Page 43 of Deadfall

I pulled the trigger. This time I did miss, unintentionally shattering the glass of the truck window behind him. Harry cringed, but he quickly recovered.

“Ah, now, don’t be like that,” Harry smiled. “Why don’t you come with me, I’ll make it up to you?”

I tried to take a breath. I needed to remember I was in control, not him.

I scoffed. “You really think that’ll work?”

Harry shrugged and smirked. “Seems like me being your first time and all, you don’t really know any better do ya?”

That stung and I scowled. “Fuck you.”

His expression darkened and he raised the rifle as I circled the truck.

“That tight pussy—I want it wrapped around my cock again. Maybe I’ll fuck you hard enough to bleed a second time and we can pretend you’re still a—”

He pulled the trigger and his gun clicked. His face went a comical shade of white and I lunged for him with a satisfied smirk. Together we crashed to the ground and rolled through the underbrush on the side of the dirt road. I collided with a tree hard enough that it knocked the breath out of me. Before I could recover, Harry straddled my chest. He punched me twice in the face and stars erupted across my vision. I tasted blood.

His hands went around my neck—

My mind blanked and panic rose in its place.

No. Absolutely not.

Cold clarity washed through me—I was not going to let him do this again. I gasped in air. His cold determined face filled my vision, and I was going to be damned if that was the last thing I saw. My hands scrambled for one of my knives. I slammed the blade into his shoulder and it was like my training clicked back into place.

The knife bought me the split-second I needed to maneuver out from under him. I kicked him away and jumped to my feet, delivering several punches of my own. He stumbled away and rubbed blood from his lip. He looked at his fingers and huffed a laugh.

“When I catch you again, I’m going to fuck that tight ass. Raw.”

I pulled two knives from my belt and let his words drag my hate forward. Shooting him would have been easier—not to mention safer—but, the dark part of me knew there were so many more reasons not to take the easy route.

“How about I promise the same?”

Harry barked out a laugh and made his move. The world slowed and I could almost see where he was going to move. I’d heard about this happening, where in times of great danger, people would say that things slowed down enough for them to process how to survive. Or maybe my training actually was paying off—either way, I slipped under his attack. I stabbed him in the stomach, and sliced the backs of his knees as I stepped away. He teetered with his back to me for a comical amount of time before he collapsed heavily onto the ground. I walked around in front of him and wrapped my hand around the knife in his stomach. I yanked it out. He groaned and slumped forward.

“You’re bleeding, Harry.”

“Fuck you—” Harry gasped.

“Hey, I have a question,” I said. “Were you really going to leave Pete behind?”

Confusion rippled across Harry’s face as he lifted it to meet my gaze, followed by the briefest trace of guilt. “Wh-where is he? Did y-you kill him?”

I shook my head. “He’s still alive, in fact, you should go find him.”

“Wh–what?”

I gestured down the game trail with my knife. “He’s just down there.”

“I–I don’t understand,” Harry stammered.

“You don’t?” I shook my head. “I mean, I’m not surprised—you’re pretty dumb. Let me make it crystal clear for you then.” I walked around behind him and leaned in close to his ear. “Run.”

I shoved him forward. He scrambled to his feet, only to collapse as his knees gave out. I knew he couldn’t run, but it was funny to watch him try. Harry half-stumbled, half-crawled toward the game trail. I leaned against the bumper of the truck and tapped the knife against my palm.

“Try harder, Harry!” I called. “Stop crying—it’s really not that bad!”

Harry made it across the road and into the overflowing underbrush at the start of the trail back to the lake. A trail of blood marked his passage and from the amount of it, I knew he’d be dead soon. I walked over to my rifle I’d lost in the scuffle. I aimed wide and pulled the trigger. Harry shrieked in surprise as the bullet thudded into the dirt near his head.