A shot rang out. When we entered what used to be a superstore I breathed a sigh of relief. Sarah emerged to my left and Jennifer –I waited anxious s...conds for her to appear. My mind started to process information from all my senses and I slowly closed my eyes and turned around. When I opened them, I looked with dread out into the street beyond. There she lay. On the floor; a red pool of liquid by her side. I still can’t say the word blood. It still hurts to think of it as blood, but it leaked. A New Zealander mate of mine had told of us about his skiing trips on the south island; that had always sounded like fun; a bit more exotic than the Alps anyway.But Marge had a slightly different game plan to mine in mind. Whereas I figured we'd get married and lit-out right after I'd qualified with what savings I/we'd managed to stash away. I'd figured, a couple of years or so travelling and then we'd come back to the UK, settle down and have some kids. That's always assuming that we hadn't. He had to be close to a full head and a half taller than I was."Hello again." I said holding out my hand. He took it, smiling down at me. He forgot to shake it for a moment, and I shivered again."If I was home, I might ask you to join me for midday meal at the nearest inn or tavern, but since I am not home and you are, I will defer to you." Since you're deferring to me, I say we take these four fine specimens of feathered tastiness home and you have lunch with me and my parents. We will be. She took off her bikini and carefully folded it. I left that afternoon and rented a scooter in town. I brought it back and put it in the backyard. The following morning I woke up earlier than usual, as I was excited about the trip. So was Maria. I told her we needed to leave early, and asked her to wash some fruits and make a couple of sandwiches in addition to the usual breakfast. We ate, and then quickly showered. She again needed some help putting on the bikini top, whose small triangles.