Running, the lady did her best to get far, to lure away Jarid. She did achieve her desired goal to separate from the man for him to be in a less dangerous situation, but that would leave her to plan what the next best approach would be alone.

Bite

One of the hounds reached for her ankle. In response, she directed her body to the ground, to roll on her chest then on her back to make it let go of her. She stood up looking for any scratches or scars while waiting for the hound to take action a second time.

It slowly moved toward her carefully, yet she was still. She bent herself forward looking down on it for a moment, and stretched out her hand to it. She would touch its head gently to calm and reassure it. 

BAM

Jarid caught her. He hit her with one end of the rifle to send her back falling down. “What the hell are you trying to do? If it wasn’t for Cal I’d shoot you once or twice.” He grabbed hold of the leash and readjusted his grip on his rifle. “Now you get up slowly, talk, and don’t do a damn thing after that.” 

The wind blew much harder, hard enough to cause a misstep for everyone in the area. The lady was well aware of what he was trying to tell her but stayed in place, keeping her hands on the ground. And even the ground was no longer still. 

“I said get up—” 

The hounds tried jumping forward to her but failed, pulling Jarid to his surprise and making him almost let go of everything he was holding. When the lady rose, she stared at the two hounds, being only a few feet away from her. She kept her hands clenched and made eye contact with Jarid next.

“Come on girl! Speak!” 

All she did was simply stare at him. 

“I’m not playing! I could let these dogs free, I could shoot you, I could…” 

And the land that was already uneven, became worse. 

The ground beneath them cracked, and subtly shifted. More levels of the ground formed, the unevenness of the land became more apparent, although there were no drastic changes. Jarid lost his footing in the process, and the lady purposely jumped down to a lower level. He remained on the original level of the surface recovering from the fall, he was alone. 

The lady brushed her hair to the side to walk away steadily through the harsh weather, hoping to reach where the man was to aid him. But she could hear them, the loud, growling dogs fixated on her. One of them, a black-furred dog, could be heard whimpering more than anything, unable to stand on all four legs as well as the other. The fall was unexpected to the brown-furred dog, but it managed to not fall all the way down to the lowest level, unlike the black-fur. 

The lady turned around to look at them. She looked at both of these dogs with a simple expression, deciding then to walk in their direction instead.

Step

Moving only inches to the right, she waited for seconds to pass. 

And they ran to her, or rather—where she was just before. 

The hound that was in worse condition stopped in its tracks after stumbling, hurting itself more. It turned its head in different directions looking for the girl until it spotted her once more. The other dog remained mostly unscathed with minor scratches. 

This time, the lady walked in a straight line towards them. The hounds drew back before trying to attack her. She looked past them witnessing the vast land splitting, and slowly reforming. 

She placed her hands behind her back and moved to the left, they charged yet again; however again, the same thing happened, only this time neither of the dogs hurt themselves. With another cry, the black hound showed a lack of excitement and energy, limping to the white-haired lady to strike again. She approached it—both of them in fact, with open arms to welcome them. The brown-furred hound continued to bark at her endlessly, and the lady brought her hand close to it, regardless of what it would do. 

Bang

A warning shot. 

“Get your hands off them dogs,” Jarid shouted, “they ain’t yours!” He caught all three of their attention, almost wanting to actually hit her. “Just stay right there! I’m coming down.” The hounds instinctively sought to go back to him and looked up as he came down. They stayed especially close to him and moved when he moved closer to the lady. 

“Speak.” 

Stare 

She said nothing, only eyeing him with little concern. She remembered what he said about him choosing to shoot if it were up to him. 

“Man come on! We’re going back to Cal and your friend.” 

He grabbed her arm and pulled her forcefully. 

She resisted.

“Girl don’t test my pati—” 

Enough dirt had already covered her hands for her to throw it in Jarid’s eyes. She sank her fingers deep into them and pushed him with all the strength she had. Upon falling, the barking sounded even louder. The lady had one more chance to escape, so she took the time instead to comfort the dogs. 

She gently patted the black hound, cowering back in fear the second she touched its head. The brown one resumed its growling and let out a few more barks. 

She then went to pet that one. 

It bit her. 

It didn’t let go of her so she forcefully pulled her hand back. 

Drag

With it refusing to let go, it was inevitably pulled in closer to her. She looked down at it, staring deeply into its eyes. In the end, she also managed to pet that one.

Caressing it, at the same time, it released her hand. It took several steps backwards and looked up at her in a more obedient manner. The lady noticed the black-furred hound looking elsewhere, at Jarid getting back on his feet, he let out a few words of annoyance. 

He wasted no time and pointed it at her. “You…” he was saying, while sweating and breathing heavily, “I ought to shoot you right now…. This ain’t my gun but Cal will understand.”

The lady took more liberty in her actions without fear, she never was never fearful in the first place. Knowing that Jarid was still very hesitant in using the rifle, she moved ahead. 

In front of her—and in front of Jarid’s line of sight, the brown dog was being held up. 

She walked forward, and did not stop. 

“PUT THAT DAMN THING DOWN!!” When he chose to aim at another part of her body, away from the hound, she moved it to the front of that part of her body in readiness for him. He was stunned, and she was simply going closer to him. 

“Girl you get the hell away from me! And you don’t do a thing to that dog ya hear?!” He lowered his weapon and stepped back which in turn made the lady stop approaching. She released the hound and let out a smile, a smile to Jarid. 

The lady took a long look at her hand, she was rubbing it lightly. Considering the amount of injuries she has sustained, only a little bit of blood spilt. After thorough checking, she closed her fist, straightened her arm, and extended her index finger. 

Point 

She looked at the brown hound when doing so, it looked back in return then went in the direction to which she pointed. It passed Jarid, and was leaving the ruptured area of land near them. 

“What…!” Jarid, confused, called out to it but it didn’t respond; it ran off, too far gone to hear or be caught. He didn’t want to believe she could be the cause of it,  but his anger swelled, his thoughts were a mess, and his patience was gone. All he could point to was her.

BASH

He swung the barrel of his rifle across the lady’s face, continuing he attacked her while she wasn’t even upright. Here she took more bruises and cuts, and there was still minimal bleeding. She did not get up, in fact she chose to remain in her current position—the ground. 

“Dumbass. If I gotta carry you I’ll do it.” 

The hound that was left went to her. It drew in her scent from her hair and wetted her cheek from the saliva of its tongue where a small red mark was shown, lastly it placed its paw on her cheek. The lady touched the hound back, smiled, and again she pointed her finger at Jarid. 

The hound turned around facing Jarid. 

The lady, restless, finally calmed down and rested. All went according to her plan, to let the man be in the safest position possible. 

***

Then on the man’s side of the conflict, he was chased down. Due to the land rearranging itself he was able to distance himself from Cal and even take cover, granting him a bit of an advantage.

“Hey now, I said I just wanna talk. Get out here. It was your fault for makin’ me waste some bullets!” 

Yeah… 

He can’t aim or shoot. But he has the better weapon, I gotta get it. 

“And I’m gonna ask you again, do you really got a gun on ya?” Cal asked. 

“I do.”

“Then why don’t you be helpful and we can make a deal?” 

“Like what? Does it have to do with Johnny?” 

The man was interested in why Cal took an interest in him, even though they never met before. He called back to a previous conversation that was interrupted, assuming that would be why Cal wanted him. 

“You said you was lookin’ for some help right? What you needed some money? Wanted to eat? You hungry young man?” 

“Look, what is it with that house? You know something?” The man began to pry just as much as Cal. 

“Hey, hey…. Don’t pin all this on me and make me the bad guy! I’m just tryin’ to get everybody safe! That house is no good!” 

So that boy ain’t seen nothin’ wrong in there? 

“Say, kid, you said you saw a woman there right?” 

“I did.” 

“What was her name if you don’t mind me askin’?” 

A cold silence filled up with the harsh wind in the area. Cal was hoping for an immediate answer from him but stood there letting the dust hit his face. 

It irritated him. 

“KID! WHAT WAS THE WOMAN’S NAME?!” 

Hmm… 

Cal put his hand over his forehead to do everything to see as clearly as he could. He was beginning to think he heard what thought to be moving and patting from where the man was hiding while dusting himself off from much dirt. 

“Why are you so frustrated? Anyhow…”

The man came out of cover. He held onto his hat firmly on his head when taking a few steps ahead to yell out to him something after giving it a long thought to say it confidently. 

“‘Anna’, I think she was saving me from him.” 

Cal was speechless.

“Save you?! What the hell?!!”

Why is this boy just tellin’ the truth, he don’t know how to lie or IS he lyin’ to me right now?!

“I answered you so talk.”

I gotta do something fast before I start to starve again.

He aimed his rifle. 

“So that gotta mean…. Nah…what the hell happened to Johnny?!” 

“Tell me what’s going on.”  

The man charged full speed at him. 

“ARE YOU WORKING WITH HIM?” he asked Cal.

Aim 

Cal was ready for another shot. 

“SO YOU WORKIN’ WITH ANNA?!” 

He used the wind, the dust, and his unpredictable movement to lessen his chances of being hit. The man was quickly getting close to him. Cal made an attempt to shoot his leg, failing to do so. The man’s curved maneuvers served him well, proving to be faster he wouldn’t let Cal hope to shoot him, but the wind was also against him.

“Just slow down boy!” 

“Quit calling me that!” 

Okay…  

Moving back, he traced his steps and thought to redo the same thing while successfully reaching Cal unharmed. 

“Where you goin’ kid…?” 

“Nowhere. Don’t worry.” 

That Cal guy hesitated, I could try and go for him but I don’t want to risk it. 

How about if he tries again? 

“Alright I got it.” 

“Huh? You ain’t got nothin’!” 

When he zoomed straight to Cal once more, he forced his eyes open wide enough to pinpoint the exact angle of the barrel. He lowered body, and forced himself downwards in a rolling motion to the right of him.

Cal held himself back from using a bullet, in fact he surprised the man by physically pounding the rifle on his back when he couldn’t evade.  

The man looked back at Jarid, just inches away from him.

“Shoot me.” 

Then he got up immediately and ran back.

“You gonna get in trouble for this boy!” 

“I said keep shooting!” 

“I won’t LISTEN to ya!” 

Yeah he’s really not trying to shoot, is that not his gun? 

The man ran one more. He further guaranteed his safety by running a full circle. Each time a complete turn was made he brought himself closer to Cal. 

He’s not turning quick enough, I could get behind him but…

Towards the end of the circle he got back to crossing Cal’s path. The man revealed his pistol, pointing it directly in his face momentarily. He assumed Cal didn’t believe he had a weapon, and it would leave him in awe to process what he saw. The man slid past him stopping in his tracks directly behind him. 

“You do got a weapon on ya you deceivin’ boy!” 

Cal was hesitant in looking behind himself, afraid of seeing the pistol pointed at his face and accepting defeat.

“Goddamn, you got a real gun…how come you ain’t use it?” 

The man held his pistol in an unusual way that ensured he never let go of it, and to ensure he could move it in whichever way he liked.

“Let go if you’re not gonna shoot,” the man said to him, while forcing his grip onto Cal’s rifle. 

How the hell did I get myself into this mess? Is this a test or punishment? 

“If it is, then I’ll just have to take it.” 

“Damn…! Who is you talkin’ to?!” 

“Not you, just let go.”

“You want me to pull this trigger boy?! It’s gonna be louder than your small ass gun and burn the hell outta your hand if you keep holdin’ on like that!” 

“Alright.” 

Smack

The end of his pistol met with Cal’s skull. Once he fell and saw that Cal’s hands were loosened he quickly put his gun away and looked to take Cal’s rifle. Seeing him in pain and defenseless, he felt more comfortable letting a bit of his guard down. 

“Say Cal, I need you to stop hassling me, because I really gotta go.”