Abby turned around. She noticed the man hovering over Luna. I can't shoot him, it will give away our position. Abby ran forward as she wrapped her arms around the man, slinging him to the ground. She took her elbow and slammed into the man's jaw and took her right hand and penned the man's hand with a knife to the ground. "Luna, are you okay?!"
Luna jumped up, tears in her eyes, running over to where Abby was taking the butt of her rifle and slamming it into the man's throat. Abby lifted the rifle again and hit the man in the head, knocking him out.
The man's hand let go of the knife as he laid, his body motionless.
Abby's eyes followed Luna up and down, recognizing her quiet friend. Putting her fingers on his neck, she felt a pulse. She noticed his outfit that was more ragtag with a dark brown top and green bottoms.
"He's not in the military. He was probably an outlaw or militia," Luna stated with a weighty tone. "Do you think Trebien is recruiting bandits to carry out their dirty work?"
Abby shifted through the pockets of the unknown man, finding bullets of different calibers and a few Flora dollars. "Let's report this to Monica when we see her. If bandits have access to this weaponry then we may be fighting two wars on our home front."
Luna closed her eyes, knowing what was coming.
Abby gripped the man's neck with her left hand. She took her knife and slid it slowly to the right of the man's neck, sliding it forward and pulling it back a pool of blood soaking the hair around the man's head.
Luna took her hands away from her face, staring down at the man choking on his own blood.
Abby leaned over, covering her mouth with her left hand, her throat throbbing as she retched to the left of the man's head. Pushing her hands up from the ground, Abby turned her eyes to the sky. "Let's go," she hisses, pulling out a napkin from her left pocket and wiping her mouth.
Luna walks past the man's body keeping low to the ground. She hobbled next to Abby. "I know that you just killed a man, but do you think you need to take a break to regroup?" She put her hand on Abby's shoulder, squeezing it tightly.
Abby put her hand on top of Luna's hand, looking over at her. "I can grieve my actions later. Right now, we gotta keep going." Abby clinched Luna's hand tightly and stepped quickly through the tall grass.
"Do you see that?" Luna inquired as she looks up at the hill. She saw a small head peeking out, shooting diagonally from their direction. "That's gotta be where everyone else is. I don't know if I want to crawl up close to them. It's more a long-range shot. I'm not that great with a pistol. I can probably pick off one or two of them here because right now they're most likely just shooting wildly to the grass. Since I'm small, I can shift around and keep them guessing."
"If you feel like you're getting overwhelmed, just low crawl. But I like your idea." Abby looks over at her eyes, scarlet red. "I'm going on ahead. You take out as many as you can."
Luna bent down on the ground, bringing up her rifle a little bit above her chin and putting her cheek on the cold buttstock, her right eye peering down the scope. "Alright Abby, go ahead after this first shot."
Abby crouched down, pulling her rifle off her back and magazine clip. She looks down to ensure she had enough bullets just in case she would run into somebody in close quarters.
Luna's finger pulled the trigger. Boom! Crackle!
Abby surged forward, sprinting with urgency. Her vigilant eyes scanned the surroundings for potential threats. In her diagonal line of sight, she spotted a man in the process of reloading. Acting on instinct, she pulled the trigger. Boom! The bullet shot to the right, and the man crumpled to the ground instantly. Another figure peeked behind a carriage, while someone else began rising from the ground in front of her. Her right hand swiftly drew her revolver, and with a precise aim, she pulled the trigger, executing a lethal shot. The man's head took the impact, blood oozing from his shattered skull as he collapsed.
"You bastard!" The man from behind the cart had his sights squared on Abby.
Abby's feet stood frozen, her eyes fixed on the man. She felt her arm stiffen, weighing her down as if somebody was pulling her to the ground. I don't have enough time. This isn't how I make grandfather proud, by dying to the hands of some crusty bandits. Move! I need to move!
Boom! Boom!
Abby closed her eyes, awaiting the cold steel to pierce her body.
"Abby!" Ian ran up beside her with his rifle. "I've got you." Ian's feet shifted to the left and the right, surveying the area where the man had fallen. Running up towards the man he kicked the body. "Killing is such unsavory business." Boom! He laid one bullet in the man's chest, finishing the job.
"You're okay," Rebecca yells, grabbing Abby's hand and running to bring her into the tall grass to the right.
"We think the enemy is defeated, look!" Cody towered over Abby who was still kneeling.
Looking to the right, Abby saw Marcus, Luna, and Rosemary standing on the top of the hill waving at them.
"Thank goodness everyone is okay! We don't have anyone to question," Abby whispers, looking over at Rebecca.
"That's not the case," Rebecca states winking at Abby. "The goddess has brought us a good future and we were able to tie up one of the captives. Cody wrapped him up nice and tight."
Marcus was out of breath running over to where the rest of the group was. Behind him were Rosemary and Luna.
"There was one running away and I pegged him as he went in the tall grass down the hill." Luna's cheeks were flushed red and were crusted over with snot from crying profusely.
Abby's eyes met Luna's with comfort. "You're okay, Luna."
"You know who isn't okay?" Marcus chuckled. "All those fuckers who were blown to pieces. Who the fuck do they think they are fuckin with?" Pulling out a toothpick he stuck it in the right side of his mouth.
"I wouldn't use those exact words," Ian mumbles, glancing over at Marcus with a slight grin. "We did take out everyone with max elegance. My last shot was quite extravagant, right to the neck."
"You guys are a bunch of clowns and I love it," Cody states, laughing. "Let's scavenge for some ammo and meet at the bottom of the hill. We've got some business to take care of."
A few minutes later, Abby trailed down the hill with Luna in tow, holding two small brown leather sacks filled with ammo.
"Hey, are you doing okay up there?" Luna squeaked as she ran up with a brown leather sack in her hand, picking up ammo from a few dead bodies.
"Just lost in my thoughts," Abby states. Turning back to her friend, she slowed her pace to draw closer. "You know, when I shot that guy, his eyes were closed. I didn't see the white in his eyes fade away," she remarked.
"Since you lived on a farm you had to put animals down, but this was different." Luna noticed that Abby stopped and turned towards her, her eyes puffed and red.
"Yeah. I had to kill one of our horses. His name was Richard, and I knew him since he was a small little thing. My father told me how to take him out and put a shotgun to his head so he wouldn't be hunted." Abby lifted her eyes to the sky. "I want to remember him as a proud beast, not with two back legs that were failing him. He plowed many of our fields with his strength that rivaled at least 10 horses. My mother would say that he was a gift from the gods and without that horse we wouldn't have made it through some of the harshest winters."
"What about your family name and what your grandfather did for our nation? I would think you would be swimming in wealth." Luna's eyes perked up, bouncing from the left to the right after asking a question that she felt was a little bit awkward.
"It's okay you asked that." Abby's eyes traced the afternoon sun which was beating down and sapping their energy more each moment. "Our family decided to live on 10% of the wealth that our grandfather amassed. The rest of it is donated to colleges around the country." Abby turned back towards the bottom of the hill, starting to walk slowly to keep pace with Luna.
"That's why you're different. You know about work ethic. Should've assumed I when I first met you," Luna states, looking slightly at the ground with her glasses slipping ever so slightly because of the sweat amassing on her nose.
Before Abby could respond, she noticed Rosemary waving at the bottom of the hill.