"Come on. Hide behind this rock." Said a girl in her late teens.
Her group of six filed in behind a large boulder. These were her best friends. The ginger-headed girl beside her was Shelby, and her boyfriend Harrison was on her other side. Next to him was a small, blonde headed boy whose name was Carter, and on the end was a Filipino girl named Frances. Snowball was the leader's white German Shepard Dog, her ears pulled back in fear. Lastly, the tall, brunette leader's name was Emma. She was trying her hardest to keep her friends alive after the large nuclear war that had destroyed almost everything. Now they were behind a rock, hiding from a group of Raiders.
"I don't think there's anything here." A gruff voice reported "Let's move out."
The footsteps of the Raiders faded as they moved on to find someone to steal from and terrorize. After about a minute of silence, Emma and her colleagues started walking again. Their walk was interrupted by a scream. The small group all flicked their fear filled eyes at one another. Skittishly, Emma checked her surroundings.
"Stay here in these bushes." The girl whispered "Shelby, you come with me. Bring your gun."
The two girls, quick and silent, ran to the noise. They pushed back a group of bare branches that opened up into a small clearing. In the hollow, a girl was screaming and an unarmed young man faced a huge, mutated bear-like figure.
"A Yao Guai." Emma gasped."We need to help help them!"
She turned to Shelby whose eyes were filled with fear and shock. Emma covered her friend's mouth as she tried to scream. Luckily the Yao Guai didn't hear them, but it did rear up ready to charge at the others on the opposite side of the expanse. Emma left Shelby in the bush as she ran towards the deformed bear, shooting at it with her rifle. The monstrous creature turned from the two people and charged towards Emma. She shot and wounded the Yao Guai multiple times as it ran, and she said a small silent prayer.
Lord, please don't let me die. And if I do die, please don't let anyone else get hurt.
The bear was only a few feet away when Shelby screamed. The Yao Guai stopped and growled again as Shelby started shooting and running towards it. The bear swiped at the orange headed girl and knocked her to the ground, making her glasses fly into the air. The ferocious creature slowly walked up to the teenager laying in the grass, growling. Emma felt a mix of fear and protectiveness trickle through her veins.
Dear God, I know what I must do. I am so, so very sorry about what I'm doing.
She lifted up her rifle with shaking hands and aimed at the base of the Yao Guai's neck.
"I'm sorry" she whispered
She shut her eyes tightly as the bullet dug into the flesh of the bear.