I avoid the next reckless punch by ducking down low. My fist darts out and hits him square in the stomach. He grunts and stumbles back, dazed.
I immediately go on the offensive. Seizing a rock in my grip, I take one step forward and smash it into his face.
Blondie’s eyes roll back in his head.
Before he can recover, I cock back and bring the rock down again.
I hear the crunch of his nose breaking beneath the stone in my hand. His legs give way. He lands on his knees in front of me.
His eyes are cloudy with pain, but I can still see the fear there.
I grab his head. His muscles tense, but he’s too hurt to do much more than scrabble at me uselessly with his remaining good hand.
He whispers, “Dios, no…”
“You picked the wrong man to mess with,” I say.
Then I twist hard and hear the snap of his neck. He crumples to the dirt, lifeless.
I look between the two bodies at my feet.
I can’t just leave them here.
But first, I have one more loose end to tie up.
So I pick up their guns and head back to the mountain edge that slopes into the ravine. When I return, Scarface is the only one left in the clearing. He’s still breathing somehow, so I put a bullet in his skull.
Then I follow the trail of blood that the leader has left in his wake.
It takes me ten minutes to find him limping through the hilly forest in an attempt to escape me.
By this point, I’m really fucking irritated.
He doesn’t see me until I fire a warning shot at the tree he’s leaning against. At which point he jumps and then falls to the ground just like his sniveling, cowardly companions.
I walk over to him. He’s trying to crawl away from me, one bloody, dirt-stained inch at a time.
“Please,” he says. “Please…”
I shake my head at him. “This is the big leagues, my friend,” I say harshly. “Did you really think you’d get to walk away from this with your life?”
“I… I didn’t know who you were.”
“Stupidity isn’t an excuse.”
“I have a family,” he says.
I don’t know if he’s lying or not, but honestly, it doesn’t matter either way. It won’t change the outcome.
“I have a family, too,” I nod, pointing the gun at his face. “This is for them.”
I shoot once.
When the sound of the gunshot has faded away, I check his pulse to make sure he’s dead.
Then I hoist him over my shoulder and walk back to the spot where Scarface’s body is lying in the mud.
First, I heave the leader off my shoulder and into the ravine below. His body splashes into the ravine. The water swallows him whole.
I dispose of Scarface the same way, before I go back to where the remaining two bodies are lying. There’s already a couple of carrion birds sniffing around, but they fly off the moment I appear.
I carry Blondie back to the ravine first and then I go back for Yellow Teeth.
Once all their bodies have been devoured by the river, I clean off their guns, retrieve my hunting rifle, and take a moment to look down at my clothes.
I’m covered in splatters of blood and there are several stains clinging to my t-shirt.
Feeling a murky sense of despair weigh down on my chest, I head back to the cabin. It takes me several more minutes before I realize why I’m feeling so strange.
The peace and serenity of our mountain hideaway has been shattered completely.
The violence of my world has reached me at last.
It forces me to confront the truth I’ve been avoiding since we’ve been up here:
There is no way to run from this.
67
Artem
When I finally get back to the cabin, the sun is going down. I see no signs that anyone has been sniffing around.
I head to the small shed around the back of the cabin and stash the extra guns out of sight before walking back around to the front.
As I pass by, I catch a glimpse of Esme through the side window. She’s in the kitchen making dinner, and she’s humming under her breath.
I can’t see her bump, but I know by the slope of her arm that she’s caressing it with her free hand.
Then she twirls away from the stove with the ladle in her hand, before raising it to her lips and using it as a microphone.
After the evening I’ve had, the sight of her puts a smile on my face. All I can do is stand and stare at her, relishing the feel of being close to her.
She will be shattered when she learns what has just happened.
And I know it’s going to destroy her peace of mind.
I don’t want her hurt. In any way.
I decide right then to lie.
As though she senses my presence, she looks up and catches sight of me outside the cabin. A huge smile spreads across her face, bathing her in brightness that only enhances her natural beauty.
And then her smile fades into a frown.
Her eyes squint at me as though she’s trying to figure something out.
She darts away from the window and appears at the front door, before running down the stairs towards me. She stops short when she sees the state that I’m in and I see the devastation and panic in her eyes.
“Oh, my God,” she breathes. “Oh, my God… Artem…”
“It’s not what you think,” I say hurriedly, before I can think things through.
She freezes. “What?”
I can’t tell her the truth.
I can’t bear to destroy the happiness that’s radiated from her ever since we arrived in these mountains.
I say the first excuse that pops into my head. “It was a deer.”
“A deer?” she repeats incredulously.
I nod and force a smile onto my face. “It’s the craziest story, but… this is just deer blood,” I say. “I’m fine.”
She stares at me for a long moment.
For a second, I think she’s going to call my bluff. Demand to know
