The alarm in the distance woke him easily.  One of his blue eyes peeked open.  One hand fished under his blanket and switched off the hand-radio by his side so he could listen for a moment.  It sounded like trouble at the raider town.  Maybe they were being attacked.  Perhaps it just some wasteland critters trying to breach the defences.  Either way, he felt far enough away from the town that he wouldn't need to get up.

At least, that's how he felt at first.  Until the shouting voices he could hear, seemed to be slightly closer.  Surely they weren't heading for the ruins, were they?

"Get her!" was a much, much clearer voice this time.  They were indeed getting closer.  Too close for comfort.

"Ah shit," Isaac muttered to himself, gun in hand, still lazily spread-eagled on his back, one leg sticking out from under the blanket.  "Why me, universe?  What did I do to ya, this time?"

He thought a little too long about getting up. He should've just done it.  Because before he could, he heard groan and a strain before, down the other end of the broken building, a person appeared.  Isaac could see the silhouette form in the moonlight, all the inner walls of the floor collapsed enough not to obstruct his view.  And that silhouette form started bolting toward him.  Isaac still hadn't moved, but now he raised his gun, looking sidelong down the barrel, pointing it at the person who was rushing toward him.  Taking a shot lying on one's back like this was hard, and this gun's recoil would make it all the more difficult, so Isaac waited for the target to come closer.  The person was approaching fast, hopping and skipping over holes in the floor, ducking low beams.  Isaac had 3 pounds of pressure on a 4 pound trigger.  Just a little closer.....

"She's getting away!" was the rusty, evil-toned voice of a pursuing raider.

That made Isaac pause for thought.  This person was running [i]from[/i] the raiders.  He relinquished his aim as he realised the situation, so glad that he didn't just blast a potentially innocent person. As he did, she almost blew past him, but her foot caught on his leg as he got to his feet, tripping her and sending her head first into a wall.  She cried out and Isaac was up, a little too late to silence her when he pulled her into his embrace, his hand covering her mouth.

"Sshh," was his instruction.

They were face to face - damn-near nose to nose - one arm around her waist, his free hand still over her mouth until he was sure she got the message.  But one of the voices of her pursuers made Isaac break eye contact and let her go.

"I heard her! Top floor!"

He dipped down and started stuffing all of his things into his backpack.  There was no time for the bedroll.  Slinging the rucksack over his shoulder, he grabbed his gun off the floor and was on the move before he'd even risen back to his full height, grabbing the girl's hand and pulling her along to follow.  They snaked through the broken down building quickly and quietly.

"Boss wants her alive!" was another voice.

Isaac counted three voices, at least, but he couldn't be sure.  They got to the top of the main stairwell and paused.  Unless she'd resisted, he was still holding her hand.  "How many?" he whispered as he looked back at her.

Four raiders converged at the bottom of the stairs and charged up toward them.  And their shouts of surprise and alarm was a clear indicator that they did not expect to see a man lean out from behind cover with a big canon pointing right at them.

"Shit!"

"!"

"Huh!?"

BANG!

....The first shot hit one square in the chest and sent him flying back down the ground floor.  The recoil sent pains up Isaac's arm all the way to his shoulder....

BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG!

The raiders tried to flee but it was too late, only one getting away, managing to dive behind cover on the lower floor.  The surviving raider's arm was mangled from a bullet, but he fired back with his own gun and Dante leaned back into cover upstairs.

"Guys! There's someone else here!" the raider shouted.  "Go get help!"

The raider and Isaac traded a few shots, but none found their mark.

"We need to get out of here," Isaac said to the girl, keeping the raider downstairs busy with a shot or two.