Fumbling with the bolt handle, Hiram hastily re-chambered another round, sweat beading his brow. Not only was it a stupid mistake, it would have been a costly one. The sudden interruption in momentum had kickstarted his brain, jogging his memory "Sorry... Wasn't exactly thinking." He muttered meekly, eyes darting about rapidly. [i]'You could try being a bit less intimidating though..."[/i] he thought to himself, despite that, he was relieved at his own mistake.

As the two other combatants emerged, Hiram rubbed his forehead, trying to relax his already frayed nerves. "I'm just going to assume that the good guys won this one..." Slinging the rifle over his shoulder, he glanced towards Adelaide, grimacing as she exploded at him, "It's a bit late for that, if anything she came closer to killing me than I did her. Sorry if I shot at either of you earlier," He apologized again, "In my defense, someone shot at me first. Let's all just take a deep breath..."

Following his own advice, Hiram took in a deep breath, before approaching Adelaide and Drake with his gloved hands held up in a non threatening way. Noticing the blood at the corner of his lips, and the way he favored his uninjured side, Hiram assumed that he was he one who had been attacked, with Adelaide as the intervening saviour, confusing the two roles they had played. "Drake, right? I'm Hiram. I'm sure you don't trust me, and for good reason. I'm with the Town Guard, though." Glancing between the pair, a wry smile spread across his face, but he chose not to broach the subject.

Glancing in the direction of the fire, he scratched at the back of his neck, trying to appear casual, relaxed, and failing miserably at it "I think we should get back to my settlement, its not too far. I don't know about you..." He waved towards Adelaide, "...But Drake definitely could use medical help, and I'm not the type for that. You might be, but he needs rest as well. The kind you don't get in the wilderness." Struggling to sound authoritative and in control, Hiram wished Lawrence was here, he was much better suited for such situations, the man had a much more commanding aura about him than Hiram could ever muster. 

He looked towards Vivianne, hoping that the wild-woman was feeling accommodating. "We can make a makeshift sled for Gunnar, and you two can share the saddle... If Gunnar can handle it. It should save time." He trailed off, giving Vivianne a pleading stare, [i]'Help me. Please.'[/i] Not waiting for them to respond, Hiram moved away, pulling the knife from his boot and set about hacking limbs from a nearby tree, forcing himself to keep busy as he mentally berated himself. His own stupidity was going to make this all so much more difficult. If they even chose to listen to him. After he'd cut down enough branches, he squatted down onto the ground, beginning to weave the sticks together. "If Gunnar can't, maybe Nikita? I need some rope... cloth or strong vines should work." The words ran out of his mouth in a constant stream, and he couldn't bring himself to meet any of their eyes. Why had he even rushed here? Had he really been any help at all? If he had shot Drake, the girl would likely be dead. If he hadn't forgotten to reload, Vivianne might have broken her neck, only for him to have been mauled by a dog.

[i]Stupid, and lucky. A terrible combination.[/i]