I want to thank everyone still reading this story despite the shaky start. The action is indeed starting now, and it's only going to get worse for the women. I have the rest planned out and it will be roughly 12 chapters. The next couple are written and just need to be revised so they'll be up in the next few days. Please read and review. :-)

~WMC~

Chapter Four.

Cindy and Claire walked along a well-worn path, the red head's arm looped through the older woman's affectionately. Martha ran ahead, sniffing excitedly before running back to the women and circling around their feet, yapping happily. They had been walking along at a nice pace for nearly an hour now and the border collie didn't show any signs of tiring yet.
"Did I tell you what Ed wanted to call Nate if he was a girl?" Claire asked, continuing with their subject of names.
Cindy wrinkled her nose and shook her head.
"Beatrice."
Cindy collapsed into giggles, holding onto Claire to keep herself standing. "No..."
Claire nodded, eyes twinkling. "Yes, he did. It was his grandmother's name."
Cindy wiped the tears away from her eyes as they stepped over a fallen log that blocked the path. "What did you say when he told you that?"
Claire smirked. "I told him in that case, if he was a boy I wanted to name him Bertram after my grandfather." The older woman chuckled, giving Cindy a wink.
"Poor Nate. Does he know..."
Cindy suddenly stopped talking as Martha backed up to them, growling softly, eyes staring ahead at something they couldn't see because of the trees.
"What is it, Martha?" Cindy asked the dog as if she could answer. She reached down and grabbed her collar, letting go of Claire in the process.
"I can hear people." Claire whispered in the reporter's ear, before silently creeping forward to peer through the trees. Cindy came up behind her, and together they saw a small clearing about a quarter of a mile ahead, a small house sat in the middle of it. Claire noticed there were two dark haired men argueing with a third man with light blonde hair. Claire reached her arm behind her and gripped Cindy's shoulder, motioning for her to be quiet.
They couldn't quite make out the words, but the dark haired men were getting angrier and angrier as the blonde spoke calmly, hands raised palm up in defense. Before the women could even blink, one of the brunettes pulled a gun out of his pocket and shot the blonde point blank in the head. He was dead before he hit the ground, Claire knew. Cindy gasped, and Claire spun around, clasping her hand over the younger woman's mouth. She cursed silently as Martha let out a loud bark, causing the men to look up and seemingly right at them. They started moving towards them at a fast pace, shouting incoherantly.
"Cindy, run!" Claire cried, and that was all the encouragement the red head needed. The two women and Martha ran through the bush as fast as they dared towards the cabin, hearing the men's shouts getting closer, and then further away again. They had to keep running.
Cindy was faster than the mother of two, so when she heard a sharp cry of pain she spun around and ran back to Claire who sat on the ground, clutching her left ankle.
"Claire... Oh my god, are you okay?" Cindy asked, eyes wild. Claire nodded, biting her lip to keep from crying out again. Cindy glanced around. She couldn't hear the men any longer. They must have gone a different way.
"What can I do?" Cindy's voice conveyed her concern. She knelt next to her friend as Claire pulled her shoe and sock off. Cindy gasped at the swelling that was already visible.
Claire looked up, a steely determination in her eyes. "Help me up."
Cindy nodded. She wrapped her right arm around Claire's waist and stood up, hoisting the M.E with her.
"All I wanted was a nice, relaxing weekend with my girls. Is that too much to ask?" Claire muttered through clenched teeth as they ambled along slowly. Cindy reached up with her left hand and brushed away a lock of dark hair from the woman's sweaty forehead.
"No, it's not. We'll get our weekend, don't you worry." She promised with a false cheeriness.
Steadily and slowly, stopping every few minutes so Claire could take a break, they made their way back to the house. After nearly half an hour, Cindy glanced around. Guilt flooded through her as she discovered what was missing.
"Shit. Where's Martha?"

Jill woke reluctantly at hearing a scratching against the front door. It took her a minute to comprehend where she was, and another minute to untangle herself from the sheets, yet the scratching continued.
"Coming, coming..." Jill mumbled. She clumsily unlocked the front door and pulled it open, nearly falling over backwards as a black and white streak flew past her legs.
"What the..."
When she realised it had been Martha, the blonde poked her head outside and looked around. Surely the border collie wouldn't have just run off on the girls? She was too loyal for that. Not seeing anyone, Jill stepped back inside and shut the door.
"What's going on?"
Jill spun around as she heard Lindsay's sleepy voice behind her.
"That's what I'd like to know." Jill looked at her watch. "Claire and Cindy should have been back by now."
"Martha wouldn't have come back here without them. Something must have happened." Lindsay decided.
"What is she, Lassie now?" Jill snapped, her irritation more out of worry for her friends. Lindsay seemed to understand this and just shrugged.
"We should go check, just to make sure."
Jill nodded as she chucked Lindsay her coat, shrugging into hers. They slipped on their shoes as Martha ran circles around Lindsay, tail wagging as she barked.
"Maybe she'll show us the way." Jill muttered. Her and Lindsay walked outside with Martha, barely having time to shut the front door before Martha took off, stopping every few feet to make sure they were following.
Lindsay gave the blonde a mocking grin and Jill shook her head in warning.
"Don't say a word."