“We can’t surprise them. Might as well use brute force.”
Rachel sighed, then turned to face the others. “Right, this is the plan.”
THE ICE-COLD water wasn’t pleasant, coming up to knee-height as Daryl stepped into it. A couple of gasps sounded behind him, making him smile.
They made it halfway across before Daryl heard it—the crack of a branch on the opposite bank
—a moment before their scent hit him. “Get ready,” he hissed, preparing himself.
Nathan and Rob cursed, but Daryl saw them brace themselves out of the corner of his eye.
Seconds later, three shifters came crashing out of the trees at full pelt. Daryl had a split second to realise that the one heading towards him was Jason before Jason barrelled into him sending them both tumbling backwards. Water closed over Daryl’s head as his back hit the rocky riverbed with such force, it knocked the air from his lungs. Desperately clamping his mouth shut to not swallow any water, Daryl struggled to free himself from where Jason had him pinned. He was strong. Daryl hadn’t figured they were evenly matched going on what he’d seen of him so far, but he’d been wrong.
Jason’s hands gripped his shoulders, preventing him from reaching up. Daryl was rapidly running out of air, but if Jason wanted to put Daryl out of the game, he had to let go and press that fucking button on his vest.
The moment one of Jason’s hands moved, Daryl shot his hand up, ripped up the flap, and pressed Jason’s button at the same time as Jason pressed his. Before either of them could do it again, Daryl rolled to the side, and Jason sprang back.
With nothing pinning him any longer, Daryl leapt to his feet, gasping in lungfuls of air, as Jason sprung at him again.
But this time he was ready.
Feet placed wide apart, he absorbed the impact of Jason’s body and turned them at the last moment so that Jason lost his footing on the small rocks on the riverbed and slipped. Jason might be stronger than Daryl gave him credit for, but Daryl was heavier, and he stood his ground as Jason fell backwards into the water. As he flailed his arms for balance, Daryl grabbed for Jason’s vest, flipped up the flap covering it, and pressed the button twice in quick succession.
The piping around the outside of Jason’s vest lit up a vibrant red, and Daryl grinned.
“Bastard,” Jason grumbled as he sat up and shook some of the water from his hair. But he was smiling, so Daryl figured there were no hard feelings. His smile grew wider, and Daryl registered the presence of another shifter moments before lightning-quick hands darted around his front and pressed his button twice.
His vest lit up red, and Luke’s scent hit him.
Fuck. He should’ve been paying more attention to his surroundings instead of gloating.
Jason’s laughter was drowned out by the sounds of fighting still going on beside them. Daryl turned around in time to see Rob with his arms in the air, crowing in victory while one of Jenn’s team glowered down at his now-red vest.
Nathan had somehow moved further downstream and was struggling with Kevin Brown—one of the members Jason had told him to look out for. Their back and forth looked a little more violent than his and Jason’s tussle, but Daryl couldn’t see any evidence of shifting so he stayed put.
They were a blur of movement. Kevin caught Nathan around the neck in a choke hold, but before he had a chance to put him out of the game, Nathan wriggled free enough to smash his head back into Kevin’s face. Daryl winced as his nose broke and blood sprayed out.
As Kevin staggered back, holding his face, Nathan advanced on him.
He had his back to Daryl and Jason. And also Luke.
Nathan didn’t see his best mate advancing on him, but Rob did. Daryl let it play out, wanting to see what Rob would do. He watched as Rob hesitated—clearly deciding between helping out his teammate or standing back while his friend and fellow unit member got one over on Nathan. That second’s hesitation was all the time Luke needed to launch himself at Nathan and light him up red.
Daryl cursed under his breath. They were down two each, and now Rob was out-numbered.
Wanting to smack him upside the head for letting Nathan get caught, it pained Daryl greatly to point into the trees on the other side of the bank and yell, “Run!” at Rob. “Get to Rachel.”
Rob was off like a shot, darting between Luke and Kevin and disappearing into the trees. They sped off after him, water splashing everywhere, and Daryl sighed, wiping it from his eyes. He glanced sideways at Jason. “Figured you’d only have one person guarding this side.”
“We did.” Jason wiped water out of his face and gestured in the direction of the forest. He shrugged. “Guess it won’t hurt to tell you now.”
“Guess not.” Daryl glanced around them at the sounds of fighting coming from over near the open space.
Where Rachel and the others had gone.
“Come on, you can tell me on the way.” They might be out of the game, but Daryl wanted to know what was happening. “Nathan, you coming?”
Nathan nodded, still scowling in the direction Rob had gone.
