Reluctant to kill,
She sprints fierce through brush.
Her breath, trembling
Hot in the coolness of night.
Gun carried at her wounded
Porcelain fingertips.
She had struggled one last time.
Eyes behind her, hungry.
Twigs crunching under
Distinct work boots.
Steel toes plastered in firm mud,
The grain leather worn.
Her bare soles cut on rocks;
Numbness wrestles the sharp aches.
Gun in hand and trigger on edge,
She breathes. She aims.
The forest leaves him breathless.