Page 72 of Fastlander Fallen

“Straight inside, don’t come out here!” Ace roared, but she couldn’t see him. The smoke thickened around her, and she couldn’t see. “Keep going!”

The air thinned just in time for her to see the stairs.

Owen’s blue eyes looked panicked. “She’s hurt bad.”

“Hallie?”

“Yeah.”

“Why is Captain fighting Gunner?” she yelled as she bolted past.

Owen followed her inside. “Captain isn’t here yet. That’s Lucia Novak trying to keep him off Hallie.”

“Keep him off…” She caught sight of Hallie on the floor of the bedroom. “Oh my God.”

She was a mangled mess, laying on her back, panting for breath, empty eyes staring at the ceiling. “What the fuck happened?” she screamed as she slid to her knees beside her cousin.

“I don’t know!” Owen roared, panicked. “I’m fucking bleeding out.”

She pulled her shirt off herself and pressed it to Hallie’s ribs. That seemed to be where she was bleeding from the most. She turned and looked at Owen, and yep, he was painted crimson. “I tried to stop it,” he uttered shakily.

“What do I do?” she yelled.

“You keep her alive and give the bear a chance to take her!” A roar rattled the house, and Owen disappeared from the doorway. The slamming of the front door shook the trailer.

“Hey, Hallie,” she said gently, angling her cousin’s face toward her. “Hey baby, where’s the first aid?”

Her breath came in quick pants. “Kit-kit-kit…”

“Kitchen?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, baby, we gotta give the bear time.” Like she knew what the fuck she was talking about! “I need you to hold this here. Pressure. I’ll be back in fifteen seconds. Want to count with me?”

Hallie nodded. “I’m scared.”

“I’m here. Fifteen. Fourteen. Hold it tight!” She jumped up and bolted for the kitchen.

Her heart shattered when she heard Hallie’s frail, “Thirteen, twe-twe-twelve.”

She was going to kill Gunner!

She opened the cupboards in a rush. Where did they keep the damn first aid?! She had been a Girl Scout up until sophomore year in college. She needed that clotting powder to get the bleeding slowed!

“Ten!” she called. “Hallie, count with me!”

Frantically, she yanked more cupboards open, then knelt and looked under the sink. There. It didn’t look like a normal first-aid kit. It was a huge plastic container that took up most of the underneath of the sink, but she could see the outline of gauze through the clear plastic. Yep.

She pulled it out and bolted for the bedroom, slid it right beside Hallie, and prayed whoever stocked this had packed BleedStop. Yep, there it was. Hell yeah.

“Good girl,” she said to Hallie, ripping into the BleedStop package. She yanked the shirt off her injuries. God, they were so bad. Fuck Gunner. He loved her? Really? Then why had he done this!

Something hit the side of the house hard, and she had to fall forward on locked arms to avoid falling on Hallie. She spilled some of the BleedStop. “It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay,” she chanted, but it was mostly for herself.

She packed the wounds with it. There seemed to be one bad claw mark, and several puncture wounds. Clearly a bear attack.

“I think I need help,” Owen said from behind her.

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