Derek bent down to examine the body, then was forced to close his eyes for several seconds as his guts cramped up.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine” he lied. His meds were wearing off fast and his head was swimming from the pain and exertion, but he needed to focus. They couldn’t give up, especially not now.
Derek didn’t often care to indulge in false hope, but the reality was they’d found Ezekiel Lesterfield’s body and the cause of his death was somewhat unexpected.
At first he thought perhaps Julia’s shot had hit home and the man had simply collapsed. But a cursory examination proved that to be untrue. There was a gaping knife wound in Ezekiel’s chest. Someone had stuck a blade in him. Pretty darn deep, too, by the look of things.
“Think Arthur did this?” Julia asked, holding her light steady over the body.
“Doubt it. This isn’t something you get up and run away from. Pretty sure whoever did this not only punctured one of his lungs, but outright shredded it. No way was he sprinting through the woods after that. Also, look at his face.”
“You’re right. He was an ugly bastard.”
“Not that. Look at this bruising. Something hit him in the jaw. Can’t tell for certain in these conditions, but I’d be willing to bet someone ambushed and then killed him, probably before he even realized what was going on.”
“Couldn’t happen to a nicer asshole.”
“Not arguing that one,” Derek replied. “But I’m more interested in who our avenging angel is. Shine the light over there, please.”
Julia did as asked. “I don’t see anything interesting. Trampled grass, some mud, blood splatter.”
“Exactly.” Derek dropped to one knee. He put a hand on the ground, hoping it looked like he was examining the crime scene, but in actuality it was to keep from toppling over. After a moment more, he caught his breath again. “Why is there mud splattered here? This ground is dry? And look. Tracks.”
“From who?”
“I don’t know, but whoever they are, they’re on our side, which means we need to find ... ugh.” Derek rose, staggered, then leaned against a tree to keep himself from falling.
“Fine my ass,” Julia said. “What we need to do is get back, see how Arthur is, and have that friend of yours pump you full of whatever it was that was keeping you on your feet.”
“I’m...”
“Oh, shut up.” She took his rifle from him without much protest, then offered her shoulder for him to lean on.
“I’m okay, really, Julia. I can...”
“You can make it, I know. But I’m making sure you can. Because if you keel over, I doubt I’ll be able to drag your ass all the way back.”
♦ ♦ ♦
“Hold the goddamned light steady,” Mitchell ordered.
“I’m trying. Jesus Christ, what are you doing to him?”
“Emergency tracheotomy,” the medic replied, unfolding his pen knife.
Mitchell had feared they were too late when they’d come across that bastard atop Arthur. Those fears had been confirmed when he’d found the kid wasn’t breathing and had no pulse.
From the look of things, he’d been strangled. Mitchell had hoped for the best – that Arthur’s windpipe hadn’t been completely crushed – and had immediately started CPR, having the new guy stand guard.
A few breaths were enough to tell him that Arthur’s airway was definitely obstructed. It was likely already too late for the poor kid, but Mitchell refused to give up. Unfortunately, there was no chance of opening an airway if he couldn’t see what the fuck he was doing.
“Good. Now keep it there. This is only going to take a moment.”
“Oh, God! I think I’m gonna puke.”
“Then look at a tree or something,” Mitchell snapped, trying to insert the hollowed tube into the incision he’d made.
“Okay, I’ll try.”
Mitchell forced himself to concentrate. He couldn’t afford to babysit the other man, not when he was racing against the clock here. Memories came back to him, unbidden, of another kid of similar age. His name had been Rob and he, too, hadn’t deserved what had happened to him.
It had been over quickly, his body broken beyond repair by a monster driven mad by disease. There’d been no chance to save him. Though Mitchell often kept such thoughts to himself, Rob’s death had haunted him. He’d invited the kid to help with his analysis, placing him in the very danger that had ended his life.
It was only now, working to save Arthur, that he realized he’d done almost the exact same thing again. That struck a chord deep within him and he redoubled his efforts. Once the kid’s airway was open, he’d do his damnedest to get him breathing again, even if it meant working until he collapsed.
Mitchell taped the tube into place. He bent down to start CPR again when he heard a wheezing breath. His first thought was overwhelming joy. But then he heard it again and realized it wasn’t coming from Arthur.
The flashlight beam was suddenly turned elsewhere, once more draping the medic and his patient in darkness.
“What the fuck?” Kyle asked, playing the light out into the surrounding tree line.
“Goddamn it, I told you to...”
The attack came before he could finish. Something massive launched itself from the surrounding brush between where the two men stood. Mitchell had only a moment to note the tough lumpy skin before he was backhanded away. He was knocked ass over teakettle, his head colliding with a tree trunk.
Mitchell slumped to the ground unconscious – the sound of screams following him down into the darkness until he heard no more.
♦ ♦ ♦
Danni was tracking another of the Lesterfields when she heard shouting. Then came gunfire, followed by silence. After a few more minutes, she’d spied lantern lights moving through the trees. She had a bad feeling that whoever had been fighting back had lost. But that didn’t mean they couldn’t be avenged.
She’d been closing in, trying to determine how many of the bastards were up ahead and whether she could pick them off one by one, when she’d heard the others.
First a cry of pain – short, brief, and easily missed had the forest not been dead silent. But then came the screams. Unmistakable, but also brief, as if whoever had made them had been silenced quickly.
It was that last thought that stuck with her. The gunshots up ahead, followed by the Lesterfields moving off, told a story, one with a likely unhappy ending for whoever had been their victim.
But if there was even a chance she could save someone else, she had to take it. As much as she wanted to hurt these monsters for what they’d done, she was relieved to find she didn’t want to live with herself knowing she could have saved someone and chosen vengeance instead.
She once more unslung the single-shot rifle from over her shoulder and held it out to guide her way as she turned in the direction the cries had come from. Though she wanted desperately to escape this forest, there wouldn’t be much she could do if she fell victim to one of the many traps littering the area.
As Danni moved away, she failed to notice the lantern lights she’d been tracking speeding up, as if in pursuit.