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She blinked, her medically trained brain slowly taking over.
The rate of blood loss was easy to calculate. And even if she had more time to get somewhere safe, there wasn’t anywhere left that had the kind of medical facility that could effectively treat a wound like that. Not even the settlement they’d just been at, and they’d had more than she’d seen anywhere else.
She looked up at Maddie then, taking in the fear and caution in her eyes.
Maddie.
Fresh adrenaline surged through her.
Maddie.She had to help her get to the harbor before—
Her brain stopped, refusing to finish that thought.
“Give me your backpack,” Saff said, using every ounce of will to keep her voice from revealing the hidden pain she was in.
Maddie cocked her head slightly. “Why?”
Saff shifted, biting down the hiss that tried to escape her lips.
“Just do it,” she breathed.
Maddie went still, waiting, listening as if trying to piece the situation together.
But finally, after a moment that felt like an eternity, she shrugged the pack off, setting it down in front of her.
Saff pushed herself up on the wall, blinding pain rearing up with every movement.
“Do you—“ she hissed, drawing in a string of shallow breaths. “Do you remember what I told you about the road out of the city?” she asked, pulling Maddie’s backpack in front of her.
Maddie shook her head slightly. “I—I think so. Why?”
Saff didn’t answer as she pulled Maddie’s jacket out, letting it drop to the ground. Then she opened her own backpack, each movement an excruciating effort.
“What’s wrong?” Maddie whispered, her words careful and cautious.
Maddie couldn’t know. Not yet. If she did, she wouldn’t be able to focus on anything else. She wouldn’t be able to absorb the words she needed her to remember.
Saff pulled one of the grenades out of her backpack first, then grabbed Maddie’s hand, pushing the heavy metal orb into her palm.
“It’s a grenade,” Saff gritted out.
Maddie flinched back, her lips parting in shock. But to her credit, her hand stayed steady.
Saff shifted forward, hissing as acute pain clawed through her. Maddie must’ve caught the noise, because her head raised in concern, mouth parting.
But before she could say anything, Saff pressed on, taking Maddie’s other hand and placing her fingers on the small metal ring that dangled from the top slot.
“Do you feel that ring?” she asked, her breathing now labored. She didn’t wait for her to answer as she continued. “When you want to use it, pull the ring out and throw.” She cleared her dry throat. “Throw far.”
Maddie shook her head slightly, holding the grenade far away from her body, as if it could go off at any moment. “I don’t—I don’t understand,” she mumbled. “Why are you telling me this?”
Saff pulled the second grenade out, stuffing it into Maddie’s backpack, followed by the flare gun. Then she took the grenade from Maddie’s hand and placed it in last.
She took a breath, pausing as her eyes landed on Maddie’s hoodie on the ground.
All she needed was to stay alive. She needed to stay alive long enough to get Maddie to the harbor—somewheresafein the harbor.
And maybe that wouldn’t be possible. Maybe the bleeding would take her long before that.
