Cut and Run 2 - Sticks and Stones

after them. Ty slid to the ground and grabbed at the end of one of the sticks in the fire, turning with the flaming branch in his hand and breathing hard as he waited. For whatever reason, he felt better with the branch than he had with the shotgun. Probably because he’d missed with the fucking shotgun the first time.
    But the forest was quiet. Nothing came out of the woods after him. A bird chirped somewhere in the distance, and another happily answered the call. The fire crackled merrily, and the only sounds were Zane’s and Ty’s harsh breaths as they tried to pull air in.
    Finally, Ty lowered the stick in his hand and looked down at it abashedly before tossing it back in the fire. The others lowered their weapons and turned to look at him doubtfully, like he might have finally had that mental breakdown they were all expecting.
    “I’m okay,” Ty mumbled to them. “I think.”
    “Where’s—”
    “He’s gone,” Ty said flatly, cutting Deuce’s question off.
    “Gone? What happened?” Deuce demanded.
    The flashlight played over Ty, and Earl stopped it at his hands. “Jesus Christ, boy,” Earl grunted as he came closer. Zane appeared at Ty’s side, shoving his gun into his waistband, putting a steadying hand against Ty’s back.
    Ty looked down to see that blood was dripping down his fingers, running freely and obscuring the sources so they couldn’t see how many punctures there were or how badly his hand was torn up. His entire front was covered in blood, in fact. Some his, spreading from the scratches on his shoulders, but most of it belonged to the dead man.
    He held his hand up and peered closely at it in the wavering firelight. “Fuck, man, I just got that out of a cast,” he said in annoyance. “Bring that light,” he requested as Earl stopped in front of him and shined the light down on his hand. He could discern at least four separate punctures, one of which was so deep that Ty thought it might actually have hit the bone. His fingers were stiffening up quickly, and his hand was beginning to throb. The knuckle of his ring finger was swollen and turning blue. “Hell,” he cursed in defeat. He supposed he was lucky that he still had the hand at all, considering he could have yanked out the cat’s tonsils at one point.
    “What happened?” Deuce demanded.
    Ty shook his head as Earl yanked the buff off Ty’s head and used it to make a rough tourniquet around his forearm. The buff wouldn’t go tight enough to do much good, though, and Zane went to dig in his backpack.
    “What’d you do?” Earl asked as Ty tried to calm his breathing.
    “Cat jumped us,” Ty answered in a surprised voice. “Ate him.”
    “A cougar?” Earl asked in shock.
    “Yeah,” Ty answered, still in disbelief. He held his hand up as it began throbbing angrily, trying to slow the blood flow to the wounds.
    “I thought cougars in these parts was just hearsay,” Earl said in surprise.
    “Well, we’ll be sure to report the sighting to fucking Fish and Game when we get home,” Ty snapped as he sat down heavily beside the fire. His entire body was shaking. The firelight flickered off the blood streaming down his hand and forearm.
    “Hey,” Zane said quietly as he knelt beside Ty with a shirt he’d yanked out of his backpack. Ty recognized it, actually. Zane had worn it the day they drove up here. It was one of Zane’s favorites. “Look at me, all right?” Zane used the shirt in one hand to start mopping up the blood on Ty’s shoulder and down his arm, and the other hand settled on Ty’s knee to squeeze gently.
    Ty looked up at him obediently. His hand trembled in Zane’s. He’d been trained to face danger of all kinds, but he supposed nothing overrode the very distinct knowledge that you were about to be dinner.
    “You’re okay,” Zane said quietly but clearly. “Just focus on me for a few minutes. What’s the first thing that comes to mind?” While talking, he was gently wiping away the blood.
    Ty blinked at him, opening his mouth as he thought the very first thing that came to mind when Zane prompted him. I love you . He snapped his mouth closed and stared at Zane, unable and unwilling to answer.
    Zane frowned a little. “Ty?” His head tipped to one side as he looked Ty over, probably for more injuries. “Are you hurt somewhere else?”
    Ty swallowed hard, his mouth suddenly dry as he tried to answer. He cleared his throat and shook his head. “I don’t think so,” he finally managed