Beyond the Breaking Point - Chapter 6

Chapter 6  

Finn crept along the ground, trying to make as little noise as possible. He had been hunting once or twice, he knew what the sport was all about but he still didn't enjoy it. When Finn thought about it, Zach never liked hunting either.  

Crack! Finn stepped on a branch and the sharp noise filled the air for a few seconds. Finn picked his foot up slowly, setting it down on a patch of dry dirt a few feet away. There was another thing that bothered Finn. It was the fact that he wasn't wearing orange. Nobody in his little hunting group was wearing orange. Apparently safety was not one of the biggest concerns in Gregor’s mind. Gregor was the man that had led the hunting expedition, the man’s whose friends now most likely were creeping, just like Finn was, around on the forest floor. They could be ten feet away, they could be twenty, Finn would have no way of knowing.

A bird Finn didn't recognize started flying frantically away from him. Finn could have shot the thing out of the air. Gregor had told him to shoot anything that moves; the world wouldn't miss this particular bird anyway. However, Finn let his rifle’s point fall to the ground. He continued walking.  

It was late april. The snow had recently melted and Finn could hear a brook babbling away in the distance. A branch snagged the corner of the tee shirt he was wearing, making a slight hole in the shoulder. Finn looked at it in disgust. Now he would have to get a new shirt; Finn hated shopping.  

Finn continued on, his thoughts turned to Rei. His heart began to beat faster just seeing her face in his mind again, her perfect skin, hair, and angelic eyes. She had started hunting a little bit later than everyone else, apparently taking a little more than a few minutes to get dressed. Finn wondered if she had shot anything yet.

***

Finn’s eyes passed a tree but soon snapped back, he had seen something hammered into its bark. Finn squinted and made his way over to the tree. Finn was close enough to touch it when he saw a two-inch wide piece of paper that had a warning on. It was a warning saying that brown bears have been sighted in the area, he had seen several of these during the day.And each time he did a chill ran down Finn’s spine. A crash could be heard behind Finn.

The gun was in the ready position and Finn was in the perfect stance to make a shot when Rei came crashing through the underbrush ten feet behind Finn. A look of pure terror was on her face. She screamed something as she came running past Finn at what seemed like light speed.  

“BEAR!” Finn’s eyes flew open and he did the same thing Rei was doing, run. Finn abandoned his clumsy, heavy gun on the ground just as a furious brown bear came charging through the underbrush Rei had just passed through.  

Finn charged ahead. Not sure how long either he or Rei could outrun the bear. Hopefully long enough for one of them to come up with a solution. Finn was soon neck and neck with Rei, who was obviously exhausted already. Rei looked sideways for just a second at Finn as they crashed through brush, dodged trees and avoided roots. Rei’s look said one thing, save me.  

Finn didn't know what to do. Finn was about to yell out the beginnings of a plan that had formed in his mind when a thick branch connected with his forehead. A wave of pain shot through Finn and he stumbled. Fortunately, he had enough momentum to keep him going long enough to shake off the blow and keep going. The bear was only twelve feet behind them now. roaring and howling in rage.  

Finn looked backwards, confused at how long they had both kept distance between the bear and them. He saw that the bear had recently stumbled into a bear trap, and had broke the chain tying him to the ground. That is why they were actually able to keep some distance between them and it. Unfortunately, Rei had already been sprinting for almost a quarter of a mile before she passed Finn, and she was about ready to collapse.  

Finn’s head felt like it was going to explode but he soon recovered and kept going, picking up speed and slightly passing Rei as he did so. Finn still needed to figure out what to do with the bear. Then he remembered his magnum.  

Finn had just broken out of some underbrush and into a small clearing the woods when two things happened at the same time. Rei tripped on a root and fell and the bear caught up with her.  

The bear immediately homed in on her. Finn had to do something. Rei was defenseless as the bear viciously swiped at her with one of it’s gigantic claws. Rei tried to move out of the way but she wasn't fast enough. The blow caught her on the side and she was flung backward against a nearby tree. The bear reared up on it hind legs, drool falling from it’s mouth as it roared. Rei’s eyes went wild with fear. She tried her best to scoot out of the way as the bear pounced on the earth and managed to avoid the blow. That movement was what saved her life. At that moment, Finn pulled his gun out and leaped, gaining a perfect angle at the bear’s head in mid-air. He shot. CROUW, the sound of the shot echoed in the now still forest.

The bear’s tongue had just began to lol out when it fell sideways. Dead. Finn groaned as he rolled over on the ground. He was incredibly fortunate he was able to pull his finger out of the trigger before he hit the earth because now the gun was pointed straight at Rei. Finn stood up and rushed over to Rei. Again abandoning his gun lying in the short grass.  

“Rei, how bad are you hurt,” Rei was curled up into a ball. Her hands above her head as if she could protect her head from the bear and her eyes were shut, still awaiting death. “Rei!” The girl opened her eyes slowly, looking all around her until she saw the bear’s dead corpse.  

“Is... it, dead?” The girl now looked at Finn, the blue of her eyes to making everything else fade away.  

“...Yeah, I. Killed it,” Finn wasn't thinking about answering the question when he answered. He was lost in her eyes. Rei moved her eyes away from Finn’s for a second while she stood up. She could only do this for a few seconds before Finn had to catch her.  

As she lay cradled in Finn’s arms, she looked down at her side. Finn followed Rei’s gaze to a patch of her shirt that was beginning to soak through. Blood was now seeping from a gash in her abdomen. Finn gently laid her down on a patch of grass as he gently cut away part of her shirt with his hunting knife. Rei groaned in pain as the part of her shirt covering her wound was removed and the gash was exposed. Finn wasn't a doctor but he could tell that he needed to keep the pressure on the wound to keep the blood from seeping out. Fortunately, Finn didn't think that the blow could have ruptured any organs or anything so, for now, Finn settled for ripping off the bottom part of his shirt, doubling it over once or twice, and gently laying it over the area the wound occupied. Next, Finn ripped off a long strip of fabric (again from his shirt) and tying as tight of a knot as he dared (Rei barely being able to keep a scream from leaving her lips) around the pad that rested on top of Rei’s wound.  

“Can you stand?” Finn immediately realized how stupid a question that really was when Rei gave voice to the pain in her side. “Alright, I’m going to carry you back to the truck ok?” Finn wasn't even sure Rei could understand him in the state of agony she was in. He decided to go ahead and carry her anyways. Finn went back, picked up his gun from the earth, holstered it, and returned to the spot on the ground where Rei lay. Finn, trying to be as careful and gentle as he possibly could with her, picked her limp body up and set the side that wasn't wounded, against his shoulder. Finn began the long trip back to the truck where, hopefully, there would be a first aid kit.