At that sound, that huge, echoing sound, Mal instinctively dropped her pack as well. And the rifle. What would she do with it? Pulling the knife out instead, she flipped it once in her hand and then let it hang by her side, her limbs relaxed.

Not that she'd ever done this before, either, but acting like an idiot wouldn't keep whatever that thing was from killing her, so she might as well keep it together.

"Can you tell what direction it's coming from?" she said quietly, eyes shifting from side to side to survey the land in front of them.

[ooc; yeah let's do this thang]