Chapter VII It wasn't morning. Why had he just woken up _again_? Kim sat up in disgust, and sighed. He really needed some more sleep. Unfortuately, it had taken him a while to get to bed, what with some wolves chasing him and all...the moral of the story: never hang around too long near a dead body. He had determined a few things, though. No, the corpose had not been Korrge. Yes, it had the look of Korrge's work; the gunshot was clean, and it hadn't looked like there had been a struggle. The house had not been lived in, either; Korrge must have been staying somewhere else. The body had the look of being dragged. Dammit, the sight freaked him out _big_ time. How many people had he seen killed so easily in his life? Not many. How easy would it be for Korrge to do the same to him? Not tough. Shit. He'd determined that in the ten minutes before the wolves came for the body, and then he'd left. Amazingly, he hadn't even needed to use up one of his bullets. Korrge was here. Somewhere. That thought had kept him awake long into the night, on his guard, trying to get as far away from the site before someone found him. He needed sleep now. He again lay down. Maybe he could get a little more sleep before dawn; he certainly needed it. -- The place had been good for one night, at least, almost two... Korrge was off again, though, and this time for good reason; he KNEW he'd heard a gunshot. It had come while he was in deep sleep. From the south had come a clear gunshot, the sound amazingly loud -- probably a few miles off, as it was a clear night. The sound had woken him immediately; he knew that he had to find out what had caused it, if for no other reason than the existance of another gun. He ran toward where he'd heard the sound just minutes before. As he went south, he noticed the houses getting sparser and sparser... He was exiting the city? What? He kept running. He drew his own gun; there was no sense in going in unprepared. How far had he run? A mile? Two? He began to realize how hopeless it was. There had been one gunshot, and all he knew was the general direction it had come from; there was no way he'd get any sort of fix on where the person was unless they fired... *CRAK_A_BOOM* This guy was making it almost too easy, wasn't he? It was about four blocks to the west, two south. Korrge broke out into a sprint, because he knew that he was finally close. *CRAK_A_BOOM* Three shots? This guy was insane. Korrge ran towards the site of the last two gunshots -- it hadn't changed, God only knew why -- and turned the corner to see what was going on. It was a girl. She was tall, almost six foot, looked to be about twenty or so. She held a pistol, what looked like a nice one from here, pointing towards a wall. She was shouting. "Goddammit, why'd you have to do it, you little shit? What the fuck happened to you? Dammit, you little sonuva...DAMMIT!" *CRAK_A_BOOM* She pulled the trigger on her pistol again; a bullet hit the wall, gouged another hole out of the already half-destroyed brick. She was insane. Absolutely insane. That on its own didn't mean anything; the fact that she had a gun did. And the fact that she apparently could at least hit the broadside of a building was a whee bit annoying, too. So what was he going to do now? Choices: shoot her now. Let her be, she'll likely kill herself anyway. Try to spook her into putting down the gun. Try to get her to settle down and give him the gun. A: Damned cold blooded. B: Might not work. She might try to kill him instead. C: If this didn't work, she WOULD try to kill him. D: Hopefully, this'll save bullets. Plus, it won't involve a fight...but then again, it might not work, then we're back to A, B, or C. Answer: D. "Lady!" The woman jumped, almost dropped the gun. Is that a good sign, he thought? She yelled into the darkness, confused. "Who the fuck is there? Who's watching me?" Good. She didn't know where he was. If nothing else, that was something to fall back on. "My name is Korrge. What is going ON, lady?" He suddenly realized something important: if he was going to try this option, it wasn't going to work unless she didn't know he could kill her at any time. He put his gun, still cocked, into the back of his pants. She was spinning, her gun held in outstretched hands, ready to shoot anything she saw. "Who are you, dammit! Tell me!" Shit, but she was insane... "I told you, lady! My name is Korrge. I'm a freedom fighter! What are you doing here? This place isn't safe for pretty young things like you!" Gotta lay it on thick, if this was going to work... She spotted him. The gun was instantly aimed at his head. Shit. "Listen, Kroj, I'm not in the mood for this, dammit! Get the hell away from me, _now_, or I'll blow your fucking brains out. Got it?" Dammit. She'd mispronounced his name. He hated that. "Lady, I don't know what your problem is, but would you not point that thing at my..." *CRAK_A_BOOM* The bullet had gone three inches from his head. That wasn't just a close miss; that was a warning shot. "GET AWAY FROM ME." Alright. Plan D had failed. Plan C was as good as any right now. "Listen, lady. I'm not..." "I said _go_!" "Lady! Shut the hell up and listen! If you don't drop that gun _right fuckin' NOW_, I drop you, and you be dead. You understand this, don't you? I don't want to kill you, lady, so you DROP THE GUN NOW." That was a bluff if he'd ever made one, but maybe it would work. "You'll kill me! You'll rape me! Goddammit, you're as bad as...as them!" She looked at him with utter rage -- then her eyes went blank again. "They killed them...they made him...oh shit, they made him..." She turned back towards the wall. *CRAK_A_BOOM* *CRAK_A_BOOM* Two shots, into the wall. In the same location. "He's dead, he's dead, they caused it, they killed them, they..." She suddenly collapsed. The gun fell out of her hands, fell to the ground, out of her reach. She began to sob miserably. Yep. She was insane. Korrge walked over to her slowly. He left the gun in the back of his pants, hopefully reachable if needed... -- Kim again woke. He'd been dreaming of the body. Dreaming of that bullet that had killed the body -- Korrge's bullet. Korrge had done it. Korrge could do it to him...his dream had strayed into Korrge actually _doing_ it to him. In his dream there was a gunshot, as Korrge had pulled the trigger of the gun pointed at his head. It was a dream, he told himself. I woke up. I'm not dead. Korrge didn't kill me. But it had seemed so real! He could almost hear the gunshots... _crak_ Somewhere in the distance there was a gunshot. Oh shit. Kim sat up, grabbed his gun and a few supplies, and ran out of the house he was staying in. He had a feeling he knew where Korrge was.