"There is no back way! It’s a dead end!"
"There is always a way," he insists, holding out his hand. "Give it to me. I'm dying anyway. Let me buy you five minutes."
"No."
"Elodie, don't be sentimental. It’s math. One life for one life."
"I don't care about the math!" I hiss, crouching beside him. "We are a duet. We finish the song together."
I grip the SIG tighter. "How many rounds?" Alaric asks, seeing he can't move me.
"Seven. Maybe six."
"They have automatic rifles. Body armor. Thermal optics." He reaches up and touches my cheek with a bloody finger. "Aim for the legs. The femoral artery. Or the neck. The armor covers the chest."
"Okay."
"And Elodie?" "Yes?" "If they take you... if they get close..." He looks at the gun, then at my temple. "Don't let them take you back to the lab. You know what they want. You know what the Trust represents."
He is telling me to kill myself. If it comes to it. I swallow the lump in my throat. "I know."
CRACK-THUMP.A bullet hits the rock inches from my head, spraying stone chips into my hair. "Time's up!" the voice yells. "Suppressing fire! Move in!"
The forest erupts. Automatic fire tears into the cave mouth.RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT.The sound is deafening. Bullets ricochet off the limestone walls, buzzing like angry hornets. I curl into a ball over Alaric, covering his head with my body, squeezing my eyes shut. The noise is physical. It hurts.
They are advancing. I can hear the crunch of boots on snow, getting closer. Thirty yards. Twenty.
"Now!" Alaric yells. "Return fire!"
I pop up. I see a shape moving in the trees. White camo. I fire.Bang.He ducks.Bang.I hit a tree.Bang.I see him stumble. Leg hit?
"Contact front!" the mercenary yells. "Flashbang! Out!"
A metal canister clatters into the cave entrance. It rolls toward us. "Cover your eyes!" Alaric screams.
I bury my face in his chest.BANG.
The world turns white. Even with my eyes closed, the flash sears my retinas. The sound is a physical punch to the gut, blowing out my eardrums. I hear a high-pitched ringing.Eeeeeeeeeeeee.I can't hear. I can't see. I am disoriented, nauseous.
I feel Alaric moving beneath me. He is trying to sit up, trying to shield me. I blink, forcing my eyes open. Through the blurry, swimming vision, I see them. Two men. Standing at the cave entrance. Assault rifles raised. And the third dog, straining on a leash.
"End of the line," one of them says. His voice sounds like it’s coming through water.
I try to raise the SIG. My arm is numb. It won't obey. The gun slips from my fingers.
"Secure the target," the leader orders. "Put a bullet in the Director."
The second man steps forward, aiming his rifle at Alaric’s head. Alaric looks at me. He doesn't look at the gun. He looks at me. "I love you," he mouths. No sound. Just the shape of the words.
I scream. It is a sound of pure, unadulterated grief. I throw myself in front of him. If the bullet comes, it hits me first.
The mercenary hesitates. "Clean shot blocked. Moving to adjust."
He takes a step forward. Inside the cave. His heavy boot lands on the center of the limestone floor. The same floor we have been sitting on. The same floor that sits atop a hollow ridge.
CRACK.It’s not a gunshot. It’s the sound of the earth giving up.
The vibration of the flashbang. The weight of the bodies. The structural weakness of the limestone. It all reaches the breaking point at once.
