Page 24

No. No. No.

This isn’t how she was supposed to die.

Fight. She needed to keep fighting.

Khalani gritted her teeth and crawled forward, like a roach refusing to perish.

But the vicious storm pressed against her, like the Earth itself were rejecting her presence.

Grains of sand stung her skin and filled her throat. The howling wind screeched in her ears like a deafening protest for all they’d taken away.

Perhaps the Governor was right.

Maybe they were never meant to return to the surface.

Khalani closed her eyes as the Earth enveloped her, suffocating her in its final embrace.

Suddenly, a strong hand seized her arm, pulling her to her feet, and wrenched her in the opposite direction. She stumbled, unaware of whose firm grip held her in the torrent.

Each step was riddled with agony, but whenever she slowed, the steady hand forcefully pulled her closer.

Khalani’s legs were on the brink of collapse before she was suddenly pulled through an open doorway.

The door banged shut behind her, and she fell to her hands and knees on the white, tiled floor. Gasping for breath, she vomited on the ground, expelling sand, food, and water. Drooldripped from the sides of her mouth, tears blurring her vision, as a smaller hand began rubbing her back in comforting pats.

“Make sure she gets it all out,” Takeshi commanded from afar.

“I got her,” Derek responded, lifting her brown, knotted hair from her face. “Keep going. I’m here.”

She blubbered incoherently, unable to speak. By the time she was heaving dry air, Khalani was certain she’d ejected the entire contents of her stomach.

She stared at the mess on the floor, trying to steady her heavy breathing. A rustle caught her attention, and she raised her head.

Brock pulled a solar stick from his pack, casting a soft, yellow glow around them. The room they were in had small wooden desks piled against the far wall. A dust sheen hung over the empty space.

She flinched when a strong gust of wind hammered the building, and the beige desks rattled like an echoing symphony.

Serene coughed heavily, doubled over with her hands on her knees as Adan checked her for injuries. Brock stood in the corner, stealing glances at them.

Takeshi knelt beside Winnie, who lay against a pillar, tying a piece of cloth around her injured ankle. His brow furrowed when Winnie hissed in pain, but a firm determination set in his jaw as he tightened the knot.

Khalani licked her dry lips, the scratchy pain in her sore throat screaming at her, and Derek pushed a water canteen into her chest.

“Drink this.”

She nearly moaned as the cool liquid coated her lips and tongue, sinking down her parched throat. She gasped for air after gulping the water down, placing a shaky hand on her chest. An erratic pulse beat under her hand with each exhale.

“I thought we nearly lost you.” Derek’s expression washaunted as he watched over her.

She leaned back, running a trembling palm through her hair. “For a second, I did too. Thank you for coming back for me.”

“It wasn’t me who saved you.”

She followed his tense gaze to Takeshi, and she froze in disbelief.

The raw strength it would’ve taken for just one man to drag a person through that sandstorm was immense...but to hold someone with one arm while dragging her with the other was astonishing.

Takeshi spoke softly to Winnie, the tender care in his eyes the opposite of how he stared at Khalani.