What is Kensi's fate to be?! As always, please follow and review.
They were still 200 meters down the road from her, two cars powering down the narrow road. Immediately, instinctively, she raised her arm and fired of a shot into the lead car trying to slow them. Then she threw herself into the forest. She paused, just for a fraction of a second, as her eyes adjusted to the drastic change in light, the thick canopy blocking most of the light. It was a good thing, she thought, making it harder for them to see where she had gone. The snow was still a problem though: her footsteps would be obvious. Here and there were bare patches of earth, and she aimed for them at random, jumping from patch to patch, swearing when her foot occasionally hit the soft snow leaving a clear impression. The deeper she went however, the less snow there was, and thirty seconds later she was able to move without leaving a mark. She suddenly veered left, parallel with the road that was a good 200 meters away, meaning that anyone following her would be taken further from Deeks. Her chest was screaming with pain, but she didn't let herself stop. She couldn't put Deeks at risk from her own weakness. She was aware that she was now being followed, but she realized that they were still at a distance, tracking her slowly and carefully rather than speeding after her. That was good, she thought, it might give her time to find somewhere to hide. No matter how much determination she had, she knew that she could not keep her pace up for long.
"Kensi? What's happening?" Callen's voice crackled in her ear. "Talk us through Kensi." He could hear her ragged gasping. It told them all they needed to know about her state. Kensi could run rings around them when it came to fitness.
Kensi tried to draw enough breath to reply but found herself unable, only taking in enough air to keep herself moving forwards. She ignored him, and carried on looking around desperately, trying to find somewhere to conceal herself. Her head and heart were pounding, throbbing in time with each other. With each pulse she said his name, over and over again in her head. Deeks Deeks Deeks Deeks. It was her mantra, her constant reminder to fight through the pain and come out the other side.
She had now passed several thick copses, but she was worried that the men following her would check them. However, she now passed a fourth, thinner one. Perhaps… she stopped running and stumbled to the thick pile of vegetation. Sure enough, there was probably enough space to squeeze into the centre and not be seen. She began to push her way, wincing as long thorns dug into her skin, tucking her face into her shoulder to try and protect it. She pulled her knees up to her chest, and tried desperately to pull enough foliage into all the possible gaps. Then she lay still, trying to stop her ragged breaths. She had barely stopped moving when she heard them approaching.
"There's something over here", one of the men shouted. Kensi tried to peer through a crack in the bush, and could just about make out four figures. One of them was bending over a muddy patch, examining what must have been a footprint. Kensi's heart almost stopped. Which way was the print facing? All her effort could be wasted if it led them straight to her.
"She's going this way." Another man spoke, obviously pointing somewhere, but she couldn't see where.
"Maybe she is trying to loop back to the road?" Kensi's heart leapt as the four men began to move off again, carrying straight on. None of them even glanced at the bush.
She gave it about a minute before she whispered into her radio. "Callen? How's it going?"
"We're about fifteen minutes out now Kensi. The Chopper is going to drop us straight in on your position."
"It's going well down here. I've taken them off my trail for a bit."
"Listen, Kensi, keep moving if you can. A false trail won't keep them for long, and the first thing they will do is retrace their steps."
Kensi sighed, bracing herself for the painful exit from her hiding place. Then she slowly forced herself out, unable to hold back a whimper as she tensed her chest.
Callen winced as the sound carried through the mike. He closed his eyes and willed the chopper to speed up. He looked at Sam and saw the same fear is his eyes. The four of them were a team. What if this was their last mission together?
Kensi pulled herself into a standing position. She felt overwhelmingly weak. Her whole body was shaking and she pressed one hand to a tree for support. She looked around, trying to clear her mind and decide on the best route. The men were still moving, and she wanted to be as far from them as possible. Sighing, she took off again, back down the path she had just run. She was confident that they were only searching for her at the moment. They would not look for her partner until she was found. All she needed was fifteen minutes. She pushed on, refusing to linger on her pain, on the overwhelming cold that was causing her body to spasm. She had dropped the gun twice already, her icy fingers refusing to properly close around it. She wasn't really running anymore, it was more of a forced stumble, almost every step leaving heavy imprints in the mud and snow. And then suddenly she ran out of ground.
She lurched to a stop, grabbing onto a low branch to stop herself slipping down the riverbank that had appeared out of nowhere. She was back at the river, although she couldn't see the car from here. Deeks must be around the next bend. She moaned as she heard the sound of the forest rustling around her. The men must have turned back. They would find her deep trail in no time and then that would be it.
No. She couldn't think like that, not when help was so tantalisingly close. One last flicker of hope rose in her chest. There was still time for Callen and Sam to make it.
She looked at the branch that she was leaning against, then she hauled herself onto it, looping her entire arms around it in order to make up for her numb fingers. She used the trunk to pull herself into standing and looked down at the ground, now a metre away. Then she did the same to the next branch, and the next. Before long, although it felt like an age, she was four metres in the air and there was just enough foliage to shield her from any quick glances into the treetops.
She flattened herself around the branch and waited with baited breath for whatever was coming, listening out desperately for the first hum of the chopper that could be her salvation. All she heard, however, was the sound of approaching voices.
"Looks like she's in a bad way. She can't be much further." They couldn't be more than twenty metres from her.
"See this over here, she must be bleeding." She held her breath, aware that her trail would lead them straight to the riverbank and the place she was hiding. Sure enough, seconds later, she saw movement directly beneath her as the man spoke again.
"Maybe she went down here, into the river?"
"If she did then she's dead for sure. I doubt she has the strength to pull herself back out."
Kensi tensed, desperate for them to accept the river as her fate and move on.
"yea, but if she went in the river surely there would be a few marks on the bank or something."
Kensi's heart almost stopped. All they had to do was look up and they would see her.
"Even if she's not in the river she isn't going anywhere fast. Lets just follow the bank a bit, see if we find her."
No, Kensi thought desperately. Following the bank would lead them to Deeks. She wasn't going to let all her hard work be wasted. She could here the men moving off again. They were following the river downstream, and in a few minutes the car would be in sight.
She waited as long as she dared and then began to force her way back down the tree. Each motion brought a new wave of pain, each painful slide leaving a smear of blood on the bark. Two metres from the ground she took a deep breath and let herself slide off the branch.
She hit the ground with a thud and froze as the sound reverberated through the surrounding trees. After a few seconds she let herself relax, pretty sure that no one else had heard. Then she pulled her self into standing and set off unsteadily along the river, ready to meet the four men.
About thirty seconds passed before she realised that she could hear more than just the ringing in her ears. Finally the dull thump of the helicopter blades could be heard.
"Callen?" she whispered, "you're close aren't you?"
"Yup, you just hang in for a few more minutes and we will have your back."
The hope that those few words gave her fuelled her determination as she stumbled forwards.
Then she heard the men talking and stopped dead in her tracks. They could obviously see something that she couldn't.
"… check the car. You hang back here, tell us if that chopper comes into sight, give us time to get undercover."
They had found him. In a matter of moments he could be dead. Unless she stepped in.
They had left a man behind. If she got rid of one of them then three would be more manageable. Slowly, impossibly quietly, she snuck forwards bringing up the gun as she moved. Three metres from the unsuspecting man she stopped, knelt to the ground, and fired.
The man was dead before he hit the ground.
Instantly she heard shouting, both from the men making their way down the bank and from Callen's panicked voice in her ear.
She dove forwards, grabbing the fallen man's weapon and positioning herself on the edge of the bank, taking aim at the men who were now scrambling back up. Two of them aimed for her whilst the third dove towards the wrecked car, just as the helicopter came into sight.
"PUT DOWN YOUR WEAPONS, WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED." Sam's magnified voice echoed around the valley. The men ignored him. So did Kensi.
She fired her gun, hitting one of the men in the chest as the other pulled the trigger. The bullet burned as it found its target, carving it's way into her shoulder. She gasped from the white hot pain, her body jolting with the shock. The small movement was enough for her to loose her balance, and next thing she knew she was tumbling uncontrollably down the bank.
...
Callen watched in shock at the situation. They had rounded the corner and clearly seen the action unfold, their hopeless attempt to stop the men coming too late. Even from their height he could see how pale Kensi had been, the clear streak of blood running down her face. He could see the crumpled car too, and felt another pang of fear as he just about made out the prone body still slumped in the drivers seat. Then he jumped to action, him and Sam leaning out the open door even as Kensi's apparently unconscious body plunged into the river. Each of them fired continously as the helicopter descended and in mere seconds the last two men lay lifeless on the ground.
But the danger wasn't over yet.
Callen leapt from the helicopter as it hovered a couple of metres above the flowing river. Instantly his body reacted to the shocking cold, his limbs tensing. He ignored the brutal temperature as he desperately aimed for where he had last seen Kensi, his strokes strong and determined. He wasn't going to loose her after all this.
...
Kensi had been conscious when she hit the water. The cold wasn't even so bad anymore. She had almost gotten used to it. Feebly she tried to kick her way back to the dry land, but her body had endured too much. Even lifting her arms to paddle seemed impossible. Gentle waves swept across her face, but in her weakened state they felt insurmountable. She inhaled, gasping for air as icy water hit her lungs, coughs racking her body and using energy she simply did not have. The effort of breathing between the waves was almost too much. She simply could not stay afloat any more.
Unwillingly, uncontrollably, she slipped beneath the water.
Another cliff hanger JWill Callen find Kensi in time?
Stay tuned for the next chapter.