Page 26 of Marc
It didn’t move. She tugged and pulled, her face contorting with the effort.
I shifted closer, ignoring the agony ripping through my gut. We gripped the handle together. We pushed and pushed, and moved it an inch with a tortured groan of metal.
More crashing, and another wild roar. The monster wasn’t far from us now.
“Again,” Colbie snapped.
We heaved the handle and it spun. The cover opened with a creak.
“Get in,” I ordered.
“Oh, no, you first.” She pushed her tangled hair back from her face. “I’m not having you do the noble sacrifice and lock me in there.”
“Colbie, move.”
The next roar was closer.
She crossed her arms over her chest. “No.”
“Fucking hell, you’re stubborn.” I climbed through the manhole, agony tearing through my side.
A ladder led down into darkness.
Hell, this was going to suck.
I gripped the rung and started moving down. Above me, Colbie climbed in, her taut ass not far from my face.
Then she pulled the cover closed with a clang, locking us in the darkness.
I flicked the flashlight on. “Let’s climb.”
CHAPTER SIX
Colbie
We reached the bottom of the ladder. Marc’s breathing was labored, and I stared up at his face. His usually beautiful, bronze skin looked gray.
“You need to rest.” What he needed was medical help.
You’re all he’s got.
“Come on.” I slid my arm under his shoulder, wrapping it around his middle. “We’ll find somewhere to hole up and I’ll dress your wound.”
We started down the corridor. The walls were plain concrete and screamed “military base”. I couldn’t believe we were intheBlue Mountain Base. Home to so many survivors, and where the squads had operated from during the invasion. A large number of people had sheltered here until the Gizzida had attacked it. I knew most of the base was in ruins, but I hoped some of it had still survived.
Marc put more weight on me, and I gritted my teeth to stay upright. Worry wormed through me. He had to be really hurt for him to be leaning on me this much.
Broken glass and debris littered the ground. I glanced into an open doorway.
“Looks like some sort of lab.”
“No critters?” he gritted out.
Damn, I hoped there were no monsters nesting in here. “Not that I can see.”
“See if there’s anything in there that we can use. Especially for comms. We need to find a way to contact the others.”
I leaned him against the wall then stepped into the lab. Using the light coming from his armor, I scouted through the room.
