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No time to dawdle.
Think.She had to…
She bit her lip and then swung back out of the car, sprinting back down the incline.
He was groaning as she reached him and began tugging at his pants.
“What the hell…” he mumbled into the dust.
She removed his pants and then used his discarded knife to cut them lengthwise.
Then, with two makeshift ropes, she used the pants to tie his arms around one of the cactuses. She slammed her foot against the needles, breaking them or indenting them to prevent them from harming him.
He spluttered and protested as she worked, moving fast.
All the while, she thought of the lawyer, bleeding out on the top of the incline.
Come on. Hurry… Hurry,her subconscious nagged at her.
Finally, she was done.
The killer was tied up, unable to move.
She glanced up at the incline one last time, her heart pounding. And then she sprinted back up the dirt path, back to the car.
The lawyer was still alive, but barely.
Rachel grabbed the rag and pressed it against the woman’s neck, applying pressure.
The lawyer groaned in response, but Rachel said, “You need to stay awake. Hear me? Stay awake! Apply pressure.”
The lawyer’s hand moved up, trembling, touching the makeshift bandage. She was coherent enough to follow instructions, at least.
Rachel breathed out a sigh of relief, but she knew they couldn’t stay there for long. They needed medical attention and fast. She quickly searched the car, finding a first aid kit and some water bottles. She poured some water onto the rag and pressed it against the lawyer’s wound, trying to clean it as best she could. The woman winced in pain but didn’t move away.
“We need to get out of here,” Rachel said, her voice urgent. “Can you sit up front?”
The lawyer shook her head weakly. “I don’t think so,” she said, her voice barely audible.
Rachel cursed under her breath. She had to think of something fast. She looked around, trying to find any signs of civilization. But they were in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but sand and cactuses as far as the eye could see.
Rachel moved back around the car, hastening to the driver’s side. She shot a final look down the incline toward where the killer was slumped by the cactus, and then she gunned the engine.
They needed to make it to the hospital before the lawyer bled out.
As they drove, Rachel could feel the woman’s life slipping away. She didn’t know if they were going to make it in time. She pushed the car as fast as it would go, her hands gripping the steering wheel tightly.
The lawyer was barely conscious, her eyes closed and her breathing shallow. Rachel kept talking to her, trying to keep her awake.
“You’re going to make it,” she said, her voice shaking. “Just hang on a little longer. We’re almost there.”
But the lawyer didn’t respond. Rachel could feel her own panic rising, but she forced it down. She had to stay focused on driving.
She hadn’t been able to save the others.
Hadn’t been able to save her parents.
More blood… An image flashed through her mind of a shattered window. Bloodstains on the glass.
