Disaster Strikes
Back by the driveway, Elliott was watching Sam rather closely as they covered the only reliable exit to the property. The cowboy was a tricky son-of-a-bitch, and they'd had a run in before, several months ago, when he was bad-mouthing Cadence after the last hunt they had been on together. Elliott hadn't been a fan of Cadence himself at the time, but no one should ever talk to a lady the way that Sam had spoken to Cadence.
Meagan had stepped a bit in front of them, clearly trying to see if Cadence was in position yet. "I can't see anything," she mumbled.
"The best spot is right over here," Sam said, taking a few steps to his right and stepping behind some trees.
Meagan and Elliott exchanged confused glances, clearly wondering how stepping behind trees could improve a view. Elliott had just turned back to face Sam, Cadence's voice coming across both in the IAC and in the distance, when a flash of light caught his attention, and he realized a split second too late that Sam was firing at them. He felt a sharp sting in his shoulder and heard Meagan scream, as Sam's second bullet ripped into her upper thigh. He knew immediately that bullet had to be titanium; it hadn't bounced, and the blood was gushing from her leg. A panicked expression on her face, Meagan turned and began to run toward the trees, making a perfect target with her back to the assailant.
Elliott lunged between the Hunters, completely helpless between the running victim and the vengeful renegade, his shoulder bleeding profusely. "Sam, come on man--what are you doing? You don’t want to shoot her again. Put the gun down!" he pleaded.
Cowboy Sam raised his gun once more, pointed it directly at Elliott's head. "Told you, you hadn't seen the last of me," Sam remarked emotionlessly as he pulled the trigger. He watched as Elliott slumped to the ground and casually stepped over his body in pursuit of Meagan.
He did not see her anywhere, though the sound of her whimpering let him know she was nearby. However, hearing the sounds of chaos around him, Sam realized that everything wasn't going as planned. He had heard Cadence's scream of "Ambush," just as he fired his first shots and knew, if she was on to them, she was not going to go down easily. Rather than take his chance at being caught, he decided to leave the bleeding girl in the trees, hoping she would bleed to death before she was found, and set off on foot for the motorcycle he had hidden in the brush nearby the night before.
Christian saw Finn ducking into a pile of brush at the same moment Cadence screamed. Whatever it was he was reaching for, Finn didn't get to it. But it didn't matter; Christian and Hannah were both Guardians. Normal bullets--the two they had handed him only a few moments ago--would do. Christian took the first one in the bicep, pulling his own gun, even though it would do nothing against the Hunter. He didn't have a chance to fire, however. He saw Finn aiming at Hannah, and despite the pain, he threw himself in front of her, using his own body to shield hers, and, luckily, the second shot flew over their heads as they hit the ground.
Finn looked around nervously, clearly aware that he had a choice. He could go after the weapon he had stashed in the woods and finish them off or attempt to make an escape. He had no way of knowing whether or not the other renegades were successful, but from the sounds of the shouting on the field, at least some of them had failed. He could have company any minute now. Rather than attempting to grab the titanium-loaded weapon, he took off running, praying to any god that would listen that he would reach his motorcycle before Cadence Findley reached him.
Aaron realized what was happening almost at the same time as Cadence. It wasn't that he had any missing emotional response the way that she did or visual cues that Laura was up to something; it was simply a matter of addition. All of the pieces of the equation suddenly came into place, and he realized exactly why Laura had lured them out there the way she had.
He saw Cadence knock Laura to the ground, the smaller woman's gun coming free. Clearly, that hidden gun had titanium-laced bullets. It took Cadence a moment to recover from hitting her head, but once she did, she swept up the deadly weapon and took off. He knew, at the moment, she was the least of his concerns.
He checked his teammates IAC feeds as the shots continued to ring out around him. Certainly, some of his teammates were hit; but everyone's feeds were still up--save one. He took off in a sprint. "Elliott!"
Cadence caught Laura about twenty yards from where she had initially knocked her on the ground. She lunged at her, knocked her face first into the dirt, flipped her over, and punched her in the nose as hard as she could. At first, she wasn't sure if that would do any damage, but a spurt of blood and a cracking sound gave her a bit of satisfaction. "You unbelievable BITCH!" she raged, punching her again. Laura cried out in agony as Cadence punched her one last time. This time, she didn't make a sound, and Cadence was fairly certain she had knocked her out. Not willing to take any chances that she might escape, Cadence pulled a pair of handcuffs out of her belt and secured the unconscious Hunter's arm to the trunk of one of the thinner pine trees.
She realized Aaron was yelling for her, and she took off running in the direction of his voice.
When she reached the driveway, she couldn't believe her eyes. Aaron was sitting on the ground, cradling Elliott's head in his lap, attempting to stop the bleeding with his hands and failing miserably.
