The smoke cleared, and Erika watched Katelynne with wide-eyed satisfaction. She expected either to hit Katelynne, or to be shot back on the spot. What she hadn’t expected was to hit the rifle Katelynne was holding. The end result was either the magazine or the receiver detonating, with Katelynne’s t...

This was the third time she’d been shot. The first was a slow pellet of buckshot, a localized injury. It became so much more over the days that followed. The second felt like it was a direct hit, at least at first. Turned out it didn’t hit dead on, but there was just cold and heat and the sudden fee...

Erika didn’t have enough strength to follow up, to draw the knife back out and plunge it in again like she’d done to Demetri. Still, it was enough. She could see the reaction in Daria, the way the wound sapped the strength from her. As Daria stumbled back, Erika watched a dark stain spread through t...

That was all it took, it seemed. There was something curiously validating about seeing it happen - someone goes from calling someone a monster to making the same choice said monster made. Killing, because to do so otherwise would’ve been tantamount to suicide. Kill or die, kill or die, the words see...

The nails kept digging into her arm. There was no way to tell how deep, in the confusion, no nuance to the white-hot burning sensation radiating from where the bat had dug in. It just hurt. Every time Daria tugged at it, every time Erika pulled back, it felt like it was burying itself in her flesh a...

I'd be curious to see what you come up with! You'll wanna use Rye, and something sweet or smoky.

The mistake wasn't Katelynne's to make, it seemed. Two in the chest, one in the head was what she told herself she'd do to stop someone. Erika had been so caught up in conserving ammunition she'd taken the other girl falling as sign enough to turn around, and try to finish what she'd started with Ka...

One shot looked like enough, as Erika's target fell. She only had so many loaded magazines left to switch to, before she was out. By her count, Katelynne had a long way before she'd have to reload. Thirty to thirteen. Erika still felt outmatched, and the fact that their altercation was drawing in ot...

Copper and lead struck wood, blasting splinters into the air but hitting nothing that bled or screamed. It wasn't enough to punch through, or even send Katelynne scrambling. Erika watched the tree over the sights of her pistol. The little white bead of the front sights trembled along with her hands....

Erika flinched as bullets ripped through the loose debris, plunging into the ground nearby and kicking dirt high into the air. Shuffling back to the left, Erika pressed herself behind one of the larger rotting logs. There were trees nearby that might've been thick enough to take cover behind, but sh...

Katelynne seemed to get the message. She moved to take aim, and Erika drew forward both hands to take aim, herself. As the sounds of the island once again gave way to a high-pitched ringing, Erika took off laterally off the road and into the forest; she fired back at Katelynne, forgoing any kind of ...

Breathe in. Breathe out. Don't move. The index finger on Erika's left hand tapped against the side of her leg. The other hand was completely still, holding the pistol by her side. One good hit, was all she needed. It would take more than one. Advancing would've made sense if she was more mobile. No,...

Erika froze. It was almost on cue. Too perfect, that she’d run into someone without expecting it only moments after the radar cut out. Katelynne. Erika wasn’t used to seeing her without hearing her, first. They bonded a couple of times over nature photography. A picture Erika had taken of an inchwor...

((erika stieglitz continued from Madness in the Method )) [/color] Erika’s path through the rest of the Inner Circle was winding, as she evaded the few signatures that did appear on the collar radar’s screen. As she travelled, she clutched the small device in one hand and her pistol in the other. A...

Erika watched as Diego bandaged his face. She stood motionless, waiting for him to pick up his things and start to leave. She didn't want to turn her back on him, even as he was applying the gauze to his face. There were a few moments when his hands were occupied that she considered going back on he...