The lady Ranger came out of nowhere. One minute they were dragging the elk back to camp and the next minute there she was standing on the little ridge with her stupid dog. All she had to do was walk away. Her and that stupid dog. But she didn’t.

They had hidden in the bushes. She should have walked right by them and not seen them, but no. The dog had to sniff them out. He had to start barking. She could have kept walking, but she must have sensed them because she pulled the gun out of her holster. They couldn’t let her find them or the cabin.

The first rifle shot hit her in the thigh. There was no ballistic armor around her thigh. She went down hard and rolled down the ridge into the ravine. The dog tried to go after her, but the second bullet hit the dog right in the chest. The dog went down hard too. There was a lot of blood. They broke cover and rushed over to the edge of the ravine. The lady Ranger was trying to reach her pistol with one hand, and she was trying to key the mic on her shoulder with the other.

When she saw them, she just froze. Blood was pumping out of her leg. A crimson fountain exploding with each heartbeat. She looked at them and began to plead with them to help her. She had tears in her eyes. They just looked at her. The lady Ranger started to shake. Her breathing got shallow. She seemed so helpless, just lying there in the ravine. The Teacher had taught them not to let anything they hunted suffer. They understood the kill shot. He raised up his rifle and without any hesitation or doubt shot her in the forehead.