The sound of the shotgun firing rang through the silence, Dakota hissing a curse under his breath as the gun recoiled into his shoulder. The bullet missed, metal ricocheting off the train tracks and spitting sparks from the impact. 

I grabbed the pump under the barrel of the gun, pulling it back quickly to cycle the ammo; an empty shell expelled out the side of the breech. “You pull this back right after firing,” I said, helping him track the screeching hackjaw as it moved closer—we were running out of distance. “Get ready to fire again. Use your sight, the target should be just above the far post.” My words were snapping, Carrot going ballistic beside me but standing her ground. 

Dakota jerked a nod, his cheek pressed against the gun and his grip tightened as he followed the hackjaw’s rapid motions. 

I traced his line of sight, watching the barrel of the gun as it lined up with the hackjaw’s open mouth—the center of its exposed throat. “Now! Take the shot,” I barked, not wanting to miss the opportunity as time and danger pressed on the back of my neck. 

Dakota sucked in a breath, deep and even. 

He didn’t flinch as he pulled the trigger this time. 

His aim was true on the second shot, and I watched with relief as the bullet tore into the hackjaw, blood and viscera spraying across the train tracks as it collapsed only feet away from the scaffolding. I straightened, letting my hands fall away from Dakota’s as his breath left him in a shaky rush. The shotgun drooped in his hold as he seemed to wait for the hackjaw to move again. When he was met with silence, Dakota gave a soft sound of elation and turned to put his back against the railing. 

There was the sudden sensation of his arms wrapping around me, the shotgun pressing into my back as he held me tightly with a prideful, “I did it! Thank you!” 

I felt my stomach drop, ignoring the embrace as I reached behind me to snatch up the firearm, taking it from his loose grip as I snarled, “You need to put the safety on! What, you want to shoot me?” I nudged him off, flicking the safety of the gun to make sure it wouldn’t fire. 

My heart was racing, adrenaline still pumping through me as I looked at Dakota, whose expression seemed wounded at my harsh outburst. I sighed, glancing at the hackjaw lying dead on the tracks and briefly swept my vision over the rest of the area in case there were any more. Seeing it clear—at least for now—I let my gaze fall again on Dakota, who was quiet like a kid that had gotten a scolding. 

I rolled my eyes, holding an arm open for him as I muttered, “You did good for your first time.” 

His downcast expression brightened immediately, and though he moved with a new hesitance to come closer, he embraced me with the same eager tightness that he had the first time. “I’ll remember the safety next time,” he promised, looking up at me with joy in his dark eyes and a bright smile. 

It caught me off guard—the first real smile I’d seen in years…first bit of human affection. 

Dakota pulled away after a moment, his shoulders slumping as he looked down to the tracks again. “We have to take care of that, don’t we? I’ve seen them feed on corpses of their own kind, it’s…disgusting,” he said with a shudder. 

I nodded, patting his back as I gestured to the gun case we’d brought with us. “I have a small can of lighter fluid.” I took a final drag on my cigarette before I let it drop to the ground, crushing it with my boot. Crouching down, I unzipped an outer pocket of the case as I picked up the small tin canister. “We don’t need much, they’re pretty flammable, but we gotta make sure the whole thing burns. It’s a plus they don’t like fire. Should ward them off for a while, and hopefully the scent of my blood will have faded by then.” I slung my gun over my shoulder and picked up the other gun case, handing it off to Dakota. “You can help me carry this stuff, since you’ll be using it. Might even build a bit of muscle on you,” I said, smirking as I headed for the stairs. 

Carrot tailed me, still on alert.

Dakota scoffed, the straps slung over one arm as he followed close behind me. “The deal was to train me to shoot, not run me like a drill sergeant,” he said, his tone light and playful. 

As we reached the tracks, Dakota stayed back, disgust on his face as he stared at the hackjaw. I couldn’t blame him; somehow it seemed more grotesque with its unnatural limbs limp and fluids leaking across the tracks. 

It was a sight I was unfortunately accustomed to as I unscrewed the cap of the canister and drizzled the lighter fluid over the corpse. I placed the closed contents back in the side pocket of the soft case, straightening as I reached for my lighter. 

Carrot's aggressive growl made my gaze snap up, hearing her distress turn into urgent barks. 

I snatched up my shotgun, pressing the safety off as I turned to face the direction she was focussed on. The hackjaw was close, dropping onto the tracks from a ledge just a few feet away. It scrambled forward with ragged drags of its body that I hadn’t heard, its jaws splitting the flesh of its body from the shoulder—rows of razor fangs dripping blood and flesh from a fresh kill. 

The noise of its cry didn’t phase me—I didn’t even flinch as I raised the shotgun and fired on instinct, hitting it square in the back of the throat. It exploded in a burst of blood and torn viscera, dropping a foot away from the other dead creature. 

I sighed, annoyed and agitated as I tended to my gun before I bent down again to retrieve the lighter fluid. I glanced up, half remembering that Dakota was standing there, his face frozen in an expression of shock and fear. “You okay?” I asked, spreading more fluid over the other dead mound of flesh before packing up for the second time. 

Dakota took a shaky step back, shaking his head slightly. “You were so fast,” he whispered, a hand pressing to his chest as if to calm his heart. 

“You said it yourself. Gotta be quick if you want to survive.”

He couldn’t seem to tear his eyes off me, chewing on his lower lip before he admitted, “I’m really grateful you’re here. I… I have a long way to go before I can defend myself.” 

I glanced down at the two hackjaws, my pulse thrumming. Though I knew it had been my injury that had likely summoned them, I couldn’t help wondering what would have happened to Dakota if I hadn’t been here…a thought I didn’t like to dwell on. 

“Well, lucky for you, I’m going to make sure you shoot better than me.” I flashed him a quick smile before I took out my lighter, bending down to light the liquid. It caught into a burst of large flames, already charring the edges of wounded flesh. 

I grabbed my effects, whistling for Carrot to rub over her head affectionately. “Good girl, giving me that warning,” I muttered, warmed by her happy woofs and wagging tail. 

Standing upright, I took a few steps so I was in front of Dakota. I looked down at him, saying earnestly, “I told you I wouldn’t let anything happen to you, and I mean it. Now c’mon. Let’s go inside. I think Carrot deserves a treat.”