Mikah pokes her head out of a room to make sure the coast is clear and jogs over to us. “Got the drive, let’s go!” she says sharply. Terror is evident in her wide pupils. Her hair is speckled with blood and she has cuts all over her cheeks.
Lieutenant Erik nods and guides us in the opposite direction of the ladder I took to get down here and toward a different exit.
I glance back at Kayden. His body is lying motionless and alone at the bottom of the ladder as ash falls down onto him.
“What about Kayden?” I shout, knowing it’s stupid to even ask, but I can’t help it. Not when he’s right there.
Mori gives me a sympathetic look before saying through a clenched jaw, “We don’t always get to bring our dead home, Em.”
15
EMERY
Mikah staysin the center of our group where she’ll be safest. Lieutenant Erik leads us to a stairwell in the opposite corner of the building as swiftly as he can.
It’s like a maze down here. This level wasn’t included in the blueprints, so I’m grateful Erik knows where he’s going, but it also stirs up more questions. More doubts. My teeth sink into my lower lip.
I focus on keeping my body moving the best I can. Thank God we’re spared from most of the smoke down here as we find our way out.
We ascend the stairs quickly and luckily don’t run into any more guards. I breathe out a relieved sigh. The last thing I want to do right now is engage in more bloodshed. Every tendon in my body is crying out for rest and medical attention. It’s a miracle my legs haven’t given out already.
“You doing okay?” Mori asks in a low voice as we hang back while Erik scopes the area for any armed guards.
Gage gives Erik details over the headset, but I tune them out as I mutter, “I’m fine.” I try to hold myself high, but my limbs continue to tremble of their own accord.
His eyes trace mine faintly. “I’ll treat you as soon as we get back to our tent.”
I grin at the idea of him patching me up. “Then who’s going to tend to you?”
He doesn’t even bat an eye. “You are, of course. You’ve already done so many times.” His expression pacifies.
I have?
My eyes lower to his shoulder, something pulling on strings in the back of my head that it was there where I mended his flesh. Funny. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to see him in a vulnerable state, tending to his perfect body.
“And you did the same for me?” I ask, seeing if he’ll actually loosen up.
He nods and smiles. Nostalgia lives in his gaze. “Who else?”
Those words thrum through me every time I hear him speak them.Who else?I know he’s said those words to me many times in the past. I open my mouth to say as much when Gage’s voice ripples over the headset with urgency.
“Get out now! They are exiting the trucks and surrounding the fort. You need to exit the back imme—” His signal cuts out as a storm of bullets start pelting the rock face where Gage and Thomas are supposed to be stationed.
We stare at one another for a brief moment before Erik grabs Mikah and tightens her helmet. The blood raging through my ears is the only thing I can hear.
“Stay on me, keep tight and don’t stop running no matter what. If you fall, you’re left behind. We can’t afford to fuck this up. This flash drive means more than all of us.”
“Yes, sir,” Mori and I say in unison, sharing a tense look.
Mikah swallows nervously. Her hands are shaking terribly as she looks at the three of us like we’re crazy for appearing so calm. I’ll have to tell her when we get back to the base howuncalm I really am inside.
“We’ll be right behind you, Lieutenant,” Mori says gingerly. Erik firmly pats him on the shoulder, then looks at me. An unguarded expression filters across his face and reveals his concern. I’m not sure if it’s for us making it out of here alive or for my injuries, but his eyes flick briefly to the scar on the side of my forehead.
“Stay close to Mori. Don’t stray,” he orders. I nod a few times, uncertain of how to respond. He grins and prepares to exit the building.
The lieutenant throws the door open and charges straight for the thick terrain of boulders that perimeter the fort. Thomas and Gage are up there somewhere. It’s our only chance at having some cover from the reinforcements. Being out here in the open is a crappy situation. Especially when it’s primarily desert with little tree cover.
The cool morning air feels like heaven on my face. I didn’t realize how stuffy and hot it was inside there until now. My legs pump at a steady pace, Mori keeps directly to my side.
