Rise: Populations Crumble, Book 2 by Gandy, A. (read book .txt) 📕

Sadie down the aisle and to the emergency exit by the left rear bathroom. On my signal, you pop the hatch and you head to the woods. Take shelter, and don’t come out no matter what you hear.”

“Peter, I am not going anywhere without you.” I can hear the shrillness rising in my own voice as panic claws at my throat.

“Patrick, do you understand? You are not to leave whatever shelter you find and you are not to let her out of arm’s length at any time, copy?” Peter ignores my objection, and I feel like I can’t breathe at the insinuation.

Patrick’s response is low and hard. “Copy.”

Peter ignores us now. “Martinez, I count 12 head up front, plus aerial support. What’s your rear count?”

There is a short pause and then Martinez shouts from the rear, “Seven rear.”

“Peter, we’re not going to make it past that many people by ourselves. We’re not leaving you, Peter. I won’t do it.”

Patrick grips me by the upper arms and hauls me to a sitting position. “Sadie, you don’t argue with the commanding officer in combat.”

“He is not my commanding officer, he is my brother and I WILL NOT LEAVE HIM!” I scream right in his face, but he never gets a chance to respond, because Peter’s shout cuts him off.

“TAKE COVER!”

Patrick throws himself on top of me, and rolls us against the foot of a love seat right before the loudest explosion yet causes the entire shuttle to lurch up and over onto its side in a massive jolting impact. The motion tosses us all like rag dolls through the shuttle and we slam into the windows, now flush against the grassy shoulder of the road. Shattered glass lands in my hair, and a hissing sound of some sort is the first thing to register after the impact.

I landed on top of Patrick, so I push up on my elbows and try to climb off of him quickly, but my limbs are leaden. Finally I get off of him, and he lurches to a sitting position.

“Sadie, are you okay?” I can barely hear him, but I nod. He has a gash on his cheek that is bleeding steadily, but otherwise he looks okay.

Peter’s voice reaches us from the front of the shuttle. “Todd is out. Everyone else report!”

“We’re bruised but in one piece.” Patrick answers for us, and from the back of the shuttle, silence is Martinez’s only answer.

Oh God, they don’t care if they take us alive. We’re not getting out of this.

Glass crunches under Peter’s black boots as he hauls an unconscious Todd on his shoulders to where we’re crouched mid-shuttle. He lays him at our feet, oblivious to the crushed glass. “Stay here, I’ll get Martinez.” He bounds to the back of the shuttle and hauls himself up the bathroom wall and settles in a crouch before dropping into the bathroom out of sight.

My gaze lands on the unconscious Todd, and I’m relieved to see that he’s breathing. Blood is coming out of a cut on his temple, and the ear underneath. I’m not a doctor, but that can’t be a good thing. Patrick, still in a crouch, has crossed the shattered windows to the roof emergency hatch to test the handle.

His first effort doesn’t work, but with a grunt he manages to wrench it open. My relief at the apparent exit is snatched away by the smell of burnt rubber and acrid black smoke that pours into the open hatch.

“Peter, you’ve got to get out here! Something’s on fire!” I shout. His head and shoulders appear out of the door frame, and he quickly scrambles out. Martinez doesn’t follow. “Where’s Martinez?” I ask, watching over his shoulder, but the other man doesn’t emerge.

His only response is a sharp shake of the head.

Lord help us all. He died to protect us, and Todd’s unconscious.

“What’s on fire?” He’s all business, despite his fallen comrade.

“The shuttle. We’re going to have to run for it.” Patrick’s expression is grim.

“Okay, you’ve got Sadie, I’ve got Todd. The good news is the explosion put us closer to the tree line. The bad news is, they’ve had time to move closer while we’ve been regrouping. It’s now or never.” He turns to me, and snatches me into an unyielding hug. “I love you, baby sister. Don’t ever forget it.” He releases me and in one motion shoves me backwards into Patrick’s waiting arms. He then moves to the hatch, and peers around the corner cautiously.

“Okay, I’m going to lay down cover fire. When you clear the tree line, you can return the favor and then you run like a tsunami is coming after you. You hear me? You do not stop. You do not turn around, and you do not, for any reason, look back. Sadie, I mean it. Do. Not. Stop. Running.”

“Peter, you have to come with us.” His mouth is set in a line, and he doesn’t respond, just gets into position with his gun. The black metal gleams in the flickering light of the growing fire at the front of the shuttle. The smoke has grown thicker inside, and my lungs burn in disapproval.

“Peter, I mean it, I won’t go without you!”

Patrick hauls me into position, so we’ve got a clear shot at the opening when Peter signals.

“Peter, I’m serious. Peter, look at me!”

He spares a quick glance at me, before training his eyes back on whatever he’s watching outside. “Sadie, I’ll be right behind you. My job is to guard you, and I intend to do just that. But you have to run as fast as you can, or they’ll catch us all.”

I let out a relieved breath. All in one motion, Peter shoves the hatch as wide as it will go and starts spraying bullets in a wide arc at targets we can’t see. “Move! Move! Move!”

Patrick’s grip on my hand might have bruised it if I wasn’t gripping his just as hard in return when we bolt out the hatch