Page 34 of Trail to Trouble

His head throbbed.

Hannah lifted his arm and slung it over her shoulder. He leaned into her small frame and did the best he could to follow her lead.

He blinked rapidly to see if that would clear his vision. Not so much.

Between the scent of cedar and the tree roots, his sluggish feet nearly tripped over, he knew they’d reached the cover of the forest.

Hannah lifted his arm from around her shoulder, grabbed his hand, and set it on a branch.

“Hold that.”

Then she placed her hand on his chest and pushed slightly until his back touched the tree trunk.

“Are you going to be okay if I let go of you?”

Would he? Jelly filled his knees. Everything hurt like hell and he could barely see.

“Hunter, can you hear me?”

Hannah’s warm breath washed over his cheeks with her question. His cheeks. That might be the only part of him that didn’t hurt right now.

His angel’s hands gripped him at his sides.

“Can you speak?”

He closed his eyes and his head spun. He leaned it against the tree.

“God, Hunter. We have to get out of here. I don’t know where the shooter is.”

Shooter. Yes. A rush of adrenaline surged through him.

His eyes popped open. He let go of the tree and straightened his spine. Shear pain shot from head to toe.

“Yes. We need to move.”

She released him. “Okay. Which way. I don’t think we can go back the way we came, but I’m worried about Bianca. She’s at the campsite alone.”

Hannah paused and swallowed audibly. She swiped a tear from her cheek. “And, Alyssa...” she choked as she said her friend’s name.

“I know. But I didn’t hear any other shots. So, Bianca’s probably okay for now. Who in the hell would shoot at us?”

Just speaking exhausted him.

“I don’t know,” Hannah replied.

Hunter lifted his arm and placed his fingers to the side of his head. It was moist. Water or blood, he wondered as he moved his hand to the front of his eyes. Blood.

“You’re bleeding pretty badly. There and your shoulder. Your shirt is soaked with blood,” Hannah said.

He felt lightheaded.

“I have some medical supplies in my backpack,” she said as she made a move to pull it off.

“Wait, let’s move farther away from here before we worry about this. It won’t take him long to catch up to us if we stay still.”

“Him?” she questioned.

“I don’t know. Him, her, I don’t want to hang around to find out.”