Page 122 of Nothing Special X: The Last Stand

God grabbed one side and Steele the other, hauling him upright.

Ruxs and Green were shouting and driving people back, forming a shield. Day had his gun drawn beneath his jacket, angled low, eyes sweeping the rooftops and vehicles.

The Hummer roared into the opening like a black apex predator, the rear door already open.

“Move, move, move!” God barked.

Cassidy shoved Xander in first, because nothing else mattered. He used what strength he had left to push him down and climb in over him.

His knees hit the floorboard, and the door slammed shut as the vehicle lurched forward.

Cassidy had one hand braced against the seat, the other arm burning so badly his vision blurred. Xander was beneath him, trembling, hands fisting in his suit jacket.

“Stay down,” he rasped.

The team was shouting through comms.

“Lead clear.”

“Rear vehicle travelling.”

“Slade, evasive route two.”

“Copy.”

Cassidy stayed on top of Xander until he heard the words he’d been waiting for.

“Clear,” God said. “Convoy clear.”

Cassidy lifted his head, the motion jerking a sharp grunt out of him.

Xander scrambled from under him.

Blood streaked his hands from where he’d gripped his shoulder.

His eyes were wide, red and wet, his breaths coming in hard shallow breaks. He looked at Cassidy’s chest, his arms, then the blood on his own palms as if his mind was struggling to comprehend what’d happened.

“We need a doctor,” Xander said, voice cracking. Then louder. “Slade, get us to the hospital. Now!”

Cassidy tried to sit up.

Bad idea.

Pain flared down his chest and through his ribs, sharp enough to make him gasp.

Xander caught him. “Stay still. Don’t move.”

“I’m not leaving your side for a minute,” Cassidy said around a tight jaw.

“What?”

“I’m okay. I was hit in the vest. My arm was grazed, it’s barely a scratch.” Cassidy lied, leaning hard against the seat. “Slade, proceed on route two.”

Xander stared at him as if he’d lost his mind. “What the hell? No. No, you need a doctor!”

Tech twisted around in the front seat, scanning Cassidy with tactical efficiency.

“It grazed me,” he reiterated.