I move forward, creeping slowly, gun forward. Mikhail is nearby, I know it. He won’t break from the cover of the cactuses because he’s worried I’ll be able to shoot him. He knows I’m a good shot now and knows I’m trained.
Suddenly a hand flies out from behind a cactus. It smacks my gun down. He brings his weapon forward and squeezes off a shot, winging my arm as I twist and bring my hand up to smack his arm aside. I push harder, pinning his arm against the cactus.
He yells in pain and drops his gun. I move to twist mine up but he brings a knee up, catching my stomach and pushing me back. I drop my gun as I twist out of the way of a cactus.
He comes at me, jumping up to slam his fist down. I take it on the jaw and stumble back before getting my hands up to defend myself. I strike back but I’m losing ground as he forces me back with a series of punches. I take them on the arms, blocking my face, and I can feel a cactus behind me.
He shoves and the spines stab into my body. I shout in pain then twist to the side, falling to the ground and rolling. I can feel the spines dig into my body but the pain doesn’t matter. Pain is only temporary, but death is permanent.
I come up to my feet and turn just in time to catch a kick to my knee. I stumble as he follows with a punch. I dodge and his fist slams into a cactus, burying spines into his skin. He shouts in pain and I come up beside him, punching him in the gut and face.
He stumbles away and attacks again ferociously. I dodge and weave away. He’s stronger and faster than I would have guessed. Blood runs down his fist but it doesn’t slow him down. I take a few blows and give a few back.
We’re at the edge of the cactus cluster now, and I know I have to end this soon. There’s a short drop and a small hill, probably from running rainwater, just to our left.
I turn right and catch a punch to the jaw, but I shove him toward it. He recovers, but his foot slips down the gravel, losing his balance.
I jump, planting both feet in his chest, kicking him back. He topples and falls, hitting the ground with a thud and rolls down the hill.
As I get to my feet, I grab a baseball-sized rock and run after him. He rolls to the side as I smash it down where his head was just a second ago. He punches my kidney but I swing the rock wildly.
It connects with his jaw. He grunts and falls backward. I jump on top of him and slam the rock down again and again and again until he’s not moving and his face isn’t recognizable as a face anymore.
Panting, bleeding, and in pain, I slowly stand up.
I look around at the scene. Mikhail and the two guards lie there in their own pools of blood. I reach back and start plucking as many spines from my skin as I can, but I know I’m missing some.
I get back to the truck. The keys are still in the ignition and it starts. Luckily, the guard that opened fire didn’t hit anything important. I check the back of the truck, just to confirm, and sure enough there is no money anywhere.
This was an execution, not a meeting.
I shake my head and climb back into the truck. My laptop is still in my bag, so I pull it out and flip open the lid. I quickly make an uplink and send a message to command.
“Cover blown. Go forward with operation. Extraction needed.”
I lean back and wait, dabbing at my wounds. They’re mostly superficial, and I know I’ll survive. I manage to get out the rest of the spines by the time I get my response.
“Roger. Extraction coming. Units in place. Attack commences two hours. Over and out.”
I lean back with a sigh and a smile.
Finally, they’re coming. They’re finally going to listen and get over their fucking cowardly hesitation. At least they had units in the area, waiting and ready to go. We drove for about an hour and a half, so I need to hurry to get back to the compound before the attack starts. I need to find Riley and make sure she’s safe through all of this.
I pull the truck around and start driving. There’s a GPS unit on the dash with the compound’s location already programmed in there. I enter the information and hit the gas, jumping forward.
I’m going to save her. I’m coming for her. Just hold on, Riley.
27
Riley
The boredom is starting to eat at my mind again, although it’s barely been a few hours since I was taken into my new room. I didn’t realize just how much those books were helping me pass the time, but without them I’m just stuck obsessing about everything that’s happening.
There are more footsteps in this part of the compound and I can hear voices in a nearby room. At first, they’re barely a muted buzz, but soon I hear shouting and thumps. I don’t know what they mean, but I know that whatever’s happening isn’t good.
Fear wells up inside of me but I have to work to push it back. I can’t let myself give in to whatever game they’re playing with me. I have to hold on, or else I’m going to ruin everything. Logan needs me to be strong, and regardless of whether he’s alive or not, that’s what I’m going to do.