"Shit!" Ethan's body moved before his mind could catch up. Driven by pure survival instinct, he lunged sideways into a desperate roll, feeling the searing heat of a bullet slicing through his shoulder.
Pain flared through his nerves, but adrenaline shoved it aside as he scrambled to his feet and sprinted toward the nearest cover, a large boulder jutting from the hillside.
Bullets chased his heels, striking sparks from the rocks as the ground kicked up in bursts of dirt and shattered stone.
His breath burned in his throat, his wounded shoulder throbbing with each step, but somehow, impossibly, he made it behind the boulder.
Pressing his back against the rough stone, Ethan clutched his bleeding shoulder and gasped for air.
"Dammit… dammit…!" His pulse pounded in his ears, nearly drowning out the distant shouts of the gunmen. 'Why?! Why is this happening?!'
From beyond the boulder, the old man's voice echoed through the night, calm, cold, and final.
