15 for 15 Contest --- Closed

Gabriel pointed the gun at Liam, on his knees by Gabriel’s blankets. “What the hell are you doing?”
Liam froze, then slowly raised his hands. “Gabriel.”
“No. Shut up. I come back inside after four hours on watch and this is what I find? You molesting Siobhan?”
“This isn’t what it looks like. I wasn’t doing what you said. I swear it.”

“Then what?” Sweat began to trickle down the back of Gabriel’s neck. Why wasn’t she moving? “Siobhan? Wake up.”
Liam climbed to his feet, his big hands held loosely at his sides. “Gabriel, just hold a second. Let me explain.”
But it was too late. Now Gabriel could see clearly exactly what the other man had been doing.
The girl lay on her back, her white-blond hair spread across the dark blankets. Her pale blue eyes stared at nothing. Livid marks ringed her pale throat.
Anguish bloomed in Gabriel, sucking away his breath, his everything. Finally he could say only one thing, could only get one word past the pain choking him: “Why?”
“She was slowing us down, Gabriel. You know it as well as I do. With her dragging us down it’s only a matter of time before one of those rotters gets us. You were distracted. Now you can concentrate.”
Gabriel was silent. He let his eyes rest one more time on the girl, then holstered his pistol and walked back outside.