The world spun, tears streamed down my cheeks, and darkness made the edges of my vision fuzzy.
CLANG.
The metal shed rocked—something slammed against it from the outside.
I sawed with everything I had, digging the knife into the fraying rope. Ignored the pure agony eating away at my nerves as the world spun faster. My vision unfocused further. Sweat dripped down my face. Black clawed at the edges of my consciousness.
Don’t you fucking dare pass out.
There was a horrible noise, and I whipped my head around.
A creature was framed in the door.
Morning light illuminated its gruesome visage. It was tall and skinny, its pale skin covered in dark veins. A mouth wide with serrated teeth, bulging eyes, and razor-sharp talons completed the horrifying picture.
No. No. No. No.
I cut harder, and Helen yanked with all her might, shouting as she slipped free.
There was no time to celebrate.
The Titan lunged.
Turning, knife extended, I slammed it into the monster’s eye. Nails raked across my arm like hot coals, and I screamed.
The Titan stumbled and shrieked, tripping back and falling onto the dirt floor as it clawed at the hilt protruding from its face.
I used the opening.
Grabbing the door of the shed, bloody fingers slipping as I tried to get purchase, I threw my body against the door—slammed it close on the Titan’s head. Black blood splattered. Again and again I threw myself forward and jammed it.
Helen shouted, and the sound pierced through the haze.
Turning, I staggered over to her.
Grabbed her.
Behind me, there was a loud shriek as the Titan started to rise. Without Spartan weapons, there was no way to stop it.
My vision tripled.
Everything spun.
It felt like I was drowning underwater.
You’re trapped. You’re doomed. You have no options left.
But there was one possibility.
A long shot.
More theory than reality.
It shouldn’t have been an actual option.
My thoughts blanked.
I focused only on a singular destination—the feeling of home.
