She fought hard. Her attacker, anticipating another swing of the board, ducked as he rushed her. But she’d already changed tactics, and this time jabbed him in the gut. He doubled over in pain.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Hastiin Sani kick his attacker’s legs out from under him. Then, in a lightning fast move, he jumped on the man, locking his arms around the man’s neck.

When her own assailant looked up, pain clouding his eyes, Dana jabbed the end of the board directly into his kneecap.

The man cursed and howled as he fell forward, grabbing his knee. Hastiin Sani was on him immediately and delivered a swift blow to the back of the man’s head to take out her opponent. But it wasn’t over. She could hear other men shouting, moving into the cabin from outside.

Hastiin Sani slammed the connecting door shut and jammed one of the boards under the doorknob. Then he put his shoulder to the door, intending on holding them back with his own strength.

“Go!” he ordered.

“I’ll come back with help.” Dana jumped up onto the sill, and swung her legs outside. As gunfire erupted, she looked back and saw the holes that had appeared in the door. Then, to her horror, she saw blood seeping from wounds on Hastiin Sani’s back. Yet, somehow, he managed to stay on his feet.

“Trust no one,” he said, his voice thick with pain.

Dana jumped out, hit the ground, then took one last look back. Hastiin Sani was sliding slowly to the floor, blood covering his shirt. But he was still alive. Clinging to that, and knowing she had to bring back help quickly, she raced to the tree line, using the bright moonlight to guide her.

Dana crossed into the forest, knowing her footprints would be hard to track in the dark. She was barely twenty feet into the woods when she heard footsteps directly ahead of her. One of the men must have circled around to intercept her. If he’d come from the cabin, that meant he was extremely fast on his feet-much faster than she was.