Thanks for reading and for all your comments on the previous chapter.
xxxxx
"Get down," Callen yelled unnecessarily as both Kensi and Sam were already in the midst of doing just that.
They waited in tense anticipation for more gunshots, but there were none. "Anyone see anything?" Sam asked.
"No, but it's obvious someone knows we're here," Callen replied, his eyes gazing off into the distance of where he estimated the shot could have come from.
Sam turned towards Deeks who was grimacing as Kensi had her hands placed on his right shoulder, applying pressure to where the bullet had entered, as she tried to stop the bleeding.
"I'm alright," Deeks stated, trying to reassure his friends. However, he looked anything but alright. Finally, after about 10 minutes, the bleeding began to slow.
"I wish we had some bandages or something," Sam stated as he carefully examined Deeks' shoulder and noted that the bullet hadn't gone through so it was somewhere inside Deeks' body. Sam took his canteen and began to pour water over the wound to clean it out as well as he could.
"Take my shirt, I've got a t-shirt underneath," Callen said as he undid the buttons and took it off, then passed it off to his partner. Sam tore the shirt and set to work tightly bandaging Deeks' shoulder. It certainly wasn't a sterile bandage, but it was better than nothing. He then stuffed the rest of Callen's shirt into his pocket for later use.
"What should we do?" Kensi asked. "We can't just stay here. They could be on their way to us."
"No…you're right about that," Sam said. He studied the area around them and saw some large rocks, a short distance away, which would provide some cover. "Let's try to make it over there," he suggested. "I'll help you, Deeks." Keeping low to the ground, they made their way over to the rocks where Sam made Deeks as comfortable as he could, then covered him with a blanket.
"We can't just stay here waiting, Sam. This cover does us no good without guns. We're sitting ducks." Callen said. "I think we need to be proactive."
"What are you thinking, G?"
"I think we should backtrack a little bit and see if we can spot anyone. Maybe we can take some of them out."
Sam thought about what Callen was saying for a few moments and finally nodded. Sitting here and waiting to be picked off wasn't going to do them any good at all. Now Deeks needed medical attention, which made their situation even more ominous. "Are you two going to be okay here?" Sam asked, turning his attention to Kensi and Deeks. He didn't like leaving them alone, but they were running out of viable options. Evidently their head start, if they had really ever had it to begin with, had run out.
Kensi nodded. "We'll be fine, Sam. Please be careful."
With that, Callen and Sam headed back in the direction they had come from.
xxxxx
"Here, Deeks, drink some water," Kensi said softly as she took the cover off his canteen and raised It to his lips.
Deeks took a couple of sips and then turned his head away. "That's enough." He shifted and held back a moan of pain as he unsuccessfully tried to get more comfortable. It wasn't an easy task on the hard, rocky surface he was lying on though. "I don't like that they're going after them alone," he said. "I can't believe I was so stupid to get shot."
"Deeks, stop that," Kensi admonished him gently. "You weren't stupid. How were you supposed to avoid that? You didn't see them. None of us did. It could have been any one of us who got hit. You were just the unlucky one."
Deeks shifted again and winced as a bolt of pain shot through his shoulder. "Dammit."
Kensi looked at him thoughtfully for a few moments and then moved over so she was sitting right behind him. "Come here," she said softly as she gently tried to position him so his head was in her lap. She then gently wrapped her arms around him. "Is that better?"
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then nodded. "Yes, it's better, Kens…thanks."
"You let me know if there's anything I can do for you, okay?" Kensi looked down at the ground by her side and made sure the stone knife was within easy reach. It was very primitive, but she was ready and willing to use it if anyone came close to them. She would do everything in her power to protect herself and Deeks.
xxxxx
"So…how bad is Deeks' wound?" Callen asked after he and Sam had walked a short distance away from where they had left Kensi and Deeks.
"It's not great," Sam replied with a worried expression as he briefly met his partner's eyes. "Of course, any kind of a wound out here isn't exactly a good thing. Not without any kind of medical supplies. At least we have fresh water, but that's the only thing we have in our favor. We really need to figure a way to get out of this mess."
"I really wish…" Callen abruptly stopped talking and cocked his head slightly to the side as he listened intently. He then motioned with his hand over to the left and Sam silently crept over in that direction, while Callen went the opposite way. It didn't take long for Callen to spot two men. They were standing in a small clearing, laughing.
"That guy didn't know what hit him," one of the men said. "This is so easy. We can just play with them until Bart decides to swoop in and make them all pay."
"Yep, they'll be taken care of once and for all. Bart thought they might be a challenge, but I haven't seen any evidence of that. They're just running like scared rabbits. This is definitely easy money," the other guy said.
Callen watched as Sam counted off with his fingers, one, two, three… He then sprang at the man closest to him at the same moment that Sam went for the other guy.
Callen tackled his man, knocking him to the ground. Both sets of hands then struggled to gain sole custody of the rifle. Suddenly, Callen heard a gunshot, and at that moment, the guy he was wrestling with, aimed a hard kick into his injured side, which caused him to lose his grip on the rifle. The man then stood up with a sinister grin and pointed the gun at Callen, but another gunshot rang out and he fell to the ground. "Thanks, Sam," Callen said as he gingerly got up from the ground, brushed himself off, and then made sure the guy was dead. Thanks to the kick, the pain in his side had flared up again, but he forced himself not to react to it. There were much more important things to worry about. "Is he dead too?" he asked, looking at the first man who Sam had shot.
Sam nodded. "Yeah, he's dead. Are you okay, G?"
"I'm fine," Callen said with a nod.
Sam looked back at his partner skeptically. He didn't really believe him, but there was nothing he could really do about it anyhow. For now, he would just have to take Callen at his word.
xxxxx
Deeks had been lightly dozing, but when the sound of the first gunshot rang out, he awoke with a start, confused and disoriented. "Kensi?"
"Shhh… I'm right here, Deeks," Kensi murmured. "You're okay." They both jumped slightly when the sound of a second shot was heard.
"What was that?" he asked, looking around. "Where are Callen and Sam?"
"They backtracked to see if they could take some of them down," Kensi said gently as she softly brushed Deeks' hair back from his forehead. "Remember?"
"Yeah…yeah, I remember," he said as he tried to sit up. "But, it's a bad idea. We need to help them."
"No, you need to stay put," Kensi said as she gently but firmly kept her hands on his chest to keep him from sitting up.
"We need to help them. They might be hurt, or worse," Deeks said insistently. "Did you not hear those gunshots? We can't just leave them."
"Yes, I heard the gunshots, Deeks," Kensi said, "but for right now, staying put is exactly what we need to do." She wanted to go after Sam and Callen in the worst way, but she couldn't leave Deeks alone. "They haven't been gone long. We need to wait…hopefully, they'll be back soon."
xxxxx
"Let's check them out, see if they have anything we can use, ammo or whatever else they might have." Callen said. He first searched through the dead man's pockets but found nothing. He then picked up a small canvas bag from the ground and opened it. "Jackpot," he said as he shuffled through it. "I've got ammo, some first aid stuff and a couple of protein bars in here."
Sam found another bag on the ground, next to the first guy he had killed, with similar contents. He picked up the rifle and bag. "Come on, let's get out of here."
"Are we just going to leave these guys here?" Callen asked, a concerned expression on his face. "Aren't they pretty much a road map for whoever comes along after them?"
Sam shook his head. "What do you suggest we do, G? We can't bury them. We don't have the time and even if we did, we don't have anything to dig with. Anyhow, I'm sure some of Bart's men heard the gunshots."
"I was thinking we could toss them in the river," Callen stated. "Depending on where his men are situated, they might not be able to figure out where the shots came from." He hesitated for a moment, looking puzzled.
"What is it?" Sam asked.
"I didn't find any kind of a radio or walkie talkie, did you?"
"No…" Sam did another thorough search of the first body but found nothing except for a compass which he had missed on the first search. He put it into the canvas bag with the other items. "That's really weird."
Callen nodded. "Wouldn't you think these guys would have some way of keeping in touch with each other?"
"I would definitely think that. I don't see anything though. In any case, I want to get back to Kensi and Deeks. Let's dump these guys and head on back. Sam went to lift one of the men from the ground and Callen saw the walkie talkie which had been underneath him. He grabbed it and put it into the canvas bag then went over to pick up the other guy from the ground.
"G, don't," Sam said. "I'll carry them."
"I can carry one of them, Sam," Callen said.
Sam shook his head, deciding to try a different tact. "Just take this guy's feet. Come on, it'll be faster if we just work together."
Callen knew that Sam could easily carry the body on his own and was just trying to protect him, but he did as his partner asked, not wanting to further increase the pain from his injury. After the bodies had been disposed of, they headed back to where they had left Kensi and Deeks.
xxxxx
Kensi was becomingly increasingly worried as the time went by and there was no sign of Callen or Sam. She looked down at Deeks and gently touched his forehead. She was trying very hard not to let him know how scared she was for him. She breathed a sigh of relief when she finally saw Callen and Sam approaching. "What happened?" she asked as they ducked down behind the rocks. "I thought you might have been shot." She eyed the bags and rifles they were carrying. "How many did you get?"
"Two," said Sam, his eyes on Deeks. "How is he?"
"He's in a lot of pain and he's been a little bit out of it. I'm really worried about him, Sam."
"I know you are," Sam said. "'We did get some first aid stuff. Now I can properly take care of his wound, at least for the time being.
"I'm just concerned about the bullet being in there. I wish it had just gone straight through."
"I'll take care of him, Kens," Sam said, trying to reassure her.
"He needs a doctor and a hospital," Kensi said.
"Kensi…" Deeks struggled to open his eyes and looked up at her. "I'll be okay, baby. It…it doesn't even feel that bad. Don't worry."
"I'm always going to worry about you," Kensi said as she leaned down and gave him a light kiss. "Try to rest."
Callen watched the couple worriedly. The fact that they now had weapons made him feel a little better, but Deeks being hurt was a huge cause for concern. They definitely needed to come up with a plan, sooner rather than later.