“Forget it,” said Red, exhaling. He braced himself with a hand on his knee. “Save the ammo.”
Corbin ignored him, continuing to site the fleeing animal, adjusting his aim by what seemed only millimeters as the raptor weaved, first to the left, then to the right, until a c***k! rang out and his rifle bucked, and the thing fell—squirting a stream of blood from its head.
“That’s the difference between you and I,” said Corbin coolly, still looking on, and lowered his rifle. “I don’t pass the buck. I don’t avoid responsibility and make messes for others to have to clean up.” He turned back toward the rockfall. “That’s it. In case you were wonder—”
They both saw it at the same time: a cavern raptor leaping directly at him from the top of the rockfall, its legs kicked up in the air, its sickle-
