Chapter 20: Surrounded
The sound of gunfire cracked behind them like thunderclaps tearing through the air. Elisa flinched with each shot, still a stranger to such chaos, but quickly pulled herself together when Dylan took the lead, already shouldering his rifle with calm precision.
In the distance, Maggie was backing away—step by steady step—her shots keeping the envious bitches at bay. The creatures weren’t used to that kind of noise. Panic rippled through their ranks as a few dropped from her bullets, their bodies twitching on the ground.
Some began to consider fleeing, their nerve fraying at the edges. But others, enticed by the scent of the fresh corpses, deemed it worth the risk. After all, Maggie was alone. Surrounded.
But whatever fragile hope they clung to shattered in an instant.
A new sound exploded through the trees—more gunfire, but from the front this time. Clear. Precise.
And Maggie... still had her eyes on them.
Which meant—
She wasn’t alone.
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Dylan had opened fire, each bullet placed with surgical intent to carve a path through the chaos. He moved forward without glancing back, trusting Elisa to guide him through the underbrush with sharp directions murmured between clenched teeth.
Those ahead of him had already begun to fall back, skittering into the trees, unsettled by his sudden assault. All that remained was for Maggie to catch up.