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“Kiss me, asshole,” she says, and I can see she’s trying really hard to hold it together for me. I love her even more for it.

My lips crash into hers, our tongues tangling. She kisses me like she might not get the chance to do it again. I decide then and there that I’ll do everything in my power to give her the peace of mind she deserves. I won’t put her in positions like this to lose me again, if I can help it.

She pulls back first, squaring her shoulders and letting strength steel her spine. “I love you.”

“I loved you first,” I say, meaning it even more than the first time I told her.

She turns and walks ahead to the fence, throwing a reassuring smile over her shoulder before dragging her crowbar along the metal. The grating sound awakens the dead, their growls growing louder as they turn to her, their feet shuffling slowly across the sandy yard.

“Come and get me, fuckers,” she yells, banging on the fence. I wait until they're halfway across before moving from the cover of the trees to the side of the building where the fence stops. I pull the bolt cutters out and start snipping the fence until I have a hole big enough for me to slip through.

I keep my attention divided between Rue’s safety and my own. All of the dead have pressed into the corner of the fence. If I don’t hurry, they could overtake it and be on top of her.

Just a few seconds, and I’m at the gate leading up to the loading dock and door. It’s close enough that I can set the explosives outside the gate and save time. I set my bag on the ground and kneel down.

I wasn’t lying; the C4 is harmless without a detonator. You could burn it for heat, and it wouldn’t explode. I stack the pre-wired bricks along the wall before carefully placing the timer on top. All I have to do now is connect the timer with the top brick.

Fifteen minutes is plenty of time for us to get back to the boat and give our people enough time to find Reaper and get him out. As soon as it's connected and the timer starts counting down, I’m back at the fence and climbing through. As soon as I’m on the other side, the door on the other side of this gate swings open.

“What the fuck?” The guard yells, looking first at the explosives and then up at me before reaching for his radio on his hip, but I’m quicker. The grenade is out of my bag and tossed over before he can hit the button to call for backup.

Okay. Maybe I didn’t think this through. Those fifteen minutes have turned into seconds as the grenade hits the concrete slope and rolls next to the C4.

“Rue, RUN!” I scream just as the initial blast goes off.

The second blast hits me like a shock wave, throwing me into the treeline. Sounds are muffled as the high-pitched ringing in my ears keeps me dazed for a few moments. When the world returns upright, the smoke and dust make it impossible for me to see anything beyond a few feet in front of me. Panic races inside me as I stumble to my feet, using a tree to pull myself up. Nothing appears to be broken, just some superficial cuts, and I’ll sure as hell feel the pain tomorrow, but I’m alive.

Rue.

“R-rue,” I try to scream, but my throat is coated with dust particles, like I swallowed a bucket of sand.

I stumble around in the smoke, falling into trees to keep upright with my unsteady balance as I make my way towards what I think is the back of the fence. When the trees turn to white sand and the smoke clears, my panic surges. I made it back before her. My knees hit in the sand; there’s nothing left to keep me standing out here in the open. I crawl towards the trees, screaming her name the best I can.

Then, a dark figure emerges from the smoke, a crowbar swinging at her side. She looks like Death incarnate, blood splattered across her chest and dripping down her face.

“You’re alive!?” I say, coughing a cloud of dust and falling down to my hands, letting the relief wash over me.

“A fucking grenade? Are you fucking serious? You could have killed yourself.”

“Yeah, not my finest moment, Death.” She kneels in front of me, pulling me up as she launches herself at me, holding on to me like her life depends on it. “I’m going to fucking kill you, asshole. I thought you were dead… again!”

“I’m sorry. I love you, and you can kill me later though. The fence is down, and we’ve got to get to the boat.”

“It’s not far. Can you walk?” She asks, pulling herself to her feet and grabbing my hands to help me up.

“I’d crawl if I had to,” I tell her, getting to my feet and steadying myself. “There’s no place too far for me to follow you, Death.”

“Don’t worry, sir. You’ll crawl for me, yet.”

CHAPTER50

Noah

My heart drums in my chest, hammering with terror as I watch Ghost and Rue take off. I just got my best friend back, and it feels like I’m watching her walk away—technically she’s running. I don’t want to save the man I love just to lose my best friend, but I can’t leave him behind. I’m saving him one way or the other.

“Get your head in the fucking game,” Maverick growls at me. I roll my eyes, even though he’s right. I need to get out of my head and focus. We have a plan, a terrible one, but it’s the only way to get Reed back.

It’s not until Rue and Ghost are out of sight that Maverick, Mallory, and I take off towards the main house. My feet pound against the ground, each step desperate to run faster.