cower

For over an hour a gun battle raged between them and my guards as I cowered inside my car, not knowing if I would live or die.

Many of the women began to weep; the men sat and cowered as each blow fell.

The man raved and stormed, and she, although a fury to every one else, cowered in silence under his wrath.

It caught us, that wave of damp and darkness, and rolled over us and crushed us down as we cowered.