Andrew looked through the scope of his rifle at a beautiful, six-point buck walking out from behind a thicket of brush.
"That's it," he whispered. "Just two more steps…"
His crosshairs were almost behind the deer's shoulder. Andrew rested his finger on the trigger. The adrenaline pumped through his veins, and his breaths were short.
"That's it… Just one more step…"
He heard his phone vibrate on the seat of the deer stand. He looked down and saw a message from Charles appear on the screen. Glancing at it for only a second, he quickly placed his rifle down and picked up the phone. Unlocking it, he read the message carefully to ensure he was not mistaken.
Charles: "It's begun. They are after us. I'm taking her to the gate."
Andrew called Charles immediately. After several rings, it went straight to his voicemail. He quickly typed out a text and sent it to him.
Slinging his rifle over his shoulder, Andrew climbed out of his deer stand. Reaching the ground, he ran over to a red four-wheeler parked about fifty feet away. He hopped on, cranked it up, and took off like lightning through the woods.
"Calm down," he told himself. "He knows what to do. He knows what to do."
Charles held tightly to Virginia's hand as he led her deep into the heart of the woods. They brushed past tree branches and plowed through tall weeds and thorns. The farther they ran, the more downhill they seemed to go.
Following in hot pursuit not too far behind them was Aniatha, Dark Cry, and the other two dressed in dark. The princess took her pistol and aimed it in Charles and Virginia's direction. She quickly pulled the trigger, firing three shots as she ran.
The bullets hissed right past Virginia's head. She looked over her shoulder and saw the four assailants on their heels not more than fifty feet behind them. Her heart began to race heavily inside of her.
She turned her head back around. This can't be happening!
"Run faster!" cried Charles.
Squeezing Virginia's hand tighter, he pulled her quickly this way and that through the trails of the woods.
They came to a steep decline on a hillside, trailing down a good eighty feet. Virginia wanted to stop, but Charles would not let her. Slowing down just enough to get some balance, he led her down the hillside. Running and sliding, they reached the bottom, but their pursuers remained at the top of the hill. Squatting down, they aimed at Charles and Virginia.
Virginia was led across a small brook at the bottom of the hill, and then, without stopping, she was escorted up the side of another hill that ascended the same distance as the one they had just come down. Before beginning their incline, Charles ran behind a big oak tree at the skirt of the hillside. Propped up behind the large tree was a lever-action rifle. Letting go of Virginia's hand, he grabbed the gun with both hands and squatted behind the tree.
"Keep going!" he ordered.
Virginia was still trying to digest all of what was happening. "But what about—"
"Just do it!"
Charles racked a bullet into the chamber and looked through the scope at the four assailants stationed at the top of the hill.
Virginia did not know what to do. She knew Charles was there to help her, but she felt it wrong to leave him. In the fog of the moment, she heard gunshots firing in the distance. A piece of bark blew off from the side of the oak tree above Charles's head.
Charles turned around and saw that Virginia had not moved. "Go! Now! You're no good to us dead."
With that, he turned back and fired a responsive shot at the assassins on the hill.
"What are you talking a—"
BAM!
Charles fired another shot. "I said run!"
Without another question, she ran up the hillside.
On the hill opposite of her sat one of their attackers hidden behind some bushes. A sinister, cunning smile stretched across his face as he spotted Virginia blazing up the side of the hill.
"Where are you going so fast?" he sneered.
He stood up from behind the bushes and focused his rifle's iron sights on Virginia's back.