Their mission and hope bled out just like Zayne, in a fatal wound that abandoned them to linger until that last moment came. The Phaedra would have his fun, and then he'd destroy them.
There was no reason to believe they could escape this trap, but Zayne refused to surrender. Kira wouldn't either.
“Right now… We walk…” When Brock arrived at their rendezvous point and found them missing, he'd come looking. Eventually, Zayne wasn't going to be able to shoot his gun, or walk, or stay awake.
“If I used the uranium, maybe he wouldn't have shot you.”
“No, he might have fired while he still aimed at my heart… You did the right thing.”
“This all happened because I didn't notice the branch.”
“It gave me… the chance to shoot…”
He desperately searched for a single idea to escape whatever they walked into, but his mind was as empty as the starless sky. And it was only becoming harder to think.
Zayne might not need to change their plans. The Phaedra probably didn't know about the jet. What if Kira disappeared into the trees and ran to the van? Could he get her to do that?
Then again, she'd never killed anyone and had never shot a gun. At least if she stayed with him, he could shoot someone. Soon, he wouldn't manage that, though.
“What are you thinking?” Her voice strained against the burden of his weight. “Don't leave me out of the decisions.”
“Whether we should stay together…” His steps slowed as he struggled to force the words out. He couldn't get enough air. He wasn't sure where the bullet was inside him or what it had hit, but he wheezed for every breath.
“I'm not leaving you,” she said. “Don't waste your time thinking about it.”
“When I pass out…”
Shit. He swayed, unable to find solid ground.
Kira shouldered more of his weight, grunting. “This is what we're doing. We'll travel as far as we can together. If you lose consciousness, I'll run to Brock.”
A knife stabbed and twisted inside him with every heartbeat, slicing away at his body.
“Brock knows where to find us,” she said. “And I won't leave you as bait for the Phaedra.”
Too hard to talk. He squeezed her shoulder instead, fingertips feeling her, taking in the relief of her warmth and touch.
Mustering all his breath, he said, “I need you to live.” She must have understood the rest. Dying with him didn't help him.
If Kira did leave him and found Brock, then they shouldn't come back for him. They should drive out to the clearing, get on that jet, and not look back.
She gripped him tighter. “We're both going to live. We can't give up.”
He wouldn't give up. He wasn't. But Zayne didn't know how to stop death if it came for him, and he didn't want her succumbing to it because she refused to walk away.
CHAPTER 66
Zayne
The Capital
Kallum, Ciondo
833 P.C. [Post-Collapse]
Zayne and Kira stumbled deeper into the woods while the weakness and pain kept growing. It wasn't possible to continue, but he did. He gave everything to each step.
Until the strength fled his legs, and he crashed onto his knees, knocking Kira down with him. Pain quaked through his entire body and blacked out his vision.
