Red West II.

Chapter twenty two - Consequences

Jumping over the larger stones in his way, Jin rushed alongside the edge of the high cliff, trying to focus on his own steps instead of the series of unceasing gunshots, which could be heard from below. It would not help anyone if he broke his neck up here.

Hoping that he was already far enough, he approached the terrifying border of the rocky ground and air, stopping his feet only at the last second. With fear squeezing his throat and stomach, he looked down.

Almost directly under his position, both Jane and Kame crouched behind some natural pile of rocks, which got trapped between the roots and branches of a few dead bushes at the non-existing path. They managed to get higher than he had expected, but their pursuers did as well; the bullets of five guards kept showering the nearby surroundings of their poor hideout.

Jin pulled the rifle down from his shoulder, took only a short moment to steady his breath, and aimed. Concentrating only on his targets, he switched off the menacing blaze which roared not far to his left now, the alar calls from the direction of the mine, the growing cold reaching for his fingers and trying to make them numb... None of it was important. He saw only those dark figures, which climbed up the hill after the runaways.

The young gunslinger pulled the trigger. So quickly that his fingers were only the blurs during the movement, he loaded again and fired for the second time, and then the third time. One after another he hit three gunmen, not caring anymore about where the bullets ended up, before the rest of the guards hastily retreated several yards back down, with yells and swearing, which reached even above the top of the cliff.

The cornered pair of their rescue team turned their heads up, and their eyes spotted Jin's figure high above them. He couldn't see their expressions in the play of night shadows and orange fiery light, still they were quite far for that, but Jin didn't even want to; it might have shaken his determination. He managed to think out only one way to get them out of the campsite and that required a rope and horse, so he had to leave them for a while...

With deadly accuracy, Jin sent three more bullets toward the pursuers, who dared to stick their heads out from behind some rocks. Then he checked that the brunette and his lover were still paying attention to him. Hastily, he pulled the scarf off his neck and wrapped two spare revolvers into it. Prying for a good toss and some luck, Jin threw the package down.

Kame was out of their hideout even sooner than Jin's gift finished its flight. The younger one had to slip down the cliff a little to reach it, but fortunately, when he straightened up again, the package was safely in his hands. The older one observed the space on his level as closely as was only possible under the circumstances, and then he pointed in the direction of an unusually shaped rock overhang, which he supposed they could reach. The slim figure looking up at him nodded, and Jin believed Kame understood his instruction. The younger one scrambled over the shifting stones back to Jane and together they continued the harsh climb.

With a heavy heart, Jin set off into the dark night once again, rushing across the difficult terrain as fast as he dared to, and prayed for not breaking his legs.

*

Kame already reproached himself more than once that he had ever mentioned something about luck.

The blast worked out as they had intended. It hurt some guards so badly they couldn't continue chasing them and it held the rest of them back for a while. The problem was that it triggered an awful avalanche of stones, which separated him and Jane from Ryo and Jack. While the Riders could hopefully run off to the forest, the way for the other two was closed.

Kame and Jane, now out of bullets, which they used up on the dynamite, found themselves trapped between the fire, the mountain of stones and a few of the guards, who gathered themselves and set off behind them with bigger resolution. The only escape Kame could figure out was a way up alongside the unstable rocky hill, hoping to find a path to the top of it.