35
Clay
Stephen collapses ten feet down the corridor.
One second he’s moving beside me—
The next his knees buckle completely.
“Damn it.”
I lower Hannah carefully against the wall and grab Stephen before he fully hits the floor.
Gunfire cracks somewhere behind us.
Closer now.
Way too close.
“Stay with me,” I snap.
Stephen coughs hard, blood staining the front of his shirt darker.
“Trying,” he rasps.
Not good enough.
I hook his arm hard around my shoulders and haul him upright again.
He cries out through clenched teeth.
Yeah.
I don’t like it either.
But dying here would be worse.
“We move now.”
Hannah grips my sleeve weakly.
“There were more kids…”
“I know.”
“Lower level…” Her breathing shakes. “They moved some before you got here.”
Olivia said the same thing.
Which means this operation’s bigger than we thought.
And far from over.
Another burst of gunfire tears down the corridor.
Closer.
I tighten my grip on both of them and force us forward again.
