Behind them there was the sound of screaming and, what sounded to be bloody mayhem, plain and simple. River was settin’ her down gently on the bed. ”Stay. I won’t die.” She told her simply. ”Believe in me.”

Kaylee watched a little dumbly as River turned around to face what was coming, reloading her gun. Kaylee couldn’t help herself, she moved to look around River at what was happening. The Reavers had followed River through and were being cut down mercilessly by the, as it turned out, deadly efficient traps that River had set. There… there were a lot of’m though, and the ones behind just seemed to climb over the bodies of the fallen. Some started to make their way through that way and Kaylee watched as River calmly and efficiently killed them, one shot each to the forehead, right dead center every time.

Before long though, River’s gun ran out of ammunition and she had no time to reload again. River already had a short sword in one hand and now she tossed aside her gun and drew a machete from behind her. What was next were a series of swift, brutal strikes. River just seemed to, it was almost like a dance for her, one she had every move down pat to an’ then some. Watching her like that, Kaylee couldn’t help but think that maybe… maybe she’d had it backwards, and it was the Reavers who’d never had a chance, stead of them.

One of the Reavers came at her, a woman with three small human skulls on a macabre necklace around her neck, cheeks slashed with scarred over cuts, eyes that sent a chill through her unlike anything Kaylee’d ever felt before. Almost without conscious thought, she found herself raising her gun to meet the threat. Time seemed to slow unnaturally and somehow she had the time to think [There’s not enough time]. She wouldn’t get her gun raised and aimed before the Reaver would be on top of her. But, the next thing she knew, the Reaver woman was falling to the floor before her, her head sliced clean off. A few bits of blood sprayed Kaylee’s face, and, absently, she thought [there’s not e’nuff blood…]. She’d seen heads lopped off before, and there was always more blood sprayed about than that. Had River really moved so fast?