The shot came from behind Emily. It ricocheted off one of the metal signs next to me, the clang nearly deafening me.
Emily flinched, then turned and fired into the darkness.
I heard Carter yell, “Goddammit!” and then an unmistakable thud onto the dirt path.
I leapt at her. She came back toward me, and I swung my open hand at the gun as it came around. It went flying back behind to my left.
My momentum carried me into her, my shoulder hitting her in the chest, and we tumbled to the ground.
I reached for her, but she rolled to her right, creating a small cushion of space between us, and spun around toward the ledge. I pushed myself up and pivoted on my knees. I saw the gun near the edge of the cliff where Randall had fallen.
Emily scrambled to her feet, glanced at me, and charged for the gun.
I got up, took two steps, and dove for her. We collided in front of the gun, shiny and bright in the moonlight. I reached for it, and she bit down on my biceps. I screamed and reached for her with my other arm, but she slapped it away, her teeth sinking deeper into my flesh. I reached again with my free arm, found a handful of hair, and yanked back.
She yelped but managed to move forward toward the gun. I reached for her and grabbed at the waist of her jeans. We wrestled for a moment, and I twisted as I tried to pull her away from the gun. She looked back, her face tight with anger, and jammed her foot into my crotch. The air left my body, and I lost my grip on her.
I rolled onto my back and watched her get to her knees, reaching for the gun now near my shoes. She brought herself to her feet, squatted, and started to turn to me as she stood up, the gun barrel flashing in the moonlight as it came around.
The air wouldn’t return to my body, a screaming pain burning its way from my groin to stomach. I knew I had one chance at not getting shot, and I knew either way the end result would be tragic.
As she turned, I watched her eyes, now completely unfamiliar to me. Fury raged in her face and body. I couldn’t believe I’d been fooled.
I brought my knee back to my chest, then shot my leg at her as hard as I could, a deep, ugly grunt emerging from my mouth.
I caught her flush on the hip. Her body bent in half, then whipped back the opposite direction as she left the ground. The gun flew up in the air, and Emily flew over the cliff, her eyes still angry as she disappeared over the side.