The gunshots sounded as if they could crack a skull. I shuddered at the thought.

But they stopped as quickly as they began and everything was silent.

Unnervingly silent.

"Do you think someone was shot?" Olivia asked, worried.

"It could just be someone hunting," Noah suggested.

"Only one way to find out," I replied, getting up.

"What?! Are you guys insane?" Daisy whisper-shouted.

"Come on, Daisy. We have to make sure there's no one lurking around while we sleep. You know that." Olivia stated matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, you guys can. I'm not coming." she turned and walked towards her tent.

"What if someone comes while we're gone? We have to stick together." I said looking at her.

"Don't worry guys, I got this." Noah gave me a knowing smile, before turning to Daisy confidently.

"So Daisy, are you just going to stay here? All...alone? Where anything could happen to you?" Noah teased, feigning worry. He shuddered dramatically.

"I-" she began, knowing that he had a point.

"Okay, fine." she finally said.

"Don't worry, Daisy," Eli reassured her, smiling in encouragement

"If a bear comes, Noah will be there to protect you." he let out a cheeky laugh, before growling like a bear.

"What?" Noah questioned, hearing his name but not what Eli said.

The kid thought he was hilarious.

Well, he was, but I didn't think telling him would help his ego.

I couldn't help but laugh at him though.

Daisy rolled her eyes, with the faintest smile to cover up her anxiety before grabbing her flashlight.

"Well are we going or what?" I changed the topic, grabbing a flashlight off Olivia. I was unsure of what we were going to find.

"Let's go."

***

We walked through the forest, in the direction of where the gunshots had sounded.

So far, we couldn't see anything.

"Guys let's just go back." Daisy started panicking, the darkness making it harder to notice anything.

"Dais you're fine, we've got you." Noah gave her a comforting look.

In the corner of my eye, I could see Eli making kissy faces at Noah, who glared at him back.

I laughed, shaking my head at Eli.

He gave me an innocent look back and shrugged his shoulders.

"Yeah, I think we should go back too. There doesn't seem to be much here anyway," Olivia said, waving her flashlight around.

But then she stopped, her flashlight pointing down at the wet mud.

Footprints.

Hardly anyone went dog walking in this part of the forest, it was too close to private property.

I kneeled to get a closer look.

There was more than one set of them.

"Must've been a chase," I stated, getting back up to face the group.

We followed the footprints and they led to a middle-aged man on the floor.

Daisy shrieked, startling everyone. Noah tried to pull Eli away from the front, concern etched onto his face.

"Do you reckon he's the one who got shot?" I asked.

Noah went up close and inspected him gingerly, "Nah I don't think so, there's no sign of a gun wound on him or even any blood."

He tried to find the man's pulse and raised his eyebrows in shock, "He's not alive though,"

Daisy gasped, "Oh god. Don't touch him!"

"So who or what got shot?" I asked confused, as nothing matched up.

"Eli, don't get too close to that ditch, you might fall in," Noah warned. "Just stay back, alright?"

"Um, guys..." Eli started, grimacing at something.

"What is it, Eli?" Daisy asked, walking over to him and looking over the ditch.

Her eyes widened, "There's another guy here! He looks badly injured."

Olivia decided to go down the ditch and see for herself.

"Be careful Liv." The ditch looked scary and deep.

"He has a pulse," Olivia called out.

That must have meant he was just unconscious or something.

"Daisy was right though, he looks absolutely beaten up. Yikes!" she exclaimed, taking a step back.

Noah and I went over to where they were.

I looked at the limp, unconscious figure.

"Oh my god." I gasped.

My heart dropped.

"What's wrong?" Eli asked.

I pointed, my hands shaking, "Th-that's Cole."

"Wait really?" Olivia asked, surprised.

"Let's try waking him up," Noah suggested.

"Good idea." I climbed into the ditch and lightly slapped his cheeks in an attempt to wake him up.

It didn't work.

As I turned around to look at Olivia, I heard coughing from behind me.

"Cole?" I called gently. Hopefully, he didn't have a concussion.

He groaned, which told me everything I needed to know.

He was alive.

"Oh my god." I sighed in relief.

"Scout." His voice sounded pained and muffled, even though I was right next to him.

"What happened to you?" I asked, grimacing at the huge gauze on his leg.

"Help me up and I'll explain." he tried to smile, but I could tell it hurt.

Once we got him out of the ditch, I introduced him to everyone.

"Cole, meet my friends, Olivia, Daisy, Noah and Eli." I pointed at each of them, who all waved and said hello.

"Hey guys, sorry you have to see me like this," Cole replied weakly, with a small laugh.

Cole winced as he tried to sit up. He explained that the man on the floor was trying to shoot him for trespassing after I left him at the tracks.

I felt really bad now.

This was all my fault.

"Do you know what happened to the man?" Daisy asked, pointing at the lifeless figure.

"I think he had a heart attack. He was holding his chest and sort of fell to the ground. That's all I saw before I fell unconscious." he replied.

Noah helped Cole up and held his back up.

"You guys don't have to do all of this," Cole said, limping with Noah's support and hissing in pain.

"No, it's fine. It's good to finally have some more testosterone in here anyway." Noah joked.

"But seriously Cole, you literally saved Scout today, it's the least we could do." he continued.

I nodded in agreement.

"We should probably call the ambulance about that guy right?" Eli asked.

"Well he's dead so we're better off calling the police," Olivia replied, taking out her phone and walking away to call the police.

"We should really get Cole bandaged up too," Noah added, giving Cole a once over.

"Did you just call the police, Olivia?" Cole asked.

"Yeah, they said they're on their way, so I'll stay here with Daisy and the rest of you can take Cole back."

"What? Why me?" Daisy got up, looking annoyed.

"It won't be long don't worry," Olivia replied, patting her on the back.

They sat down together waiting for the police, while Noah, Eli and I helped Cole up.

They all somehow managed to walk ahead of me, even though one of them was badly injured. Eli was in front, making sure there was nothing in the way for Cole.

The other two chatted away like they had been friends for years.

Probably about weird guy things.

It was nice to see Noah like that. He was a natural jokester, but his constant internal worrying about his brother tended to consume him sometimes.

I smiled.

Maybe Cole wasn't so bad after all.

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Thanks for reading this chapter! If you enjoyed this one make sure to give me a vote and a comment to share your thoughts/feedback x

We've got our main gang together now, and they're heading back to tend to Cole's wounds. What do we think of them as a squad?

Eli is literally my baby🥺

And Noah too I love their sibling bond, its too cute. 🤗

Stay tuned for the next chapter...it's gonna be an interesting one for sure!

Next update: 6/8/20

Teaser: Cole and Scout reflect on their first meeting as the gang help him with his injuries...and there's a big twist at the end that no one will have seen coming - any predictions? 

clue - it's something to do with Scout😮