Page 80 of Survive the Night
“Put the gun down,” he snapped, and she jerked back, startled by the loud command. Xena growled and barked sharply in his face, but he didn’t look away from Sarah. His smirk was tense. “It won’t work anyway. The safety’s on.”
Her gaze flickered down at the gun, just for a fraction of a second before she caught herself falling for Logan’s bluff. It was long enough, though. He struck, wrapping his hands around Xena’s thick neck and rolling them to the side.
“No!” Sarah shouted, knowing he would kill Xena without any remorse. The dog yelped, and Sarah felt a calm settle over her. Her hands stopped shaking; she knew what she needed to do. Aiming the gun at the back of Logan’s head, she pulled the trigger.
The recoil jolted her, but it was the realization of what she’d just done that made her stumble back. The smell of smoke filled her nose, and her ears rang from the loud bang. She forced herself to look at Logan. She needed to know if she’d missed, if he was still a threat.
Instantly, she looked away. He wasn’t a threat anymore.
Xena scrambled to her feet and ran to her, pressing her trembling body against Sarah’s legs. Carefully, Sarah lowered the gun, placing it next to her on top of a drift. The rifle sank and the snow sifted on top of it, making it almost seem like it had disappeared.
“What?” At Otto’s voice, Sarah looked behind her to see him struggling to sit up. She fought her way through the snow toward him, pausing briefly to turn off the snowmobile. Silence settled over them, broken only by her rough breathing. She tried to calm down as she reached Otto. Her heaving breaths were too close to sobs, and this wasn’t the time to cry.
“Otto?” Crouching next to him, she saw how much blood streaked the side of his face, and her stomach lurched.
“What’s…?” he slurred, blinking at her like he was having trouble focusing.
Sarah fought down panic. How could she get an injured Otto back to the bunker? She pushed the thought away. One thing at a time, she thought, trying to remember the little she’d read about first aid. First, stop the bleeding.
It was a relief to have something to focus on, to have a plan, no matter how basic. Gently holding his face, she tilted it so that she could see the cut more clearly. In the dim light, the blood looked black, and it seemed like it was everywhere. She swiped at the area below the cut with her glove, but the material wasn’t absorbent, so it just smeared blood across his forehead.
She took a mental inventory of what she was wearing, trying to figure out what would work best for bandaging, and plopped down in the snow. As she yanked off one of her boots, Otto stared at her, swaying a little.
“Wha…what are you doing?” He sounded a little less drunk, although Sarah knew that could’ve just been wishful thinking on her part. She pulled off one of her knee-high wool socks and held it up.
“Bandage,” she said, tugging her boot back on. Just in that short time she’d had it off, the cold had darted through her remaining sock and chilled her foot.
“Bandage?” He frowned. “Are you hurt?”
“It’s for you.” Her voice shook slightly as she reached to wrap the sock around his head and tie it tightly in the back. It covered most of the still-oozing gash, and she hoped it would at least slow the bleeding until they could get back to the bunker where someone a lot more competent than she was could look at it. “Sorry. It’s probably not the most sanitary.”
He smiled and gave her forearm a squeeze. “It’s fine. Help me up?”
With Sarah’s assistance, he managed to haul himself to his feet. Once there, he swayed slightly, and she held her hands out as if to catch him. His jaw muscles tightening, he managed to steady himself. Although he still looked dazed, his eyes gradually cleared, and he seemed to take in the situation without needing an explanation. He looked furious and grim and sad, but all he said was a simple “Good job, Sarah.”
She blinked at him, shock and residual horror making everything hazy. “Thank you?” Relief that Otto was awake and standing—that she was alive and that Xena was unhurt—rushed through her, making her voice break.
Otto cupped her face in his hands and looked at her carefully. “You okay?”
It took her a moment to answer. “Yes. You’re okay, and Xena’s okay. That means I’m okay.” When he continued to eye her, she covered his hands with her own. “I mean it, Otto. I did what I needed to do. It’s done.”
After another long look, he seemed to accept that. “Let’s go.” Otto’s hand on her back was gentle. Sarah leaned into the contact, and Xena pressed into her side. She’d seen and done some terrible things over the past twelve hours, but Otto and Xena were worth it. For them, she’d do anything.
Chapter 22
Otto started the snowmobile.
“C’mon, Xena,” Sarah said, scooting back to clear a spot on the seat. “Up.”
The dog tucked her tail, looking unhappy, but she obediently hopped onto the sled. Sarah wrapped her arms around Xena as Otto slowly accelerated, turning the sled around and heading back toward Gordon’s house. He kept the snowmobile’s speed low, for which Sarah was grateful. Without the adrenaline of the chase, the wind whipping by them felt even colder.
It seemed like an eternity before the workshop and house came into view. Sarah had never been so tired in her entire life. Her head kept bobbing forward, only the cold and the fear of toppling off the side of the sled keeping her in place. Otto slowed as they approached the place where Blessard had fallen. Sarah was torn. Even though she knew they couldn’t leave him out here to freeze to death, he’d betrayed them. She didn’t want to even look at the lieutenant, much less drag him into the bunker with them.
Sarah didn’t hear the sound at first, with the buzz of the snowmobile filling her head. Gradually, though, it got louder—the thump-thump she was going to hear in her nightmares. Her arms tightened around Xena as she looked up, scanning the sky, terrified of what she would see.
“Otto!” she yelled when she spotted the bright lights of the helicopter hovering above them.
