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He gathers the rope back up into his hands, and swings the lasso back and forth, as before.

It misses a second time. And a third. A fourth.

“Fuck!” His frustration rides heavy on his words, and though I know what he’s feeling right now, I force calm into my voice.

“Six, relax. Remember the rock swinging in the pouch, how you visualize it hitting that target before you even throw it? Visualize it.”

For the fifth time, he gathers the rope and tosses it upward.

It catches.

My God, it catches!

With one hard tug, he engages the lever, and the cage slides upward.

It stalls about a foot off the ground.

“Six? What’s wrong?”

“It’s off track,” Gregor says beside me. “It’s happened before.”

“How do we fix it?”

“With tools they don’t currently have at their disposal.”

Six gives another yank of the lever, and the cage slams back to the concrete.

A scream erupts and the commotion of the group swings Six’s attention to where a body lies half sticking out the bottom of it. He abandons the rope to investigate, the camera zeroing in on the gore, the sight of which flips my stomach over.

“He tried to slide beneath it!” Cali says, holding a trembling hand at her mouth, as if she might throw up. “Oh, my God!”

Blood and bits of scattered bone lay everywhere. The crushed head looks like a busted watermelon, and I have to breathe hard through my nose to keep my lunch down.

“Who was it?” I ask.

“Kenny.”

Chapter 31

Cali

The cage rises again, this time slightly higher than before, revealing the full horror of Kenny’s failed attempt to reach the other side.

I have to turn away from it, and when I do, I catch sight of Cadmus tugging the rope, the muscles in his arms twitching with the toil.

“I’ll hold it up,” he says, teeth gritting with his effort. “Hurry up!”

I don’t think anyone wants to chance it at this point, but we don’t have a choice. The alternative is being torn apart by the faceless Ragers that lurk somewhere behind us.

Taking three deep breaths, Titus rolls beneath it to the other side.

Brandon follows suit, rolling safely after him.

“Head toward the hatch! I don’t know who he alerted, but Legion could arrive any minute, so everyone needs to get out.” Valdys gives me a nudge and takes his place alongside Cadmus, who visibly struggles with trembling muscles to grip the rope. “Hurry, Cali. You’re next.”

Taking hold of one of the many knots in the rope, Valdys tugs behind Cadmus, offering the Alpha some relief.

I drop to my knees and roll beneath, stealing a breath when I make it to the other side of the barrier. The mutations across from us rattle the cage bars, some climbing up the metal rungs, as if excited by my presence, and a thrum of terror shoots up my spine as I stare down at what’s left of Jed. The pieces they couldn’t pull through the bars. Forcing myself to ignore them, I focus my attention on the men who have yet to make it to this side.