The sound of gunfire cracked behind them like thunderclaps tearing through the air. Elisa flinched with each shot, still a stranger to such chaos, but quickly pulled herself together when Dylan took the lead, already shouldering his rifle with calm precision.
In the distance, Maggie was backing away—step by steady step—her shots keeping the envious bitches at bay. The creatures weren't used to that kind of noise. Panic rippled through their ranks as a few dropped from her bullets, their bodies twitching on the ground.
Some began to consider fleeing, their nerve fraying at the edges. But others, enticed by the scent of the fresh corpses, deemed it worth the risk. After all, Maggie was alone. Surrounded.
But whatever fragile hope they clung to shattered in an instant.
A new sound exploded through the trees—more gunfire, but from the front this time. Clear. Precise.
And Maggie... still had her eyes on them.
Which meant—
She wasn't alone.
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