Bree nudges me and gives me a concerned look. I shake the thoughts and give her a reassuring smile. We’re both trailing Cameron, Damian, and Bryce. The pace is slow, but we’re being more vigilant as we get closer to the beacon. Other squads are likely nearby.
“What were you thinking about?” Bree inquires.
I glance at her before looking forward. “My parents, if they care that I’m dead or not. Wondering if I ever lived up to who I actually wanted to be.” My voice is nonchalant, but it stings toface that thought. Bryce casts a glance over his shoulder at my words before looking back ahead.
Her eyes narrow with sympathy. “Oh, don’t go there. I fell into a rut for like a month after I started dwelling on my past life.” She laughs and lifts her chin to look at the sky. “This is your life now. It could end today. It could end tomorrow. Or you’ll be here longer than Mori has been. One thing is certain: you can never go back to your old life. So there’s no use in dwelling on it. That girl is dead, and it could actually be a good thing. I don’t know what your circumstances were, but now you’re free to just be you.”
I nod and smile. “Yeah, you’re right.”
“Of course I am.” Bree lifts her chin with a grin pulling the fabric of her mask.
Damian casts a look over his shoulder and scowls at us. “Focus, you two. It’s not gossip hour.”
“Shut up.” Bree plants her boot on his ass and laughs.
I soak in the soft sounds and light humor, wondering if Cameron still has the capacity to enjoy these moments or if he knows better than to indulge in them.
His icy side-eye over his shoulder tells me it’s the latter.
The last day feels surreal. The sun is mid-sky as we cross a patch of treeless land. Cameron briefs us that we’re getting close and to stay on high alert from here on out. We surveil the area for almost thirty minutes, lying flat on the ground and waiting for any signs of movement on either side of the valley before Cameron signals for us to move.
I keep low to the ground like Cameron is, and stay hot on his heels. My trigger finger is practically frozen solid, but I’m prepared for anything. It’s so unlike what I’ve done in the past, I’m not used to being in the open like this. Vulnerable and waiting for someone to shoot at us. I shudder at the thought that we’re likely being watched this very moment.
Damian flanks me, and when we reach the other end, he lets out an audible sigh. “Fuck, I didn’t think we were going to make it,” he says as he leans over and places his hands on his knees while he takes a few deep breaths.
Bryce adjusts his glasses and tries to defog them. “Same here, I’m sweating like a goddamn pig.” I nod, feeling the cold sweat that’s clinging to my lower back and neck.
Cameron grabs Bryce’s vest by the shoulder straps and hauls him forward. “Get going, we can’t stay put here. It’s not safe.”
Damian groans and walks beside Bryce. Bree comes up to my side and smacks my back. “This wasn’t nearly as bad as the first trial. I could do shit like this all fucking day.” The last word leaves her lips as a gunshot rings out and narrowly misses her face. The tree adjacent to her has a hole blown into it. Wood splinters at us, and panic jump-starts my heart.
“Get down!” Cameron shouts. I instantly fall to my knees and watch as his eyes feverishly search for the shooter.
My blood pulses loudly in my ears, making it hard to listen for footsteps.Fuck.I bring the scope of my rifle to my eye and frantically search for the squad attacking us. All I can make out are trees and bushes and rocks. My eyes quickly scroll over something darker than the foliage. I trace back, heart skipping a beat.
A masked cadet is staring straight back at me. I don’t hesitate. I pull the trigger and send a bullet straight into their neck. They pull up and accidentally fire off their weapon into the treetops. Cameron tracks them swiftly, and he puts another bullet straight into their forehead.
“Move!” he urges us. Bree is shooting at a cadet hiding behind a tree while Bryce and Damian are covering our front. They lead us away, and we move as stealthily as we can in an attempt to shake the remaining pursuers. I can’t find them nomatter how hard I scour the area, but I know there are more of them out there.
Those shots are going to draw in other squads. I swallow the dread that builds inside me, mounting on top of the already spiking adrenaline. The beacon is close now, the green light flashing every few seconds, and the waning sunlight aids in its visibility.
Bryce slides down a steep slope and grabs on to the tree near the edge of a drop off. “Careful coming down!” he shouts up at us. Damian and Bree go first, grabbing on to the same pine that Bryce did.
I take my first step, ready to slide down the same way they had when a knife goes straight through my calf. Pain shoots up my leg and cripples me to the ground. Bryce yells something, but I don’t hear it past the ringing in my ears as I’m sent rolling down the slope. Everything is blurry as the world spins each time I tumble. Gunshots ring through the trees.
Oof. I gasp as my body is stopped abruptly. My vision is shaky, but I manage to force myself to my feet and pull out the knife still stuck in my leg.
Bree stopped me from rolling straight off the cliff. I stare up at her with shock. If I doubted her before, I sure as hell don’t anymore.
“Get up, Emery! We need to find cover,” she says sharply, grabbing my jacket by the collar and pulling me to be with the rest of them.
As the dizzy spell fades, I quickly look around. “Where’s Mori?” I snap.
Bryce curses and looks at the top of the slope. Cameron is fighting three cadets on his own. They either lost their rifles or Cameron already unarmed them of their firearms. Four more are sprinting up the adjacent slope and charging right at him, ACE 32s at the ready.
Cameron fights the three cadets off with ease, mainly evading their knives and staying on defense, but I don’t know how many more he can handle all at once.
“We have to help him. Bree and Damian take the left side, Bryce, you’re with me and we’ll flank them on the right,” I order them as I grip the rifle tightly. “Let’s go.”
