Page 46 of Savage Hunter

Only I don’t have my guns on me.

Ten

Avery

Something startles me awake. A grunt? A bear? It sounded animalistic. My eyes spring open and all I see for the next several seconds is pitch black. I blink several times and yeah… cue instant panic. The last thing I remember was writing a few lines of poetry on my phone and now it’s nighttime. It’s not the dark that scares me, but whatever has the hair on the back of my neck shooting straight up.

In the near distance, I think I see shadows move but I can’t tell for sure.

Above the moon fights back the clouds of an impending storm. Flashes of lightning skip across the horizon. It won’t be long before the storm arrives.

I sit quietly and try to make out my surroundings. Fallen leaves tumble over freshly tilled dirt. Branches creak and groan as the wind forces its way through the dense foliage high above.

For several long minutes, it’s nothing but crickets and the occasional owl and my heavy breathing.

“It’s nothing, You are just a freak show that jumps at anything. Get a grip.”

And then I see him. Or it. I squint but I might as well be looking through a camera with the lens cover still on it. The shape is large and moving quickly and darker than the night surrounding it.

For a while longer the full moon fights the darkness, but the trees are so dense that all I can do is make out moving lumps of black. One, two…a third is farther to the left and looks to be moving down the hill toward the Savage compound. The one closest to me is moving pretty quickly and doesn’t seem to have any problem seeing in the dark with how it weaves through the trees and jumps over roots.

I knew I should have gone back to the compound. But no. I wanted to be brave and stick it out in this stupid hammock until everyone was asleep. All so I could avoid Wolfe and the uncomfortable conversation he’s waiting to have.

And now I’m going to get killed.

A twig snaps behind me and I nearly fall out of the hammock trying to turn around and see what versions of my nightmares are sneaking up on me.

With no real concern for how gravity and hammocks work, I sway, grip the sides and try not to eat dirt.

Despite the cool evening, I feel my palms turn sweaty. That’s no big deal, but the shaky knees are hard to deal with when I’m trying to get out of this death contraption.

Feeling like a sitting duck I move to jump out of the hammock and find cover when my eyes land on more shadowed movement amongst the low-hanging branches of nearby pine trees. Instead of coming up from behind me, who or whatever it is, sticks to the tree line deadhead.

It’s the shift of darkness through the intermittent shafts of moonlight that draw my eye. Instant nausea churns in my stomach. Pale light flickers and breaks when an enormous form passes through the beams.

And then there’s nothing. Like I’m dreaming and whatever I am seeing is nothing more than the dark playing tricks on me.

I forget to breathe or move. I don’t know why. It’s not like whatever it is out there is a Tyrannosaurus Rex and can’t see me if I sit still.

Get your shit together, Harmonia!

What would Rage do?

That is easy, he’d pull out his guns and start popping off bullets. No questions asked. If you're a Savage, you announce yourself. Or risk getting a bullet. It’s an unspoken rule.

But I’m not Rage, and I don’t have his firepower on hand. Sometimes I really wish I could be as badass as Nova or Lilith. Those two walk through their lives with confidence I wish I could muster.

I mentally run through all the self defense lessons Rage forced me to take. Every Saturday like clockwork we were in the compound's gym going over right hooks and uppercuts. Weapons day is more my style, though. I never thought I would like the feel of a gun in my hand. But knowing I have something between me and the other guy is…nice.

Like a scroll of newspapers through my brain, I flick through the lessons until I land on the one I’m looking for. I spend way too much time at the library, but the mental visual works.

Get low, stay quiet and get away as soon as possiblewas his first lesson.

If you can get out of harm’s way, do so. That’s your first choice.

I scan the darkness for the quickest route off the hill but it’s all too exposed. I move or make a sound and I will draw attention.

The smell of something metallic hits me first and then the force of his strength reaches me and takes the panic from holy shit level to a manageable level with a single intake of air.

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