Page 76 of Uncharted

“Ya got shot, ya dumb…” Movement to my left. I was on my feet and flying forward. The third man I didn’t recognize, so he must have been their other buddy. He clearly hadn’t been ready for my reaction because he barely put up any resistance as I shoved my shoulder into his chest and sent him flying back, slamming him into a tree and knocking the wind out of him.

He was tough though, and brought his knee up, forcing me to twist to avoid the blow and take it to the thigh instead. The pain was a flash, and I ignored it, slamming my forehead into his nose and hearing the thick snap and grunt of pain. I reached up, taking hold of his forehead and slammed it against the tree, grunting when something flew past me, slicing along my back.

Buzz Cut.

I twisted as the next shot came, and Buzz Cut clearly did not bear his buddies any love because the next bullet hit the third man in the arm and made him turn toward it. My eyes flashed to his thigh, moving purely on instinct and training. I grabbed hold of the knife and yanked it free.

The third man didn’t have to worry about stray bullets from his companion. I brought the knife down into the base of his neck from behind and twisted it. I kept my grip on the knife and yanked back as the next shot fired; the third man dropping to the ground, eyes seeing nothing.

“Did I get you with that first one?” I heard Buzz Cut call out to me casually. “Looked like I did.”

“Ya got me,” I called back because there was no point in pretending we didn’t have a good idea where the other was. “Got your friends, though.”

“I see that,” he said, as unbothered as I’d suspected. “Where’s your boyfriend? I know I got him.”

I glanced over and realized Reno was not where I had left him, and I cursed him for moving, but then again, that might have just saved his life. I did not have the medical knowledge to know if the shot he’d taken was going to kill him quick or slow. I was hoping for the second, because that meant saving his life after I figured out how to kill that bastard.

“Military?” he called out.

“Semper Fi,” I returned. He had the advantage because while I had an idea where he was, he knew precisely where I was, and the only thing between us was a tree barely wide enough to hide my frame.

He grunted. “Clearly not the desk-riding sort of Marine, that’s for sure. What’d you do to Lann?”

“Ponytail?”

A snort. “Yeah.”

“Neck.”

“With one arm? Damn, I thought we should just let you two go and move quicker than we planned. Should have listened to my gut; now there’s two dead and I’m going to have to figure out how to carry this shit myself.”

“Ya know, ya could always walk the fuck away and call it a day. No shame in retreating.”

“Could, but probably not the best idea.”

“Afraid what’ll happen if ya go back without the stuff?”

“Lann’s right, you’re pretty smart.”

I knew delay tactics, but I was doing the same thing. With Reno hurt, I couldn’t expect him to get clear. Although I wasn’t going to fool myself and act as though he would have gone off on his own without me. He was out of his element, but he was stubborn to the core, more loyal than he should have been, and braver than was healthy.

The only way he was going to get out of here was if I killed that man. I had no problem with that, but I didn’t know exactly how. Other than the gun he’d taken from me, I knew he had a rifle, which gave him an even greater range over me than the handgun. All I had was a knife, and as capable as I was, I hadn’t exactly mastered the art of throwing a knife over a distance with any accuracy. And even if I had felt more confident in that skill than I was, the chance of losing the only weapon I had available was too high.

There was the shotgun Ponytail had lost, but from my spot below where I’d killed him, I couldn’t see anything but his booted foot and an unmoving hand sticking up over the small ridge I’d tumbled down seconds ago. Didn’t really matter; there was no chance of me getting up there and grabbing it before I was taken out anyway. Well, and depending on the range, pistol and rifle could beat shotgun any day, so I needed to⁠—

“Fuck!” I hissed as the bark near my face exploded. The bullet missed, but the debris stung my face as the wood splintered. I grunted, holding my eye closed and feeling warmth trickling down my face.

There was a chuckle from Buzz Cut. I didn’t know if he was amused that he’d missed me, hurt me, or if he was enjoying the hunt. He was just as murderous as the other two, but as I’d predicted, he was more in control. I couldn’t outfox him while he had me in a vulnerable position. No matter how much I racked my brain for answers, nothing came to me that didn’t involve me dying.

There were seconds of silence, and I heard something moving through the brush in the direction of Ponytail’s body. I tensed, then felt my stomach twist when I heard Reno’s weak, desperate cry. “Jake? Jake? Please tell me he didn’t get you, please!”

I wanted to call back, but if I did, he might try to get to me. My silence might provoke him to come my way as well, and I couldn’t risk that. Buzz Cut was a good shot, too good. I didn’t know if he was just some random guy who had been taught how to use a gun and practiced, or if he was a former soldier himself. He had an accent, but it was so mild I couldn’t tell if it was Midwestern or somewhere in Canada.

“Jake!” came another cry, and the brush rustled again. My heart plummeted when I saw something move.

A shot rang out only a few yards from me, and the decision was made in a second as I heard something hit the ground off to my right. I rounded the tree without thinking and saw that yes, Buzz Cut had come within fifteen feet of me. That settled the matter; his expertise had come from practice and experience, not from formal training. Anyone with real training would know the safest distance between a shooter and a non-shooter was around twenty-one feet, and he was a couple of yards short of that.

He spun, and I saw his eyes widen as he brought the gun around, but I was already on him. My good arm came up, smacked his gun arm away and slammed into him. I stepped wrong as I hit him, almost sprawling but keeping my footing and ducking when he lashed out with the butt of the gun.