin sits twenty yards away, dark and silent.
Beyond it, through the trees, I can make out lights in the valley below—the compound, partly obscured by smoke.
"Get inside," Sarah orders, pushing us toward the cabin. "I'll secure the tunnel."
We're halfway across the clearing when a shot rings out from the tunnel entrance.
Sarah cries out, stumbling forward.
"Sarah!" I turn back, seeing her clutch her side, blood already seeping between her fingers.
"Go!" she shouts, raising her gun and firing back into the tunnel. "Get to the cabin!"
Ellie grabs my arm, dragging me toward the cabin door. "She's right. We need cover!"
"We can't leave her!" I protest.
"I've got her," Kinsey says, already running back to help Sarah. "Get the door open!"
Ellie fumbles with another key as I watch Kinsey reach Sarah, looping an arm around her waist for support.
They stagger toward us as more shots ring out from the tunnel.
Wrenleigh and Sadie Jo are shaking like scared dogs, and the second we get this door open, I’m shoving them inside.
Nothing is going to happen to these girls, not on my watch.
Men emerge from the opening—three of them, guns raised.
Marco isn't among them, but I recognize one as the man who came to the bar asking about "Elizabeth."
Ellie finally gets the door open, pushing the girls and me through. "Inside!"
The cabin interior is basic but well-maintained—a main room with a kitchenette, doors leading to what I assume are bedrooms, and a large bay window overlooks the valley below.
Kinsey helps Sarah inside, lowering her to a couch as Ellie secures the door.
Blood has soaked through Sarah's shirt, her face pale but she seems okay, kind of, but who am I kidding? I’m not a damn doctor.
"First aid kit," she gasps, pointing to a cabinet. "Under the sink."
I retrieve it, hands shaking as I open the plastic case. "What do I do? I don't know how to?—"
"Pressure first," Sarah instructs through gritted teeth. "Clean towel."
Kinsey finds one in the bathroom, returning to press it against Sarah's wound.
The white fabric turns crimson almost immediately.
"They know we're here," Ellie says, moving to the windows to check the perimeter. "And there's only one way in or out of this cabin."
"Not quite," Sarah manages, grimacing with pain. "Basement has an emergency exit. Leads to a ravine on the east side."
"Of course it does," I mutter, helping Kinsey bandage Sarah's side.
The wound is a through-and-through gunshot to her lower abdomen, bleeding heavily but seemingly having missed vital organs.
"Will you be able to move?" Kinsey asks her.
