The pain is all-consuming. I’ve never had an adversary attack like this so relentlessly, as if it has a personal vendetta against me. I can’t get a punch or kick in at this point. My only option is to wrestle it to the ground.
It’s ferocious and strong, but I’m stronger. I throw my body weight on it, pinning it to the earth as Vivia comes running with my gun.
“Fucking wish I could shoot,” she says on a sob. “Here!”
She could shoot me. She could run.
She holds it out to me. I try to reach for the gun but can’t. As soon as I reach my hand out, I’m met with cruel teeth and another bite that sends pain radiating through every nerve in my body. I stifle my screams, not wanting to scare Vivia. The gun falls to the ground and goes off. Vivia screams.
“Are you okay?” I yell, over the snarls and turmoil.
“Oh my God, you’re being attacked by a savage beast and you’re worried about me? Kill it, Dario. Kill it!”
She lifts a huge branch from the ground, rears backs, and swings it with all she’s got. The coyote whimpers and cries, falling to the ground. She whacks it again. It won’t stay down for long, but I have just enough time to grab the gun and cock it.
“Hit it again!” I scream. She quickly swings the club and clocks it across the jaw. She isn’t strong enough to really hurt it, so she’s only managed to infuriate it. I can almost hear the creature think, hear the decision to attack and kill the woman that has the nerve to hit it. She’s next.
I never miss.
I aim my gun, my hand shaking with the effort of holding my aim as I point it at the coyote’s skull. Just as it lunges at Vivia and she trips, falling down, I pull the trigger. She screams as the bullet sinks deep into the eye socket.
I shoot it again, and again, until I’m confident it won’t attack again. The beast falls, dead, on top of her.
“It’s dead, Dario,” Vivia says in a choked plea. “It’s dead. Let it go. Please, let it go. We might need those bullets.” She swallows as she pushes the animal off of her and gets to her feet. “It isn’t going to hurt me or you anymore, Dario.”
She’s using a gentle tone, her voice tender as she reaches for me. “Now come inside with me and let’s get you cleaned up.”
I wonder at first why she’s treating me with kid gloves, as if she’s afraid that I’m going to run or do something drastic. Does she think I’m going to hurt her? But when I look down at myself, barely clothed, lacerations and open wounds oozing blood and gore all over my body, I realize she’s in shock. She’s seen me attacked and faced her own endangerment. She doesn’t know how I’ll respond this badly injured.
I sink to my knees, lightheaded.
“Please,” she says on a whisper, her hand in mine. “Hold onto me. But I can’t carry you, Dario. And I can’t take care of you out here in the woods. I don’t know what kinds of animals will come for the carcass, or if it was alone. Please,” she says, her voice breaking. “You’re too heavy for me to carry, or I would.”
She would. This woman…
I push myself to my feet. I’ve faced worse than this. Even with my head swimming and my body aching, I manage to get myself to the doorway with Vivia’s help. Poor girl bows under my weight, and I try to put as little on her as I can. I stagger through the doorway and collapse by the fire.
“Can you make it to the bed?” she whispers.
I shake my head. “Not yet.” My voice sounds distant and hollow as my body teems with pain. I need to staunch some of these wounds fast before I lose too much blood. I’m baffled as to how one animal can cause such damage so quickly.
I close my eyes. I want to sleep.
“Don’t you dare go to sleep on me,” Vivia says sternly. “You listen to me. We have to get these wounds treated and I can’t have you passing out on me. Stay with me. You know more about these things than I do, you have to help me through it.”
I nod. “Hot water,” I croak out. It’s getting harder to talk, but I can still do it. My head throbs with pain. Jesus, I feel like a pussy for letting a fucking coyote get the better of me.
“On it.” She leaps to her feet and fills the metal bucket we use for heating water and bathing. Thankfully she’s now skilled at this, and soon the water sits over an open flame. It will take a while to heat, though.
“Can you find the first aid kit?”
She nods. It’s then that I realize she’s crying. Tears flow freely down her cheeks.
“Vivia,” I ask, surprised. “You okay? What is it?”
She shakes her head and doesn’t answer, as she walks to where we keep the first aid kid. I watch her pick it up then drop it because her hands tremble so badly.
“Vivia.” My voice is sterner. I want to know what’s going on.