Page 91 of Unveiled Wounds

“Move,” I yelled. “The SUVs are going to blow.” I was running towards my bike when my feet left the ground, flinging me through the air.Is this what it felt like when Meredith jumped from the car?I landed on my stomach.Tell her I love her, and I never meant for it to end this way.

My eyes closed, and all I saw was black.

Chapter 34

Round Two - Finish It

Grizz

“Grizz!” I heard from somewhere far off in the distance. My eyes were closed, and I didn’t bother trying to open them. The dark was comfortable.

“Grizz!” This was the best sleep I’d gotten in a while, and I didn’t want anyone to ruin it.

“You better check in, motherfucker.” Sabre.

“Yeah,” my voice croaked. It took me a minute to remember what had happened, but as I flipped onto my back, it all came rushing back. “How long was I out?”

“Less than a minute,” Cyph came through the earpiece.

“What the fuck is this shit?” Count sounded angry, and he was usually one of the calmer brothers. “This was a timed attack, but what’s the next round? These men didn’t fight back, and when the SUVs in the front blew, they didn’t run.”

“Are they dead?” Sabre asked.

“Yeah, and so is A. The rest of us have a few scrapes,” Count confirmed.

“What about everyone who followed me from quadrant one?” I was still lying on the ground, staring at the sky, but I needed to know I had lost no one.

Cyph started a roll call, and the pressure in my chest loosened as I listened to each brother check in. We had all survived, though a few, like me, had lost consciousness.

“Is there any activity, Cyph?” Sabre took the lead, but I didn’t expect it to last long, as the military brothers clocked into this situation.

“I see nothing, but now that Grizz said it, it’s too quiet.”

“Grizz said the cartel paid these men,” Op rang loud and clear. “If I had to guess, they were supposed to check and see if they got pushback, and when they did, the cartel triggered the SUVs. They probably sent good men to die for their families.”

“Op! They know our positions—that’s why they blew the cars.” How sounded panicked, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized he was right.

“Anyone severely injured should head back inside to Scrub. The rest of you reset where you currently are. If this was round one, we can’t afford to guess wrong,” Sabre commanded.

I laid on the ground for a few minutes longer before I mounted my bike and hid in the trees.

“I’m not fucking around anymore. There’s a machine gun buried underneath the floorboards in the attic. Don’t get excited, it’s only on loan.” Count chuckled.

“Seriously? I think I just came in my pants.” Christmas had just come early for How, and we heard him running down the stairs from the roof to the attic. “Fucking shit. I love you.”

“You’re a bitch.” Zook laughed at his friend, probably jealous he didn’t get to play with the big gun.

There was a dull roar as we laughed at their antics. It was silly, but it broke the tension enough for us to regroup.

“Are they going to hit us in the same spots?” Zook was back to business.

“I would, considering those sections are potentially weak.” The tree branches swayed as the dirt kicked up. It hadn’t been windy today, so where the fuck was this coming from?

“There’s a fucking drone,” Dead complained. “I bet it has a heat sensor, so they can see where we are.”

“It’s highly illegal to shoot one down,” Op laughed.

“Never stopped you before,” Chef chuckled.