Page 69 of Dissent (The Dissenter Saga #1)

I got onto my hands and knees, but the spinning hadn’t stopped yet, and I could feel nausea churning in my belly.

I looked up, past the soldier who was taking heavy steps toward me, and I saw my friends.

Edith was doing everything she could to keep from being shot at, her back against a tree which was serving as a shield from the fire she was under by two soldiers.

She might have been a badass with her katana, but the truth was, you should never bring a knife to a gunfight.

She looked my way. Even from this distance, I could see the panic gripping her eyes.

She made a move to come toward me, but the second she did, she was under fire again, causing her to whip back, taking shelter behind the tree once more.

My eyes darted to Wes, who was currently going fist-to-fist with another soldier.

Who knew what happened to his assault rifle, but he was throwing punches as fast as he could and then blocking just as many.

Then my gaze shifted to Matias, spinning around, his leg in the air as his foot made contact with the face of a soldier, completing his roundhouse kick.

His arms were up, shielding his face with his hands in fists like a boxer, getting ready for the next guy to attack, because he was surrounded. He had four soldiers on him.

Fear for him crashed through me like a tidal wave, and I scurried to get to my feet, not caring about the soldier that was only a few yards away from me.

My focus was on Matias. I had to help him.

I ran at the soldier, and as I reached him, he pulled his arm back to punch me as I brought my foot up and snap-kicked him as hard as I could, right between the legs.

He instantly let out a yelp as he forgot all about his plans, hands dropping to grip his male anatomy, and falling to his knees.

I wanted to do so much more, to punch him in the damn face, but I didn’t. I rushed past him, racing for Matias.

I was there in seconds, pulling my elbow back, hand balled into a fist, and then launching it as hard as I could at the first soldier I came up against. My fist hit hard with a delicious smack that sent the man spinning and stumbling away from the force of the impact.

It was totally awesome, but anguish quickly replaced my pride.

Holy mother!

My hand throbbed from the impact. I’d had plenty of practice hitting the punching bags in the training center, but none of them compared to the force of the impact of hitting someone’s jaw. Cradling my hand, I sucked in a deep breath.

Movement caught my attention, shifting it back to the soldier I’d just hit as he regained his balance.

The look on his face told me I did not want to find out what he had planned to do next.

I risked a glance around and saw my gun just a few yards away on the ground.

I made a beeline for it, running as hard as I could, never looking back.

I should have.

I didn’t really know what happened, but the next thing I knew, I was flying.

And when I landed, it was on my left shoulder.

I heard, just as much as I felt, the crack that sent splintered fingers of pain radiating down my arm and into my back from my shoulder.

My head hit the ground next. Once again, I saw stars, the world spinning when I tried to open my eyes.

I blinked several times, desperate for my vision to stop blurring.

It worked—kind of—but I almost wished it hadn’t.

Because what came into focus was the soldier I had punched, and the view was simply his booted foot coming at my face.

Pow!

The force of the kick sent my head whipping around, my body turning right after it as I rolled completely onto my other side.

The taste of iron flooded my mouth as my jaw throbbed.

He missed my nose, thank god, but that didn’t mean the pain was anything less.

My vision distorted as tears came to my eyes.

I couldn’t keep doing this. My brain’s survival instinct was kicking on, and it was screaming at me to go, to run!

But I couldn’t run. I couldn’t go anywhere.

My body felt so broken. And what about my friends?

I tried to move my head, shifting it through the pain.

There was a ringing in my ears so loud that I couldn’t hear anything else.

And I felt like everything moved in slow motion then.

I lifted my head, just barely. In the distance, I watched Edith, racing toward me, katana up in the air as though she was about to strike.

But she didn’t get far. A bomb exploded near her, sending her flying, tumbling to the ground, and motionless.

No!

I turned a little more and saw Matias, still battling two soldiers, but one had Matias in a chokehold while the other landed a punch to his gut. The beatings he’d already taken marred his beautiful face. Oh my god!

“Matias!” The scream escaped me. I wanted to go to him, to help him. I began crawling along the ground, barely getting my left arm to respond.

“Now where do you think you’re going?”

I didn’t even get the chance to look up.

Before I knew it, I was getting another firm kick, this time to the ribs.

The air escaped my lungs as I rolled onto my back, my eyes squeezed tightly shut.

And then I was being pulled by my hair again.

The soldier had a fist full of it, right at the roots at the top of my head.

My one good arm flew up to his wrist, trying to keep the hairs from being pulled right out of my scalp.

I was being pulled up, lifted onto my knees, and then my head was tipped back so I was staring up at the orange-hued night sky.

The Telvian came into view, followed by the glint of metal in his hand.

He brought the barrel of his pistol to my face, resting it right in the center of my forehead.

I watched him cock back the hammer as I closed my eyes.

“Rot in hell, bitch.” Then I heard the blast ring out.