Another figure stood outlined by the light, not as big as the bear who had tried to shoot me, but he filled up the doorway nonetheless.
The terrorist swung around, his gun following the same trajectory, a spray of bullets erupting into the air before he had fully finished turning around. The figure in the doorway ducked and rolled behind the half-wall that had formed a sort of mud room. I screamed again and ducked under the table and the poor protection it offered, looking for something, anything, that would come between the enraged bear and myself. With shots still ringing outside, I curled up, pulling my knees to my chest and covering my head with my arms.
The door was swinging back and forth, creaking wildly—a bullet had hit a hinge, and daylight seeped through the bullet holes in the metal. I could still hear rapid gunfire from outside, but it wasn’t as constant as it had been.
What was going on out there? Could I escape while the bear of a soldier was distracted by this newcomer?
The soldier in black started towards the low wall, his steps slow, his gun held at the ready. Without warning, the other man rolled from behind his cover. He held something in his hand—the fishing pole I had imagined belonged to the guide who had never shown up. He struck at the back of the bear’s knees with a swift movement.
With a cry, the big man stumbled, automatically firing his gun into the air as he did so. But for someone so big, he was fast and had flipped from his back to his side before the other man had a chance to dive onto him. The newcomer dove to the other side, just ahead of another bullet. He shot back as he dove, and the big man grunted, his hand going to his shoulder where something began to glisten wetly.
The pause was all the time the second man needed, and he was on the first, wrestling the gun from his meaty hands. They tumbled one over the other, struggling without sound save for low grunts and growls, the sound of fabric dragging across the rough floor, a shout of pain as a fist or knee connected.
I heard a cry as the first man struck the terrorist across the face and head several times. But the bear of a man managed to knock the second man with the butt of his machine gun, and his handgun skittered across the floor as he fell back. Holding his face, the man rolled out of the way before the first could get in another blow.
Suddenly free, the bear looked slightly disoriented as he came closer, stumbling to his feet and towards the table. I held my breath, pulling my legs even closer to me. But instead of coming after me, he lurched into a turn as he brought his handgun up.
But it was too late—the other soldier already had his gun aimed and ready. The sound of a single shot rang out.
There was a breathless pause when the world seemed to freeze for just a heartbeat, less than a heartbeat. Then the giant fell, his body hitting the ground with a loud thud beside the table.
I had been close to death before—dead sea animals, dying coral, a beached whale that had washed up on shore. I’d been the one to wade through the after-effects of oil and chemical spills, to see the horrible destruction of the ecological disasters. As a child, I’d been inconsolable when a dead fish washed up on the beach near my mother’s restaurant. I’d tried to throw it back into the ocean until my father had explained that it was dead and there was no way for me to help it anymore.
But I’d never seen a human die before. Even my father’s funeral had been a closed casket, my brother the one who had gone to identify and claim the body.
The man was on the ground beside me, not even a foot away. Those eyes that had been so terrifyingly cold, glittering with malice and anger, were wide with surprise and fear. Blood bubbled from his mouth and slipped down his chin to join the puddle of dark liquid spilling into an ever-widening pool beneath him.
He took several rasping breaths, his chest rising and falling in jerky motions, the sound a rattle in the back of his throat. His eyes met mine for a second without seeing me, and he seemed to mutter something, his lips moving in soundless words. Then the man in black took one more rattling breath, and the life in his eyes dimmed and disappeared. Lifeless eyes stared back at me, his mouth still slightly open in a round “o” of shock.
Dead.
The man was dead.
A scream caught in my throat, and so did the bile rising from my stomach. I clapped a hand to my mouth to keep it down, the coppery tang of blood thick in my nose and on my tongue. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his face, those eyes, the body that had a moment before been full of life but was now still in death.
Black combat boots and a pair of legs stepped beside the table, stopped, then nudged the body over. I stayed frozen, not daring to move, not daring to breathe, my hand still clapped over my mouth to keep back the vomit that threatened to spew everywhere.
Did this newcomer know I was here?
A hand joined the boots, reaching under the table to grasp my arm. I couldn’t do anything to free myself as it tugged, dragging me out from my hiding place with surprising strength.
The man I had only seen in shadow stood before me, dressed in combat fatigues, with a tactical vest strapped over his chest. He was tall enough I had to tilt my head back to look at him. Blue eyes peered at me from a clean-cut face with a sharp jawline. The soldier was rugged and handsome, tall and muscular, and tanned like he spent a lot of time out in the sun. Dirty blonde hair had been cropped close to his head in a military-style cut.
Full lips moved as I watched, and I realized he was trying to say something to me. The words were garbled and far-off like someone was trying to speak to me from inside a fishbowl. Outside of this man, the world looked blurry and indistinct, much like his words.
He repeated whatever he had said, his mouth turning down into a tight frown when I didn’t reply, but all I could do was stare. He shook his head, his eyes narrowing before he turned and yanked me after him. His hand was still wrapped around my wrist in a grip I couldn’t wriggle out of.
I went willingly, following him to the door and the light beyond, away from the dead man.
At least this one wasn’t trying to kill me, and I had no idea what else to do, where else to go. This was my only possibility for safety and rescue.
I hoped.