“Stay down!” Russ shouts.
Clay’s chest crushes against my back while he returns fire over the concrete barrier beside us.
The deep sound of his rifle echoes violently through the corridor.
Controlled bursts.
Precise shots.
Killing shots.
I risk a quick glance upward.
At least six armed men outside.
Maybe more.
Blocking the exit.
Of course they are.
“We’re pinned!” Lucas yells.
Clay shifts above me slightly, scanning the doorway.
Then suddenly his head turns sharply toward the river outside.
Heavy engines.
Multiple vehicles.
And then headlights cut through the smoke beyond the loading dock.
My stomach drops instantly.
More militia arriving.
“We need another route,” I whisper.
Clay’s expression hardens immediately.
“There isn’t one.”
The words settle cold in my chest.
Because I hear the truth underneath them.
We’re trapped.
The little girl clings tightly to me while chaos erupts around us.
Gunfire.
Smoke.
Screaming metal.
And somehow in the middle of all of it—
