Remi screams something and then she fires once more at the pissed off moose closing in on her. She misses again, and the animal keeps going for her, like it has a personal vendetta now.
“Stop fucking shooting!” Madix yells, but Remi has already turned around, taking off like a bat out of hell.
“Fuck! Go after her!” Brant demands, and we start sprinting in her direction.
I can’t run as fast as they can with my prosthetic, so I fall behind, and all I can see is a streak of Remi’s flapping blonde hair before she veers off, the moose doing some weird animal yell like it’s letting her know it’s never going to stop coming for her. Maybe it wasn’t going to maul her before, but it sure as hell wants to now.
The moose is way faster than any of us, and I’m worried it’s going to catch Remi from behind. She must be thinking the same thing, because at the next tree that she comes up on, she jumps, reaching the low-hanging branch, and hauls herself up. I feel like I’m watching a gymnast go for gold on the uneven bars.
Thank fuck the moose runs past her with an irritated snort, but it circles back and gouges off the bark of the tree that she’s in with its antlers. Remi squeals and holds onto the branch for dear life when it does it again, and then puts its front hooves on the tree, like it wants to climb the fucker to get to Remi and teach her a lesson.
“Climb!” Madix roars at her.
Remi doesn’t need him to tell her, because before the word is even fully screamed from his throat, she’s already jumped to grab the next highest branch and has pulled herself up. As soon as she’s secure on it, she cups her mouth and sends out another bear call—like that’s fucking helping anything—and the moose opens its mouth and yells right back at her. I don’t even know how shit like this is happening.
Just before we get to her, the moose just yells one last time at her before putting its feet down on the ground again. It slams its antlers against the trunk one last time and then with a huff, it turns and walks away. It shits on his way out, leaving a steaming pile of exactly what he thinks about our interruption of his grazing.
“What the fuck were you thinking?” Madix screams at her as we all rush forward, panting hard and looking up at her from where she’s straddling the branch. “I knew you were fucking crazy, but that was stupid and reckless and completely uncalled for!” Madix accuses.
“It attacked!” she exclaims, her face flushed with anger.
He points an accusatory finger at her. “That moose wasn’t dangerous untilyouspooked and irritated it! What the fuck were you thinking shooting at us?”
“It was running right for Theo, and moose are the most dangerous animals in the forest! Everyone knows that!” she argues, looking completely serious. “And if I was trying to shoot you, you’d be shot! I was trying to get the moose to run away. I didn’t expect it to run towards the gun! Like I said, they’re fucking crazy!”
“Then why the hell didn’t you actually shoot the moose?” Madix challenges.
Remi snorts and gives Madix a scathing look. “Do you think I want all of its relatives coming after me for the rest of our hike back to Endstone? No fucking way, I’m not insane. Moose are like the mob when they have a vendetta. And I’ll have you know, I’m an excellent shot,” she adds tersely.
“You missed!”
“Yeah, but it was onpurpose.See? Excellent,” she retorts.
Madix shakes his head. “How the hell did we get tangled up withyouduring the end of the fucking world?” he asks in exasperation. “You’re a fucking fool, Remington April.”
Oh shit. He just went there.
Brant, Puddles, and I take a step back, as if we’re all just trying to keep from becoming collateral damage from the eruption that's about to happen. Even Coon and the rats back up inside the cage that Brant’s still holding.
Remi jumps down from the tree, landing in front of Madix, and she takes a step toward him. Her blue eyes bright with anger, her temper rising up to meet his. “That’s funny, because the only fool I see around here isyou,”she says, poking him in the chest. “You stomp around these woods like you own them, when you don’t know shit, but you’re just too much of a macho prick to admit it. What’s the real problem here? You too much of a sexist pig to be shown up by a woman? Is that it? Not man enough to take what he wants or admit he’s a lost little puppy who needs help sometimes,Mady?”
Madix takes another step forward, crushing against her so that they’re chest-to-chest. She lifts her chin defiantly, while Madix flexes his fists. They stare each other down, but the way they’re looking at each other, I’m not sure if they’re about to fight or fuck.
I’m going to go with C, all of the above.
16
Madix
“Itold you, don’t fucking call me Mady,” I growl at her, and Remi’s eyes flash with challenge.
“What’s wrong,Mady?” she enunciates the condescending nickname. “Afraid to get shown up by a crazy bitch?”
Is she serious? Oh, she’s instigating the wrong motherfucking person. I plant my leg between hers to anchor myself and to make sure I don’t give her an inch as I lean into her defiantly. Her breathing hitches ever so slightly as I bring my knee up, and I’m suddenly aware of the heat of her pussy through the material of my pants.
I kind of expect her to take a swing at me. Her eyes are filled with anger, her features radiating challenge, but there’s more there, too. A spark of something that makes my own anger morph.
“I’m waiting for an answer,” she demands, but her voice is breathy and low, and when I move my leg again, she barely suppresses a moan.Fuck.Why am I so turned on by that? I want to rip off her jeans and bury myself inside of her, but I also want to shake her, force her to stop doing crazy ass shit. If she dies because of her own stubbornness or stupidity, I’d never forgive myself. Why is she so damn exasperating?
