She fired.
The rifle's report echoed through the cabin, impossibly loud. Through the scope, she saw the leader jerk backward, blood spraying from his shoulder. It was not a kill shot, but enough to incapacitate him temporarily.
Immediately, chaos erupted. The other men dove for cover, shouting to each other, trying to determine where the shot had come from. Two returned fire blindly, bullets splintering the cabin's exterior.
Lily didn't wait to see more. She scrambled down the ladder, rifle clutched tightly, and sprinted for the back door. If she could make it to the tree line before they surrounded the cabin completely…
She burst onto the back porch, heart pounding, adrenaline surging through her veins. Twenty yards to the trees. Fifteen. Ten.
"There!" a voice shouted behind her. "The girl!"
A bullet whizzed past her ear, so close she felt the displaced air. Another struck the ground at her feet, throwing up dirt and pine needles.
She didn't look back. Couldn't afford to. Every ounce of her focus was on reaching the relative safety of the forest.
Five yards. Two. One.
She plunged into the trees, the dense foliage providing immediate cover. But she didn't stop. Couldn't stop. They would be right behind her.
Keep moving. Away from the cabin. Away from the road where Blade will arrive.
She crashed through underbrush, branches whipping her face, roots threatening to trip her with every step. Behind her, she could hear pursuit, men crashing through the forest with less care for stealth than speed.
Her lungs burned. Her injured ankle, so recently healed, throbbed with renewed pain. But fear and determination pushed her forward, deeper into the wilderness.
Just need to lose them,she thought desperately.Just need to circle around, try to intercept Blade before he reaches the cabin.
A shout from behind her was much closer than expected. They were gaining on her position.
She veered sharply left, hoping to throw them off. The ground sloped downward, becoming steeper. Her foot caught on a root and she pitched forward, tumbling down the incline in a tangle of limbs and rifle.
She landed hard in a shallow ravine, the breath knocked from her lungs. Pain lanced through her side. Her ribs were either broken or bruised. For a moment, she lay there, gasping, fighting to regain her breath.
Get up. Get up NOW.
Footsteps crashed through the forest above her. Voices called to each other, coordinating the search.
With a groan, Lily dragged herself to her feet. The rifle was gone, lost somewhere in her fall. But she still had the Glock.
She drew the handgun, checking that a round was chambered, then looked around desperately for some kind of shelter or hiding place.
The ravine extended in both directions, carved by what was now just a trickle of water but had once been a more substantial stream. She chose a direction at random and began to move, staying low, using the ravine's walls for cover.
The voices behind her faded slightly. Not gone, but not immediately on top of her either. She'd bought herself a little time.
Think, Lily. Think.
She needed to get back to the road somehow. Needed to warn Blade. But she didn't know these woods, and had no idea which direction would lead her back to civilization.
As if in answer to her unspoken dilemma, the distant rumble of an engine reached her ears. A vehicle on the road, and close.
Blade.
She scrambled up the ravine's wall, using roots and rocks as handholds. At the top, she paused, listening intently. The engine sound was louder now, definitely approaching along the main road to the cabin.
But which direction was the road?
She closed her eyes, trying to orient herself. The cabin had been to the north. The ravine had taken her... east? Maybe southeast? Which would put the road…
