"Maksim, run!" Kira's voice cuts through the fog in my brain. Her hands are on me, pulling, desperate.
I can't. My legs won't work. Everything is going gray at the edges.
"I can't—" The words come out slurred.
Then Semyon is there, his arm hooking under my good shoulder. Between him and Kira, they drag me forward. My feet drag uselessly across the ground. Each movement sends fresh agony through my side where the bullet hit.
"There!" Semyon grunts.
Through my blurred vision, I see a car.
They haul me toward it. My body is dead weight, but they don't stop. Don't let go. I don’t know where my girl gets the strength. I know I’m twice her size. Twice her bodyweight but she’s a fucking animal.
"In!" Semyon shoves me into the backseat.
I collapse across the seat, unable to sit upright. Kira scrambles in after me, lifting my head into her lap. Her hands are immediately on my wounds, pressing down hard.
I groan. The pressure is agony.
"I know, I know." Her voice breaks. "But I have to stop the bleeding."
Anya throws herself into the front passenger seat. Semyon slides behind the wheel, and we're moving before the doors are even closed.
The car lurches forward. Every bump sends lightning through my body. I try to focus on Kira's face above me, but she keeps splitting into two, then three.
"Stay with me." Her hand cups my cheek, leaving blood smears. "Maksim, look at me. Stay awake."
"Trying." But my eyelids are so heavy.
"No!" She taps my face, harder than necessary. "Open your eyes. Talk to me."
"About what?" The words are thick, wrong.
"Anything. Everything. Tell me about—tell me what you want to do when this is over."
When this is over. Like there's an after. Like I'm going to survive long enough to see it.
"Want to..." I force the words out. "Take you somewhere. Somewhere he never touched."
"Where?" She's crying now, tears dripping onto my face.
"Don't know. Anywhere. Everywhere." My vision darkens again. "Just... with you."
"You'll take me." Her hand presses harder on my side. I can't suppress the scream. "You're going to live, and we're going to go everywhere. Do you hear me?"
I try to nod. Not sure if I succeed.
The car swerves violently. Semyon curses from the front seat.
"They're following!" Anya's voice is high with panic.
"I know!" Semyon takes another sharp turn.
I'm sliding across the seat despite Kira's attempts to brace me. The movement tears at my wounds. Fresh blood soaks through her hands.
"Where are we going?" Anya asks, her voice shaking.
"Safe house." Semyon's voice is tight with concentration. "Twenty minutes if I can lose these bastards."
