Chapter 279 A Moment of Life and Death!
The third day, evening.
In the mountains, at the peak.
There were no trees here, only weathered rocks everywhere.
Ryder and Barbara arrived there exhausted!
"I can't go on anymore!"
She leaned against a rock, sitting on the ground with a pale face.
Ryder stood nearby, wiping his forehead sweat while also gasping for breath.
The wounds on his waist and thigh throbbed with pain from time to time.
It wasn't just the injuries; the humid air in the mountains, full of bacteria, had infected his wounds.
He had already started to run a fever.
Barbara looked at the weakened Ryder and asked with concern, "Are you okay?"
He shook his head and said, "I can still hold on."
"It's all my fault!"
Barbara blamed herself with reddened eyes, "I had taken the antibiotics from that person's backpack, but because of my carelessness, I lost those and the bandages last night!"
He smiled and comforted her, "There was a fight last night, and it was raining. It's a miracle we survived, so those things aren't important. Besides, if it weren't for you, I might've bled to death on the first day and gone to meet God!"
"But..." she wanted to say something, but was interrupted by him.
"The most important thing right now is not to blame ourselves but to survive! Sawyer has already surrounded us from below, so we can't go on like this! I've thought about it; when they rush up, I'll go out and hold them off. You take the mountain path on the right and run as fast as you can. Don't let them spot you!"
Barbara was stunned for a moment. "No way! If you cover for me, what about you? We either leave together or we don't."
He shook his head. "We can't escape together; Sawyer hates me to the core and will focus all his efforts on me. If you run first, they won't chase you. They're exhausted too!"
Hearing this, she was anxious and stubbornly shook her head. "I don't agree! If you stay, you'll die. Let me stay instead! I'm not worth you dying for!"
He frowned and said sternly, "Don't be stubborn right now. I told you to go first, so go first. My life is my own to decide; there's no such thing as dying for someone else! If I do die, just tell Sarah I'm sorry for her in this life, and I'll make it up to her in the next!"
Seeing his determined look, Barbara was shocked, her mouth slightly open as tears streamed down her face.
She thought of how when she returned a few days ago, the Johnsons had belittled and insulted Ryder, almost describing him as the dirtiest man in the world!
Later, in her first few encounters with him, she also found him very annoying and difficult to deal with.
But then, he didn't hesitate to jump into the river to save her, took a bullet for her, and now wanted to cover for her escape!
In these few days, eh had shown her his care and concern countless times.
Barbara understood in her heart.
He did all this not because he liked her, but simply because of his noble character!
His kindness was something ordinary people didn't possess, compared to Sandra and her stepfather abroad.
No, they didn't even deserve to be compared to Ryder!
"I'm sorry!"
Suddenly, Barbara choked out these words to Ryder!
He was surprised a bit at first, then smiled calmly. "Don't say that suddenly. Get ready to follow my orders and find a chance to escape!"
After speaking, he took out his rifle, his eyes vigilant as he looked down the slope!
Although the rifle was unusable due to moisture, it was still a weapon; better than just fists!
At this moment, Sawyer and his men had also chased up from the bottom of the mountain.
After the wild boar conflict and last night, only Sawyer and two thugs were left.
The two surviving thugs were the bowman and the man with the machete.
Both were uninjured and still in good fighting condition.
Sawyer looked disheveled as he gazed toward the mountain top.
With a sinister expression, he shouted loudly, "Ryder! Stop hiding, I know you're up there. If you're a man, come out and face me! Maybe I'll even spare your life!"
Ryder and Barbara didn't respond!
Sawyer laughed coldly, grabbing a rock from the ground and walking 32 feet toward the peak before throwing it up. He arrogantly said, "Ryder ! Do you know how much I want you dead? Do you know how much you've ruined my life? Do you know that after this, I can never live a normal life again? No! You don't know. You rich people never care about the lives of us at the bottom. So now that you're in this situation, it's not my fault; it's the punishment you deserve, so serves you right!"
Listening to Sawyer's laughter, Ryder had a feeling that Sawyer might be mentally unstable.
He signalled Barbara to get ready.
Then, he took a deep breath and darted out from behind the rock.
He charged toward Sawyer at lightning speed!
In Sawyer's incredulous gaze, Ryder reached him and smashed the rifle onto his head.
"Fuck!" Sawyer was knocked to the ground, blood flowing out from his forehead.
"Run!" Ryder quickly shouted to Barbara.
Barbara ran out from behind the rock. However, instead of running in the planned direction, she ran straight toward him.
His eyes widened in disbelief. "Are you insane?"
She shouted anxiously to him, "Watch out!"
He was stunned and quickly looked to his right.
The bowman was already aiming an arrow at him from 32 feet away!
There was no time to dodge!
The next second, the arrow flew.
In a moment of danger, Barbara suddenly stepped in front of Ryder.
The arrow struck her, and she fell heavily to the ground!
"You bastard! Die!"
In his fury, Ryder threw the rifle at the bowman.
The rifle hit the man's shoulder, making him release the bow and clutch his shoulder in pain.
"Are you okay?" Ryder was about to check on Barbara.
However, he was kicked to the ground by the man with the machete.
At this moment, Sawyer, clutching his bleeding head, viciously ordered, "Fuck! Cut off Ryder's legs! I want to see how he can run then!"
"Got it!"The man raised his machete, about to chop down on Ryder's legs!
Just as it was about to strike his legs, a loud bang rang, and a bloody hole appeared in the man's chest!
He fell straight to the ground without a word.
Everyone present was shocked, turning toto the distance.
Unbeknownst to them, three helicopters were hovering in the sky above.
They were pitch black, red flame patterns on their surfaces.
They looked down on earth like eagles!