Page 59 of Between Control and Chaos
Rhys is there first, his gun poised while Luca offers Harper a hand, the other girl in a bright orange dress with darker hair and sullen eyes skirts back, hands up, and hurries away from us, perhaps worried that we’re the enemy.
I don’t chase after her.
I’m right at Luca’s side as he lifts Harper into his arms, carrying her back to our vehicle. She’s covered in abrasions, blood caked to her hair, her shoulder, and her yellow dress is torn.
“Put me down!” I hear her insistence, and Luca carefully places her feet on the ground, an arm around her as they hurry away.
She’s limping, clearly injured, but between the two of them, they’re able to run faster with her in pain than Luca carrying her.
Rhys and I cover the blasted exit. Livia and guards pour rounds of bullets, poking further holes in the stucco, destroying what’s left of the wall outside as we stand our ground.
Luca and Harper are already around the corner when I feel the impact, the sudden blow of a bullet to my chest.
I’m knocked to the ground, the wind stolen from my lungs as Rhys bends down, grabbing my vest to look at the bullet and see if it pierced my skin.
The pain, the bruise, it aches, but that’s all I’m feeling. I need to take off the vest to be certain, but not now, not while we’re under gunfire.
“We need to move. Can you get up?” Rhys asks.
Grimacing, I’m up and he’s covering us with rounds of bullets as we dart back against the stucco wall, around the property, fleeing in haste.
The sound of gunshots lull to a nothingness.
But I worry it’s far from over. “We need to stop them,” I say, glancing at Rhys.
“Can you make it back to the car?”
He’s crazy if he thinks he can go up against all of them. There are too many men of DeLuca’s men still alive. “I’m not leaving you,” I say.
“That’s an order, not a request. Get back to the others. Make sure the car still runs. If not, you’d better come up with an exit plan, fast.” Sweat drips from his forehead and I hurry across the front of the property before running as swiftly as possible, my legs burning; my chest still aches, but I’m alive.
Gasping for breath as I reach Luca and the others, I hang my head, trying to catch my breath.
“Where’s Rhys?” Nova asks.
A second explosion erupts, tearing the compound apart, the building crumbles and dust rising up into the sky.
“Shit.” I stare at the explosion, the dust, the smoke and fire rising up as ashes catch in the wind.
Anyone remaining inside the compound is likely trapped and buried under the rubble or dead.
Smoke fills the area, the wind kicking it in our direction, making it impossible to see the compound or what’s left of it.
“We need to get the car started,” I say, jumping into the front seat and trying the engine.
It’s dead.
“The EMP took it out,” Nova says. “Also burned out my cell phone. We’re stuck here.”
Twenty-Four
Bristol
Jaxson curses as he runs a hand through his dark, cropped hair. His cheeks are red, eyes fuming, and he glances at me. Like somehow, I’m to blame.
He’s got the news on, and the breaking story changes from Harper’s abduction to an EMP in Nevada that has darkened a great deal of Las Vegas.
The city and Las Vegas Strip remain untouched, but the outskirts of Las Vegas are dark.
