He snapped his head up.
That wasn’t aimed at us. No round striking anywhere near us.
He shushed her as she started trembling, and strained to hear over her breathing.
‘It’s them,’ she gulped, ‘I told you they would come.’
He raised a finger to silence her and listened carefully. He thought he heard the distant sounds of men but couldn’t be sure. The report had come from beyond his hut, but in the same direction.
He rose smoothly, caught her left hand in his, his Glock in his right.
‘Follow me,’ he whispered. ‘Don’t make a sound.’
He started back to his camp, but she tugged back.
‘They’ll be there.’ Her lip quivered, but her eyes were fierce. ‘They want me.’
‘My gear is back there. We have to get it.’
‘You don’t know them.’ A tear rolled down her face. ‘I saw what they did to Dad. They made me watch.’
I know many men like that. It’s my job to exterminate them.
‘We will be careful,’ he promised.
‘Why should I trust you?’
He regarded her for a long moment. For such a teenager, she displayed a surprising maturity. Her language, her diction, even her composure, despite what she had witnessed, was that of an adult.
‘Because they will kill me, too.’
‘Why do you have two Glocks?’
‘Later. We need to go back quickly.’
He walked fast, hastily but not recklessly. He let his chi spread out and act like a radar.
He ghosted around trees and slid through head-high bushes.
She followed without complaint, grabbing his hand tightly.
He counted the distance in his mind, alert for any shadows in the darkness. Any unusual movement.
He slowed and then came to a stop when they neared his camp, approaching the hut from the side.
He stopped behind a thicket and, using it as cover, watched.
There was a lightening in the darkness ahead of them. Probably a hundred yards away. Close to where his camp was.
The forest blocked any view, but they could hear voices. Several of them.
She threw a wide-eyed look at him. He nodded in as reassuring a manner as he could and dropped to his knees.
It was time to crawl.
They made their way slowly until they came within sighting distance of his hut.
He swallowed bitterly at the scene in front of him.
Several men were crowded in front of the house, too far away to make out their individual details. But he recognized the angular shapes in their hands.
Every one of them was armed.