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Hope glanced over her shoulder, smiling that deranged smile. “You’re wrong. I’ve found myself.”
In that moment, Ellie saw it— the mania, the delusion. Hope was submerged in her own reality, her judgment drowned in the flood of conviction, and no amount of talking was going to change her mind.
Then, she launched at the nearest mercenary. He didn’t blink, didn’t hesitate, and pulled the trigger.
The gunshot echoed like a thunderclap, bouncing off the trees and seeming to shake the very ground itself. Puzzle howled, a terrible, mournful sound that sent spikes of ice through Ellie’s chest. She was frozen in horror as Hope crumbled to the ground, a bloom of dark red spreading across her stomach.
“Hope!” She darted toward her sister even as one of the mercenaries moved to intercept her. But she was too quick, too desperate. She slid on her knees through the damp grass until she was at Hope’s side, pressing her hands over the wound to stop the blood.
Hope’s eyes fluttered up to meet hers. “Elle...” she gasped, her breath hitching in pain. Her fingers clawed weakly at Ellie’s arm. “They’ll... they’ll all be saved...”
“Mom!” True screamed, breaking free from Zak’s protective grasp and rushing toward her mother.
“Someone hold her,” Lanie shouted as Jesse landed hard on his knees at Hope’s side. He pulled his pack off his back and dug through it for a roll of gauze.
“Ellie,” he said gently. “I’m a medic. Let me see the wound.”
Numb, she sat back and watched Jesse apply pressure to the wound, efficiently working to stem the blood flow.
Hope gasped in pain, her hand reaching out blindly. Ellie grasped it tightly, squeezing to let her know she wasn’t alone.
True was beside them now, sobbing as she clung to Hope’s free hand. “Mom… please don’t leave me. This isn’t what I meant to happen. I just wanted out. I just wanted to be normal.”
Hope’s eyes fluttered open. “My angel,” she wheezed. Her teeth were stained with blood. “Don’t… listen to them. You know… your destiny.”
“Mom, please…”
Hope’s eyes glazed over, and she exhaled one last time, a rattle deep in her throat.
Jesse swore softly under his breath and attempted CPR. Somewhere in the distance, she heard Zak’s voice calling for a medivac.
Minutes passed.
Finally, he sat back and looked at Ellie for a regret-filled heartbeat, then at True. “I’m sorry. She’s gone.”
For a moment, everything went still. The world seemed to halt in its tracks, the air turned brittle, shattering at the mere thought of breathing. Cold dread filled Ellie’s veins.
“No.” True’s shattered whisper cut through the deadly silence. “No! You’re lying!”
She lunged at Jesse, but Zak stepped in, catching her mid-air. She fought wildly, her fists pounding on his chest. But Zak held onto her, wrapping his arms around her and murmuring soft comforts until the fight drained away and she went limp.
Ellie couldn’t tear her eyes off Hope’s lifeless face. The deranged smile was gone now, replaced by a vacant tranquility. It was the same expression on all of the cult members’ faces.
A hand landed on her shoulder. Donovan stood behind her, his eyes haunted. “I’m sorry, Ellie,” he muttered, his voice choked with emotion. “I had to.”
Only then did she realize that it had not been one of the mercenaries who had taken the shot but him.
“It’s okay, Van. This is what she wanted. She didn’t give you a choice.” Her voice sounded hollow even to her own ears, and she shook her head, slowly climbing to her feet. “We need to find Cal.”
True inhaled sharply and gazed up with a tear-stained face. “I know where he is.”
The temperature in the shipping container was becoming stifling, the air thick, stalling in Cal’s lungs with every breath. He was dripping sweat and thirsty, and his head felt like it was splitting open. There was a metallic taste in his mouth— blood or fear, either one fit. Cal eyed the tray of food on the floor beside him. There was a cup of tea on it. He could drink that and?—
No. True had said not to eat or drink anything.
He kicked out, knocking the tray out of his reach and removing the temptation. The clatter of it skidding across the floor seemed as loud as a gunshot, and he jumped in surprise.
Or… was that actually a gunshot?
