Alfie crawled away, shrieking and trying to cover his head. Christian and Hawk immediately jumped into action, shooting round after round into their enemies as they found cover to stand behind.
Gemma watched them and tried to mimic their stances. They were bothreallygood. Hawk said he’d used VR, but how had Christian learned to shoot? Did Perileos even have a place for weapon or gun training?
She shook the thoughts from her head.Time to go, Gemma.
She sucked in a deep breath before stepping out, pointing her rifle at one of the Dissent members.Stars, forgive me. Her whole face scrunched in pain as she squeezed the trigger.
Click.
“Blast!” Gemma snapped as she braced behind cover again. She’d forgotten to release the bloody safety. Her heart flipped as she flicked it off. She took a deep breath.We got this.
Gemma stepped into the line of fire once more and pointed her rifle at the Dissent army.
A bullet whooshed past Gemma’s head. She yelped, tumbling sideways onto the ground.
“You good?” Christian yelled from across the street.
“Oh, yeah. Just great.” Gemma crawled back behind her cover before getting up onto her feet.This shooting people thing is ridiculous.
Hawk was amazing at short range, using the bodies of the fallen as protection as he moved from cover to cover. Christian stayed back near Gemma, his rifle snapping up and down in quick, fluid movements. Never once did he miss a shot.
Gemma couldn’t see Imara or Colton, but at least they hadn’t managed to go sailing into the dirt like her.
Minutes later, the battle was over.
“Everyone okay?” Hawk asked when the five of them regrouped at the gate. Resounding yeses followed.
“I even managed to get in a head shot.” Imara smiled smugly.
“Where’s Alfie?” Christian asked.
Gemma’s stomach fell. How did she not notice one of their teammates was missing?
She furrowed her brow. The last time she’d seen him, he crawled along the stone wall, away from the action. Gemma hurried in the direction he’d gone.
Alfie sat on the ground, leaning back against the stone wall. Crying, he grasped his upper leg tightly with both hands.
Oh no. Gemma pushed her rifle into someone’s arms and sprinted the rest of the way to him.
“What happened?” she asked, dropping to her knees to assess him. His dark skin had drastically paled.
“Freaking loitersack cut me,” Alfie gasped.
Gemma looked up at Christian and held out her hand. “Your knife?”
In seconds, the hilt was in her palm. She sliced open Alfie’s trousers’ leg, stopping inches below where he was putting pressure.
The wound was inside his upper leg.Not good.
“How long ago did this happen?” Gemma asked Alife.
He shook his head. “I dunno. Maybe a minute? I think he was one of the last people y’all killed.”
Blood trickled down Alfie’s leg from under his hands. Gemma knew she was taking a big risk by asking him to release some pressure, but she had to know exactly where he’d been cut.
“I need to see it,” she said.
Alfie nodded and lifted his hands.
