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“Hunting?” Bear repeats. He shakes his head and brings a hand up to his temple, like he has a headache. “Really sorry, man. I’ll—”
“Quiet!” Still brandishing the gun, Nic steps closer to Bear. Then, abruptly, he whirls back around toward me. Using both arms, he raises the gun. I can see his finger fumble for the trigger. At the same time, I note the blur that is Barrett rushing toward us.
It happens so fast.
Nic fires the gun, and I can hear and feel the bullet—hitting me? I guess I drop down to the ground, because that’s where I am when I see Barrett straddle Nic and wrench the gun out of his hands. He slams his hand down on N
ic’s throat and squeezes as his face twists violently.
“You fucking piece of shit!”
His body trembles and his face reddens. I think I make some sort of sound because Bear’s eyes, again, fly to mine. Once his gaze hits mine, it softens.
And that’s when it happens. That’s when Nic, who’s writhing under Barrett, reaches up and…I don’t know what. Barrett recoils, his hand at his throat, and I can see the shock on his face. Then I hear a horrible gasp. His hand and neck go red. His mouth opens. A strange sound comes out. Blood is spilling out his throat and down his chest.
Run!
I read his lips, but I don’t understand. I look from Nic to Barrett. Everything has slowed down. I feel like I’m in a movie. Or a dream.
The hollow gasping starts again. Barrett falls over, bracing himself with one palm against the ground as Nic rises, holding the gun weirdly now—weirdly meaning the wrong way…because he slams the butt of it into Barrett’s head.
Barrett sprawls out in the leaves, but wobbles up. I hear his raspy, gurgling breaths and see the blood pour from a gash along his throat. As Barrett lunges for Nic, Nic whacks Barrett with the gun again. Bear blocks him, but the impact of the gun against his shoulder sends him rolling downhill.
Nic turns my way. “Put your head down, Gwen! Eyes on the ground!” His face tightens as he moves toward me. “EYES ON THE GROUND!”
I do, for a split second. And then I notice: Barrett isn’t moving. He’s lying on his side in the leaves. Abject terror tumbles through me.
My brain kicks into motion. I go for Nic with a hand move Bear taught me, striking at his jugular. Nic staggers. I kick him in the stomach. He falls. He rolls downhill, not stopping until he’s lying right beside Bear.
I wrest the gun away from Nic and knock him in the face.
I see Barrett bleeding from the corner of my eye; I can hear his awful, gasping breaths.
“What are you doing? What is wrong with you?” I’m shrieking.
Nic grabs my fucked up ankle and yanks it out from under me. I land on his lap. Barrett’s on us just a second later, tossing me aside and going for Nic’s eyes. He gouges one of them, and blood spurts. Oh my God, the sound of Barrett breathing… He is lightning with the gun. It’s in Nic’s face so fast, for a second my eyes don’t believe it.
“It was you,” Bear wheezes. The words sound hollow, breathy, but I understand them.
Nic laughs.
“You…piece of shit!”
Bear drops the gun and grabs Nic by the throat. “Why are you here…wearing my clothes…” he gasps, and I can see his body quiver, “with…my gun?”
“Hunting,” Nic sneers.
Barrett’s big hand squeezes his throat.
I realize belatedly that I should get the gun.
That’s how, when Barrett passes out, and Nic springs up, it’s me who shoots him. He takes one step toward me, and I squeeze the trigger. The gun kicks back so hard, I fall down. Nic does, too.
I scramble up: numb, deaf, and blazing with adrenaline. I look down at Nic’s maimed torso, at all the blood.
He’s dead, I think. I think I killed him!
I’m sobbing as I drop down in the leaves by Barrett. His eyes flutter open. They’re wide at first, and blinking blindly, like a fish; but then they focus on my face. His mouth moves. Blood spills from his lips. His eyes squeeze shut, and I see tears drip from the corners.
