snack,” Blade says with wild eyes and blowing out a huge breath as he braces a hand on the tree.
I start walking slowly toward the body with my rifle trained on the bear, ready to fire again if he's only stunned. Fuck it! I fire one more time. I ain't taking any chances of getting mauled today. I make sure he's dead and look over at the body. I move quickly toward it and crouch down for a better look. A gasp escapes my lips when I discover it’s the body of a naked girl on her side with her back facing me, covered in blood and bruises and what looks like boot prints. I see four bleeding gouges on her hip from the bear’s claws. “Get over here now!” I yell, feeling slightly panicked. I know this bear didn’t undress this girl and leave muddy boot prints on her body. I pull her matted hair away from her face and neck and feel for a pulse – it's there, but it's weak. I turn her over gently, and when I do, I'm horrified at what I find. Blade and Roadblock rush to her other side, and I look up to see the same expressions of horror on their faces. Then their features contort into the rage that matches mine. This girl’s face is unrecognizable. Her wrists look like they've been shackled or tied tight for a long time, considering they have deep ligature marks that are festering and red. As I scan her body, I feel my own tense up, and I set my rifle down. She has what looks like human bite marks on her breasts, and her nipples are crusted with dried blood. She has blood all down the insides of her thighs. She has cuts covering her skin, and her ankles have matching ligature marks from rope or shackles on each one. I feel sick at the thought, knowing most likely she was tied with legs spread open. This is bad… really fucking bad.
“What the fuck do we do with her? We’re miles away from anywhere. Where did she come from? How the fuck did she get out here?” Blade asks, looking around anxiously.
"Grab my rifle. I'm carrying her to the logging road. Your fastest, Blade. Run ahead and get the jeep. Cut the fucking barbed wire if you can’t find a gate. Meet me on the logging road. Roadblock, keep a lookout for bears and other large predators. Her blood will draw them in."
“I got your six. Don’t worry.”
“I’m out. Stay frosty,” Blade says then takes off running at top speed.
I lift her up and start walking toward the logging road.
"Whoa, what the fuck is this?" Roadblock takes a knee in front of me and looks closely at something I can't see.
“What do you see, man?”
“It looks like a fucking burn from a cattle brand on her hip.”
“Are you fucking serious? What kind of sick fuck did this?”
“I don’t know, man, but this poor girl has been through hell.” He looks up at me with worry and concern on his face, and it’s a new look for him, that’s for sure. He’s our cold mother fucker, and half the time, I wonder if he has any feelings at all. I look down at this poor girl, and my gut twists in knots as I study her. There’s so much blood and dirt in her matted hair it’s hard to even tell what color it is. She has a huge boot print across her stomach like someone stomped on her hard, and the skin over her ribs is black and blue. Her knees have deep abrasions and are coated in dried blood. I can’t find a spot on her body that isn’t covered in blood, scrapes, and bruises.
I grit my teeth, and the words kill, kill, kill are on repeat in my mind for the man or men who did this to her. I know she needs help like now, but my adrenaline is kicking in, and a part of me wants to hand her off to Roadblock and hunt down, torture, and kill the men responsible for hurting this girl.
I look down as I hear a soft moan escape her lips.
“It’s okay, sweetheart. You're safe now. I’ve got you. Gonna get you some help.”
“No,” She breathes out so soft I almost don’t catch it.
“Sweetheart, you need medical attention. You need a hospital. That’s where we’re taking you.”
“No. No hospital. Please…they’ll find me. Please, let me