Six

North." instructed Nick as he steadied his compass through the jostling of his pace.

"A little right, Greene. E.Z. should be just a few miles ahead! His lungs were already yelling for oxygen and would start screaming soon.

"We won't make it if we don't slow down. Better to fight at our pace, than die at theirs." She cautioned him as the team slowed to a jog.

Nick caught up to her while adjusting trajectory toward their destination. "I hope you never get mad at me." He jested.

She shot him an unbelieving look, "Don't joke."

Gunfire erupted behind them in no specific direction. They had found the dogs and were pissed but at least they hadn't caught up. Hopefully the guards would be kept guessing for a while about what happened there. She needed all the time the confusion could buy.

"Rest." Nick heaved, "We need rest."

She slowed from her snail-like hobbling pace and looked back at him in agreement. His face was as red as she had ever seen it and sweat poured down and soaked into their camouflage uniform. No doubt she looked just as rough. They dropped against a tree and passed his canteen between them sparingly.

Nick looked over at her, "what if it really was just an act to test us? We killed those people."

"If it was a training act, then they have sick minds and terrible senses of humor." She replied between a mouthful of water and recapping the canteen. "Besides, these guns are real. Save the rest, we may need to conserve resources."

Shouting and the sound of ATVs pushed the team back to their feet and further through the trees.

"Good thing we took that break. We'll have to fight again, soon." He told her. "Ok, we're at the base. Head east."

She adjusted her direction and continued pace. Revving got progressively louder as the enemy tracked them through the rough mountain terrain and thick forestry. Soon they would be dodging bullets again.

They leaped over fallen logs continuing their escape, and adjusted course south-east at a river trying to find a shallow spot to cross. The water was as clear as glass, and ice cold. Stones littered the bank with occasional patches of tall grass spread throughout. The sound of ATV's echoed through the valley.

"Greene," nick called, "finish the water and get a purifying tablet out of my pack. I don't know where the next water source is."

She un-capped the bottle, chugged the remainder, and spun him around to open his bag. "The fuck, man? How do you find anything in here?" she yelled frustrated, and shaking, "You have no organization, nick!"

"Jesus!" he sighed furiously, "bottom right, it's the first thing I packed!" he rushed her.

"Got it," she assured him, "ill refill quick." she dunked the canteen and added the disk, shaking it.

He looked back, "ok, breaks over. Gotta move."

She was already waving for him to catch-up. A few minutes passed as the team searched the coastline, stumbling over rocks in the dark. "BOONTH-SSSSSSS!" flares lit the sky and sparks flew from rifle-fire hitting rock as two ATVs erupted from the tree-line. The vehicles were red and green camouflage and fast. They carried two passengers each, slowing their speed, but allowing the driver to focus on where they were going.

"Find cover, nick!" amber shouted spinning around to return fire.

"Real-world, Greene! No one does that shit. Move!" he grabbed her pack and yanked her to her feet.

Bullets continued raining on them, exploding against the stones.

"Gah!" flew from his lips and red sprayed across her back. Nick was down. She knew it, but still she ran.

"Fu... fuck..." he shuddered out dragging himself toward the tree-line. His, already heavy, breathing became panicked, more vocalized. His right hand clung to the hole in his side, and left elbow inched his body over the rocky shore.

Amber dove into the brush and rolled to her knees behind a tree split into a 'V'. She flipped the rifle off her shoulder, whipped it up, steadied it in the crook of the tree and squeezed the trigger. Chips of wood splintered from her tree, and the vegetation to either side of her was cut down by enemy fire.

Round after round blasted from the barrel and sent the first driver flipping off his ATV. Nick lay, unmoving, on the stones and she continued to cover him. The first gunman rolled behind the stationary vehicle and continued fire at amber.

Through the deafening series of blasts nick rolled gingerly onto his left side, he slipped a bloody finger over his trigger and fired sending an enemy's head in different directions. One more series of rifle fire finished the last two and she rushed from the trees.

"Nick!" she slid on the ground beside him. "c'mon, man, it's not that bad. You just have to not be such a wuss."

"Shut-up, Greene." he coughed, "you should have just run."

A tear rolled down the side of his face, and he clenched his teeth through obvious waves of pain.

"I'm going to die. Here. This shitty place I didn't even want to be at." he lamented. "Just... just don't lie to me, how bad is it really? I want to know."

She ripped his vest and shirts off the area to examine his wound.

"Through and through, doesn't actually seem to have hit anything important. Just have to stop the bleeding and get you to a doc. don't whine."

From her pack she flung nearly useless equipment that she thought was so important she couldn't leave without them and found her field medic kit. His hand was keeping pressure on the wound, but he knew blood was still pooling between the rocks.