A/N Nothing to say this time around. Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 3: Shotgun surgery

The blood splashed the others and the sound of agonized screaming alerted the hunter to their location. Mike collapsed to the ground and held his shoulder as he cried out. Blood oozed from the wound, but it mostly looked like a graze. Well, as far as a oversized buckshot pellet can graze a child. Reguardless, Frisk and Mono grabbed Mike and drug him deeper into the hole and to safety before the hunter could reload and shoot again. Mike gasped and sputtered in pain as warm blood flowed from his wound and soaked is once forest green shirt.

"Ah... it hurts... it hurts! Nnn!" Mike clenched both his eyes and fists and breathed heavily though his teeth.

"You're lucky it was just a graze. We might be able to stop the bleeding." Chara said. She looked around for a piece of cloth to wrap around the wound, but found nothing. She then patted her pockets, hoping to find something, but again she came up empty handed. "Darn..." Looking around again, she noticed her sleeves. She thought for a moment before ripping one of the arms off and tying it around Mike's shoulder. Mike yelped in agony as the cloth made contact with the fresh hole. "I'm sorry, hut this is for your own good." Mike simply nodded and grittied his teeth as she went to work. He groaned and squirmed as she worked, but eventually she managed to bandage him up to a satisfactory level. "It'll have to do until we find something better. Try not to use that arm much." Mike nodded in reply.

"At least it wasn't my good arm..." He mumbled as he opened and closed his left hand. Even as he used the arm that wasn't even damaged, the moving muscles was enough to disturb his right arm and send white-hot pain through his body.

"Are you okay to continue? Or do you need to rest a bit?" Mono asked.

"I... I think I'll be fine... I'd rather get out of here as soon as I can." The others nodded in understanding as they all made their way through the small tunnel to the other side, where they were instantly met with a short bridge and a large gap.

"That's a big jump... I don't think we can make that." Frisk mumbled.

"There's gotta be another way..." Mono mumbled. He stroked his chin and looked around a bit before spotting something. "Aha!" He exclaimed as he began pulling on a rope, revealing another segment of bridge. It still didn't close the gap, but it gave them enough space to jump over. Starting with the strange girl in the grey shirt, followed by Mike, then Frisk, and finally Chara. After he last person made it, Mono let go of the rope and the bridge fell back down to where it was.

"How are you getting across?" Mike asked. But then, without saying anything, the strange girl walked up to the edge of the bridge and held out her hand. "...Is that really a good idea?"

"It's the best one we got..." Mono replied as he began to psych himself up. He breathed heavilly under his paper bag before taking a few steps back. Next, he ran full sprint at the bridge and using all the muscles he could, lept the large gap. He had no chance of making it on his own, but the girl managed to grab Mono and hoist him to safety. He thanked her and sat down for a few moments to let his nerves calm down. They all decided to take a quick break, which allowed them to take in their surroundings. On the one hand, they had a huge ravine leading to who-knows where in the middle of a spooky forests with dead bodies all over.

"Another day in pqradise..." The girl mumbled. They all nodded solemnly before glancing behind them and spotting a particular cage with a rather small body inside. And atop his head, was a yellow rain hat.

"Poor kid..." Mono said as he shook his head sadly. "Let's go... This place is depressing." They all nodded and gathered themselves up as they pushed forward deeper into the forest. Soon they came to a ledge, which they dropped down from. Unfortunately, the sounds of their feet hitting the ground alerted the hunter who was nearby. The hunter grunted in surprise then aimed his gun to shoot them, but they had just enough time to duck behind a box.

"Ah! No, not again!" Frisk exclaimed.

"Run!" The girl shouted as the hunter reloaded, giving them all time to dash to the next box. Then the next, until finally they came across a building.

"No... Mike, how are you gonna climb that?!" Chara asked.

"Just go! I'll figure it out!" The others dashed ahead and scaled the building. As Mike ran to follow, the hunter shot right in front of him, causing Mike to fall back and fall behind the rest of the group. They looked back at him but he shouted for them to keep going. Not having any other options, they did. Mike groaned as he watched the hunter reload his gun and aim. Mike quickly ducked behind the last box and was then showered by wooden splinters but was otherwise okay. Mike looked up and sqw that everyone else was almost to the top already. "Oh jeeze..." Mike ran to the ladder-like boards that covered the side of the building and he began to climb with his one good hand. It was a slow process, but he was methodical. To fall was to die. Slow and steady was the key, but not too slow either. The first shot the hunter rang off managed to miss Mike, but only barely. He gasped as fresh blood began to stain the bandage due to the effort of his climbing, but he had to ignore the pain. He had to keep climbing. He lifted himself up about a dozen beams and managed to take cover behind a T.V., which got blasted by the hunter and showerdd glass and electrical parts all around. Mike was so close to the top... He had to really pick it up if he had any chance of survival. He climbed a few more planks until his hand grasped the ledge of the building at the same time the hunter had Mike trained in his sights. Using all the energy he had, Mike launched himself upwards and hurled himself into the attic of the building just as the hunter shot the spot where he was barely moments ago. Mike quickly got to his feet and started running again. He saw the others scrambling out a window and barely avoiding bullets in the process. Eventually, they all managed to jump out of the window, fall down the outcropping, and land into the dirty eater below just as the hunter burst though the door and looked around. He saw nothing, so he pulled out his light and began searching again. At the same time, the kids were busy wading though the water and ducking under it while he shined his light on them. They managed to make their way through the water with the clever use of hiding and a log before losing sight if the hunter again. Quickly losing energy, the group tugged their way forward until they happened apon a murder of crows and the hunter not far by. They knew they'd have to make one more mad dash. So, preparing themselves, they all broke into a mad sprint past the crows, which cawed and flew off, alerting the hunter, as they made their way to the small shed. They eventually burst through the door and shut it behind them, but the hunter was soon breaking down the door. While Mono spotted another gun and went to grab it. Frisk, Chara, and the girl all tried their best to keep the door closed and the hunter out. But he was quickly breaking the entire door down to get at them. Mike saw Mono pull the gun down and the others run for it. At the same time, the hunter broke through and aimed his gun at them. Time seemed to slow for Mike as the adrenaline kicked into overdrive. Mike glanced around and noticed a hand saw. He grabbed it. Just as the hunter was about to pull the trigger, his hand suddenly became detached from the rest of his body. The sudden shock caused him to freeze and look up, right at the double barreled aimed right at his head. In an instant pull of the trigger, he was gone. And then... silence. The shot of the gun was loud and stunned the others, but once they came to, they noticed Mike standing there, frozen, with a hand saw in both hands, bleeding from the shoulder profusely.

"I don't... I don't feel so good..." He went pale and collapsed to the floor. The others quickly rushed to help him, but he almost immediately passed out.

Later

Mike awoke to the uneasy rocking of the world. Confused, he groaned and sat up to look around only to notice he was in a door floating on the water. The others noticed Mike's awakening and they scooted over to him.

"You're finally awake. You had us worried for a moment there." Frisk said. Mike asked what happened, to which the others explained.

"Well, after you passed out, we managed to drag you to the beach and set off on this door, but not before scrounging up some things to fix you up." Mono said. Mike groaned and looked at his arm. It seemed to be stitched together rather crudely, but it served its purpose.

"Don't worry, we managed to start a fire. Nothing but the most sterile equipment was used."

"I don't think anything in this place can be called 'sterile' but I'll take what I can get... I can't thank you all enough. Mono, Frisk, Chara... and uh... you girl." The strange girl looked back at Mike and rolled her eyes.

"My name is six." She replied. Mike blinked before his eyes widened. The fog before them was clearing, reveling the edge of a gnarled collection of buildings, bent nearly completly over and at risk of falling down, but then the buildings shifted, as if they were looking at them. They were on new shores for sure, and they had no idea what they had in store for them.