Hunter in the Darkness

Bang!

A gunshot rang out as Xia Lei pulled Annina to the ground.

The bullet shaved past Xia Lei’s shoulder and hit the grass, sending up a spray of leaves and dirt.

The person who’d fired the shot was the leader of the group whose face Xia Lei had kicked and the other four were also people who Xia Lei had beaten up last night. Two of them still had their heads in bandages; they’d been hit with a brick.

Josef was alarmed and frightened and fled in the direction of his house.

Bang, bang, bang! One of the motorcycle riders fired three shots at Josef’s back.

Josef fell to the ground, his white shirt stained red in an instant.

Xia Lei did not hesitate - he gathered Annina in his arms and ran into the woods when Josef got shot. Annina regained her wits only after they entered the woods and her face was drained of colour.

“Go after them!” roared the leader, “Kill them!”

Xia Lei pulled a terrified Annina deeper into the woods.

Five gang members got off their vehicles and went chasing in the direction Xia Lei and Annina had fled in, firing their guns as they chased.

“They’ll kill us!” cried Annina as she ran, “We’re dead this time!”

Xia Lei held her hand tight, “Shush. They’ll find us.”

Annina shut up. Her brain could not think normally anymore and she allowed Xia Lei to pull her deeper into the woods.

The woods were shrouded in darkness and moonlight could not penetrate the dense canopy to illuminate the way. This gave Xia Lei a chances to shake his pursuers off his trail since he could see what he needed to see in the dark thanks to his left eye.

Xia Lei ran, looking back occasionally and changing his route several times. Finally, he dragged Annina towards her own home. The woods were not big and those five gang members would be able to finish searching the whole place quickly so hiding in the woods was a definitely a stupid decision to make.

“Does the gun in your home still work?” Xia Lei asked as soon as they were in sight of Annina’s home.

“Yes, I’ll get the gun!” said Annina nervously.

Xia Lei let go of her hand and looked back. He could see the five gang members approaching from the woods. They were working well together, each spread out ten metres and reporting to each other as they searched the woods.

Seven to eight minutes had passed since Josef was shot. The residents of the town would definitely call the police upon hearing gunshots but this town had no police station and the city police needed at least thirty minutes to get here. This was why the gang members were able to go after Annina and himself so brazenly with guns.

Annina quickly brought the hunting gun out and placed it and some ammunition in Xia Lei’s hands.

Xia Lei took the gun and looked it over, then pointed it at the woods.

“Have you fired a gun before?” asked Annina worriedly.

Xia Lei shook his head, “Never.”

“What?” exclaimed Annina in surprise, “Then what do you want the gun for? Let’s escape on the motorcycle!”

“Those guys have motorcycles too. They’ll easily catch up to us if we try to escape that way. They’re all armed too. We’re dead if they catch up to us,” said Xia Lei.

“But… You don’t know how to shoot. I’ve done some shooting but I haven’t ever killed so much as a rabbit, much less a human. What do we do?” Annina was apprehensive.

Xia Lei put the gun back in Annina’s hands, “You’re going to shoot.”

“Me?” Annina’s jaw dropped. She could not believe that this was Xia Lei’s idea.

“My sense of sight and hearing are very good. I’ll tell you which direction to shoot and you shoot, all right?” said Xia Lei.

Annina shook her head, a look of despair on her face, “No, that’s a terrible idea.”

Xia Lei put his hands on her shoulders, “You’ve already guessed that it was me last night, right?”

Annina nodded.

“They had guns then too but I still took them down. This time is no different. Trust me. We will be fine,” said Xia Lei.

“I trust you but the woods are so dark I can’t see the targets. My gun skills are lousy too so I may not be able to hit the target even if I can see it,” said Annina.

“I’ll be your eyes. Let’s go. They’re almost here,” said Xia Lei.

Annina finally nodded and followed Xia Lei back into the woods.

Firing the gun was simple - aim, pull the trigger and let the bullet finish the job. It was no problem at all for Xia Lei to fire the gun but he did not want to do it. The reason was simply because he would be closely investigated if he shot a German citizen and he did not want that to happen. If he let Annina do the shooting, there would not be any problems even if she killed those gang members since it could be counted as self-defense.

The woods were so dark that visibility was limited to just a few metres but to Xia Lei’s left eye, it was as clear as day and he could even clearly see the ants on the ground. He quickly located the five gang members approaching in their search.

The five gang members were spread out in a line with over ten metres between them and they were quite close to Annina’s home.

Xia Lei held Annina’s hand and snuck quietly to flank them. He hid behind the trunk of a large tree and waited for the closest gang member to walk past his hiding spot. Annina was next to him, shivering in nervousness.

The closest gang member soon walked past.

“Now. In the direction of your home,” said Xia Lei quietly in Annina’s ear.

Annina raised the gun and aimed in the direction of her home. All she saw was inky darkness; there was no target to be seen.

Xia Lei stood close behind her and his hands reached past her waist, his left hand on her left and right on her right. He adjusted her in this position and it was as if he were aiming himself, his hands like a clamp holding her in position - her whole body was in the grip of his ‘clamp’.

Annian was very nervous but it did not all stem from the possibility of killing someone - the position she was in was also a factor.

Xia Lei was also embarrassed and nervous and this close contact made him very sensitive. He took a deep breath, then slowly adjusted the muzzle of Annina’s gun, then whispered in her ear, “Fire.”

Annina pulled the trigger on reflex and a burst of flame spouted from the muzzle of the gun. The gang member who’d passed them not ten metres away fell to the ground with a cry.

Hunting guns use buckshot and the distance of a few metres meant that his body would have been hit by 80% of the shot. He’d been shot so full of holes that he could be a sieve!

The gang member hit by buckshot was motionless after he fell.

The shot done, Xia Lei pulled Annina and ran in the direction of Josef’s home.

“They’re over there!” shouted the leader, “Get them!”

The other four gang members ran towards the shot gang member, shooting blindly as they ran. Xia Lei and Annina were long gone by then.

“Did I hit him?” asked Annina nervously when they stopped running.

“You did, you shot him,” whispered Xia Lei.

“Oh!” Annina exclaimed, then covered her mouth, excited, nervous and afraid all at once.

“Don’t be afraid, we’ll be fine. We just have to hang on for a while more and the police will come,” consoled Xia Lei.

Annina suddenly hugged Xia Lei. She was shaking all over.

Xia Lei patted her back to soothe her and help her calm down. No one could remain calm after shooting someone for the first time and getting a sense of what it was like to kill someone. The one who had pulled the trigger was Annina but it was Xia Lei who acted as the gun stand and scope. The gang member’s death was at least 50% due to him. However, they would be in grave danger if he did not control his emotions.

Xia Lei glanced at the woods and suddenly said to Annina, “Ten o’clock. Aim.”

Annina moved out of Xia Lei’s embrace and raised the gun, pointing it in the ten o’clock position. She could not see if there were any targets in that direction but she trusted Xia Lei’s judgement. She held the gun up but did not move, as if waiting quietly for something. Xia Lei pressed himself close from behind as she had expected and prepared for, and, just like earlier, his hands reached around to guide hers.

“Fire.” Xia Lei said in Annina’s ear.

Annina pulled the trigger decisively.

Bang! A shot rang out and a pit formed in the chest of a gang member. He fell to the ground screamlessly.

Bang, bang, bang! A burst of gunfire came from the darkness, striking the tree trunk that Xia Lei and Annina hid behind.

Xia Lei pulled Annina in a run to the side. They had moved away but the remaining three gang members were still shooting straight at the tree trunk.

Xia Lei was a fearful natural hunter in the darkness!