Trisha fought the urge to be sick as she assessed both men, determined they were certainly dead and that she’d killed them. She pushed and wiggled her upper body back inside the small cave, still gripping the handgun painfully with her fingers. She stared at it and then dropped it as tears blinded her. The reality of what she’d done slammed home hard.

The shock she experienced left her feeling icy cold inside. When she’d become a doctor she’d sworn to save lives but she’d just taken two. It was self-defense! her mind screamed. Self-defense. I had no choice. None.

She forced a few calming breaths through her lips and remembered Bill. What he’d threatened to do to her and how he’d hit her wasn’t something she’d ever forget. Those men were part of Bill’s group and they would have done bad things to her too.

She remembered how all three of those men had only kept her alive to tend to their injured friend. She had no doubt the men she’d shot would have killed her just the way they’d killed Bart. She forced herself to breathe deeply, calmly, and finally regained some control of her shaky emotions. She wanted to cry but Slade’s words came back to her from when they’d heard the gunshots after leaving Bart at the crash site.

“Survive first and then grieve,” she whispered aloud.

Trisha wanted Slade with her so bad it became an ache that painfully wouldn’t subside. She would be safe with him. She knew he’d hold her and say something to make her feel better, distract her from the anguish she suffered. She hoped he was on his way to her instead of more of those men.

She glanced at the handgun she’d dropped and pulled her emotions together. Slade would order her to survive and she’d promised him she would do anything, suffer anything, to stay alive until he could rescue her. He wouldn’t want her feeling sorry for herself. He’d expect her to use her head.

Chapter Ten

“Calm down and think,” Trisha muttered aloud. “Great, I’m going to be one of those people who talk to themselves all the time when this is all over.”

She crawled to the backpack to reload the gun. There was a box full of bullets that Slade had salvaged from the camp. She crawled back to the opening on her stomach and gripped the binoculars to study the area in a grid pattern, searching for any movement. She stayed low. Both rifles were at her side and the handgun was placed inches from her hand along with the box of bullets in case she needed them.

Movement caught her attention to her right. She didn’t know the distance but it wasn’t too far. She spotted three men and then a fourth as they marched through the thick trees. They were dressed in camouflage green, similar in style to the men she’d just killed, and worse, they headed directly toward her.

Three of them had long guns in their arms or resting on their shoulders. One of them had holsters at his h*ps and on his chest to hold handguns. Crap. They were heavily armed. It scared Trisha badly. They weren’t going to be happy when they found their dead friends.

She scanned the area, looking for Slade, but didn’t spot him. Ten minutes later she spied more movement. She stared at the two advancing figures and hope soared. Neither man was Slade though. One of the men had reddish hair while the other one had jet-black but they were dressed in all black clothing and moved quickly.

Slade had told her that his people would come and she prayed they were New Species. They had to be Slade’s men or she was in deep, horrible crap and knew it. Trisha turned her binoculars back toward the area where the four men were.

They had made good progress since she found them a lot closer than they had been. She turned the binoculars back to the two swiftly moving males in all-black gear. It appeared they were headed right for the four hunters. She bit her lip as she tried to estimate if the two possible New Species would reach the four before they made it to where she hid. The chances were good.

The four men coming her way were definitely going to be able to find her. The two dead bodies sprawled on the ground below her were a good indication of where she hid. She softly cursed and prayed that the New Species would reach her first.

Trisha settled flat, hugged the ground tighter, and shifted her binoculars to watch the progress of both oncoming groups. She prayed the two New Species—if they were New Species—were aware of the four-man hunting party and prayed they’d pick up the scent of those men. They would unless they were upwind.

She really wished that thought hadn’t come to her. If those two men were New Species trying to save her and Slade, the last thing she wanted was to watch them be surprised by the hunting party. They didn’t appear as well armed as their opponents.

The tension inside Trisha rose so high her hands hurt from gripping the binoculars while she watched them draw closer. They weren’t moving nearly as fast as the two who she gradually became certain were New Species. She could now make out their shoulder-length hair and their uniforms seemed right, although they were too far away still to make out the NSO patches if they sported them over their chests.

The four hunters had nearly reached the dead men below Trisha and she knew she’d lose sight of them soon. She wasn’t about to inch out farther where she could look straight down. They’d be able to glance up and find her too easily. She also didn’t want to give them a target to shoot at or give away her exact location.

The two New Species slowed, not jogging anymore. They stalked slowly toward the hunters, obviously aware of their presence by their cautious behavior. Relief swamped Trisha as she watched the New Species duo make hand signals to each other before they separated. One of them sneaked up behind the hunters while the other one moved to attack from the side.