“Hey, asshole!” I called, sensing Jake next to me, now, ready to attack. “Get the fuck away from her!”
I heard Jake’s snarls and even though I could only see the distorted silhouette of the dog, I knew he was baring his teeth menacingly.
The man looked up briefly, but called back, “Mind your own damn business,” before returning to attacking the poor woman, as if I was simply going to leave him.
Now, his ignorance was starting to piss me the fuck off.
Jake and I immediately moved forward. I grabbed the man’s arm and yanked him back. He tried to hit me, using the force with which I pulled him back, but I was easily able to dodge it.
However, perceiving danger, Jake leapt at the man, grabbing his outstretched arm, and shaking it back and forth with warning.
The man screamed out and I pulled the now nearly unconscious woman away from her attacker.
Jake allowed the man to break free from his grasp but growled at him as the man staggered to his feet and forced himself to run in the opposite direction, disappearing into the woods.
Briefly, I thought about going after him and the way that the massive dog beside me was poised, I could tell Jake was ready for the moment I gave the word.
However, after considering the option for a moment, I ultimately decided against it.
Instead, I turned my attention to the woman, who had by now, passed out completely.
I knelt next to her, being sure to give her space in case she woke up and carefully checked her vitals.
Jake circled us, with his eyes glued to the woods, as though he was waiting for the man to return.
From what I could tell in the darkness, the woman was bleeding from the head, but I couldn’t tell anything else.
“Shit,” I muttered, removing my shirt, and pressing it against the wound, hoping to stop the bleeding.
I looked around, but found no source of light, so I decided that I didn’t have much of a choice, other than to move her.
In the time it took for me to do all this and come to my conclusion, the man hadn’t yet come back, but I had a feeling that he was stupid enough to try me again and this time, I didn’t think he would be using his fists.
So, I scooped her up and started the trek back to my cabin.
“Jake, come,” I commanded as I headed out of the small clearing. Instantly, the dog listened, leaping back toward me before breaking out in front.
I watched him as he crossed back and forth a little bit ahead of me, ensuring that we weren’t heading toward any danger.
As we moved, I thought about taking her directly to the ranger’s station, but I knew that would take a long time and I wasn’t sure if she would make it.
I could feel the blood pulsing, soaking my shirt and knew that she needed to get to a safe area as soon as possible.
Therefore, it didn’t take me long to conclude that I had to take her back to my cabin. While I didn’t want to take her back, I felt as though I didn’t have much of a choice. I knew that regardless of my own fears and issues, I needed to keep her safe and taking her back to the cabin was the best way to accomplish that.
Considering, there’s a large possibility that she could blead to death before I got her anywhere else and there was a slightly less, yet still plausible possibility that the crazy guy could be coming after us, I wanted to be on familiar ground.
If he came back, I would be ready and regardless of what he planned, I wasn’t going to be using my fucking fists this time either.
Even as we neared the cabin, Jake continued his perimeter check while I focused on getting her inside as quick as possible.
Carrying her took three times longer than running, which was even more aggravating, considering I was getting tired by now, as the adrenaline was wearing off.
It seemed to take forever, but eventually, I saw the light from my fire flickering in the distance and I couldn’t help but feel relieved.
In addition to the threat on her life and possibly my own, I also didn’t want this woman to wake up and think that some mountain man was trying to abduct her; especially after the ordeal she had already endured.
I thought that if I could get her back to the cabin and fixed up before she regained consciousness, I would be able to explain what had happened, assuring her that her modesty was in-tact and she needn’t worry.