There was no time for noise-she just sensed the air shift. Without a second thought, she kept her head resting on Ryan’s shoulder, trusting him to handle it. Her gun hand shot up, ready to pull the trigger at the guy who had his back to them.
In an instant, Ryan moved like lightning. His left hand intercepted the man’s reaching fingers, bending them back as he propelled the attacker forward. At the same time, his right hand lifted Echo’s gun high.
In just a moment, a shot rang out, fired above the man’s head. The force of Ryan’s grip flipped the guy through the air, changing his direction mid-flight.
As the man landed and quickly turned around, Echo heard him shout, “Boss?”
Echo blinked in surprise, finally processing who it was. In that split second, she had only seen a humanoid shape and hadn’t taken in the details.
As the figure turned, she recognized the distinctive radiation suit in the dimly lit woods. It was unmistakably Ryan’s crew member-only Ryan’s people would wear something like that. The tall, imposing stature of the natives would’ve made it easy to spot him otherwise.
She was relieved Ryan had acted quickly. Otherwise, they could have hurt one of their own.
“Panther,” Ryan said coldly, eyeing the disheveled man.
“Yeah, it’s Panther,” he replied, moving closer to Ryan as Echo finally recognized him from his voice.
“Thanks for letting me off easy, Boss,” Panther said, quickly getting back on track and running toward the mountaintop, staying right behind Ryan.
Panther had been hiding in the woods and hadn’t heard any conversation. All he had caught was the sound of someone coming at him fast. Having faced a lot of trouble with the natives, Panther knew he had to act first if he wanted to avoid being discovered. Once the natives got aggressive, he wouldn’t have the strength to fight back.
Without thinking, Panther jumped up and charged forward the moment he heard footsteps ahead. The natives had an advantage at a distance, with their powerful claws able to tear apart thick-skinned beasts. But the closer they got, the slower and less agile they became. This was the one weakness Panther had noticed after dodging them for over a day.
His outstretched hand aimed straight for the heart of the native, but to his surprise, it was Ryan standing in front of him. Ryan’s height and strength allowed him to block the attack easily, nearly breaking Panther’s arm in the process.
When Echo realized it was Panther, despite his disheveled appearance, she could tell from his voice that he wasn’t too badly hurt. Having another strong ally like Panther made her feel a bit more secure.
She asked, “What happened?” She hadn’t seen Ryan show any mercy.
What Echo didn’t know was that Ryan had a natural instinct for sensing things. Panther had been with him for years, and Ryan was so familiar with his presence that he wouldn’t have let Panther slam into him so easily unless he recognized him.
Just because Echo couldn’t tell who it was in that instant didn’t mean Ryan was clueless. He had held back because it was Panther; otherwise, even if he hadn’t broken Panther’s arm, Echo’s gunshot would’ve taken half his life.
As they got closer to the mountaintop and the view opened up even more, Echo’s eyes widened in shock.
“They’re catching up!” she exclaimed.
From their high vantage point, she could see the natives darting through the trees and rocks below, rushing toward them. The speed at which they moved and the chilling roars carried on the wind made her heart race.
Panther glanced back quickly and said, “I’ll draw them away, when…”
“Shut up,” Ryan cut him off sharply, silencing him before he could finish.
“I contacted Bill; they’re coming to get us!” Echo quickly explained to Panther. Then she turned to Ryan, “Let me down; we need to move faster…”
She felt a bit stronger now and wanted to help speed things up, determined not to hold Ryan back.
“How fast can you run?” Ryan asked without turning his head as he climbed upward.
The tall trees had disappeared, leaving only boulders-there was no ground to run on, only rocks to scramble over.
Echo hesitated, taking a breath. She didn’t want to argue with Ryan; sure, she was fast, but not as fast as him. She just wanted to save him some energy, but it looked like he wasn’t interested.
Her gaze was fixed on the natives below, their swift, cat-like speed sending her heart into overdrive. Bill’s plane hadn’t arrived yet, and the path ahead was clear enough without needing to say it.
Without looking back at Ryan or glancing at Panther beside her, Echo kept her eyes fixed on the figures below.
“They’re about three miles away,” she reported calmly, her voice steady and almost emotionless, giving Ryan and Panther the latest update as they continued climbing upward.
When they first noticed the natives chasing them, they were still about ten or twenty miles away. If it hadn’t been for the sunlight and the vantage point from above, they wouldn’t have even seen the figures moving. But in less than half an hour, the distance had closed so much.
Echo knew she couldn’t panic, couldn’t let herself get nervous. But her heart was pounding harder and faster, her chest tightening.
There had to be at least a hundred, maybe two hundred natives closing in on them. Some were still hidden in the trees, and there was no sign of the plane yet. If they caught up, she didn’t even want to think about what would happen next.
“Bill, hurry up! They’re less than two miles away now!” Echo kept watching the situation below, her voice urging Bill through the communication channel. She could hear the tension in Bill’s shaky voice on the other end.
“What are you afraid of?” Ryan growled as he climbed swiftly, Echo clinging tightly to his back. Her hands, wrapped around his neck, were squeezing so hard it was making it hard for him to breathe.
Echo heard Ryan’s harsh words and glanced at the natives, where were getting closer. She wanted to say she wasn’t scared, but she couldn’t lie. She was scared.
Holding onto Ryan even tighter, she whispered, “I’m scared.” She knew it wasn’t the right thing to admit, but Ryan hated lies, and the truth was, she was terrified.
“You can only die by my hand. Even if they catch up, I’ll kill you myself,” Ryan’s cold, domineering words echoed in her ears.
Echo shuddered. He had told her this before, and now, hearing it again, it was just as harsh and ruthless.
She knew Ryan meant what he said. Supposeshe had to die, better by his hand than theirs. Raising her eyebrows slightly, Echo’s heart suddenly settled, a strange calm washing over her. She held on to Ryan tightly, glancing at the natives closing in behind them, and for some reason, a faint smile crossed her lips as she buried her head in Ryan’s back.
Suddenly, the roar of a plane broke through the air.
Echo’s face, which had been pressed against Ryan’s back, shot up. She looked at the plane getting closer in the sky, and Bill’s anxious voice came through the earpiece. “Is this the spot? Is it here? Answer me, quick!”
“Yes, yes! This is it! Land here!” Echo’s heart, which had been bracing for Ryan to kill her, came alive in an instant. She started waving her arms frantically, answering Bill in a rush.
“They can’t land,” Ryan said firmly, his body surging forward as he pushed even harder toward the top of the mountain.
“Drop a rope ladder, tell them to drop the ladder!” Panther, panting heavily beside them, managed to say between breaths.
Echo quickly caught on. She realized how long it would take for the plane to land and take off again-time that would only give the natives more of a chance to catch up. She thought of the wrecked planes torn to pieces before and shouted urgently, “Drop the ladder! Drop the ladder!”
“Boss, hurry! Those guys are almost on you-less than a hundred meters away! Move it!” Bill shouted from the small helicopter, the cargo door wide open.
Bill was anxiously directing the descent while keeping his eyes locked on Ryan and the others, as the roaring natives charged up the hill behind them.