Page 60 of The Hollowed
Luci’s heart slammed against her ribs. She raised her hands,her fingers trembling despite her effort to stay calm.
The doctor from before stood in front of her, but this time there was no barrier of plastic between them. Her pale blonde hair was slicked back into a tight bun, and her crisp uniform strained slightly over the curve of her pregnant belly.
For a second, Luci’s mind snagged on that detail. But then her gaze dropped to the gun aimed directly at her chest.
Luci’s eyes flickered between the woman’s face and the mouth of the gun. Her heart was beating rapidly, but she forced herself to take a deep breath. “You don’t have to do this, you can put the gun down.”
The doctor’s jaw clenched as she gripped the gun tighter than before. “I can’t. My orders are clear. I can’t let you leave this room.”
Another round of gunfire went off, louder and closer than before.
Luci seized the opportunity. “Listen to me,” she said, her voice rising with urgency, “you and I took the same oath to save lives no matter what. You know what Prometheus is. They’re cruel, controlling. They think they can decide who lives and who doesn’t. If you let me go, I can finish this. I can make sure the vaccine reaches everyone — not just the people they deem worthy.”
Luci could see hope and doubt flare across the doctor’s eyes before she swallowed hard and dropped her gaze, looking away from Luci. “I…I want to believe you, but you don’t understand, if I let you go, they’ll kill me. They’ll kill us all,” the doctor explained, the gun hovering over her belly.
Luci took a step closer and kept her hands raised. “If Alex gets here first, you’re dead anyway. You hear him out there. He won’t stop, and he won’t show mercy to anyone standing between us.”
The doctor’s breath hitched, and her hand trembled justenough that Luci noticed.
For a long moment, neither of them moved. Luci’s breath slowed as her eyes locked on the doctor’s, searching for anything that would tell her which way this would go. Then, the doctor’s grip loosened ever so slightly.
Luci lunged.
The two of them collided with the gun caught between them. Luci shoved the woman against the cabinets, the sterile metal trays that littered the counter clattering to the floor. The doctor shouted in pain when their bodies slammed into the side of the bed, but Luci drove her shoulder forward just enough to pull the weapon from the woman’s grip.
The moment the gun was in her hands, Luci spun, raised it toward the corner of the room, and fired.
The camera sparked and smoke curled from the ruined lens as silence reclaimed the room.
Luci caught her breath and looked back at the doctor who was slumped against the counter, rubbing her wrist where Luci had pulled the weapon free. “Are you okay?” Luci asked, breathless but sincere.
The woman nodded. “I’ll be fine.”
Before Luci could say anything else, she caught sight of Alex running down the hall, his shirt soaked in blood, Luna at his side. His eyes were wild as he raised his gun at the doctor through the glass.
“No!” Luci shouted.
Alex froze. The look in her eyes was enough for him to lower his weapon.
The doctor pushed herself upright and hurried to the door, buzzing it open to let Alex in. She sagged against the wall. “You need to get down to the basement level. There are workingvehicles there and you can use the maintenance tunnel to get clear of the compound.”
Luci blinked at her, stunned by her willingness to help. “Come with us. You don’t have to stay here.”
The doctor shook her head as grief and resolve flashed across her face. “I can’t. I have a family here and patients who depend on me. If I leave, no one will take care of them.”
If things were different, if they had time and if the odds weren’t stacked so brutally against them, Luci would’ve fought to get everyone out, not just herself. But she could see in the doctor’s eyes that her decision was already made, and nothing Luci said would change that.
Wasting time arguing now would only put them both in danger.
“Good luck,” Luci whispered.
“You too,” the doctor replied.
“We have to go,” Alex whispered as his hand found Luci’s. Without another word, they turned and slipped into the hall. Luna padded close at their heels as all three headed toward the basement.
Every time Luci caught the glimpse of a guard dropping, she pushed her mind somewhere else because if she let herself feel it, she would fall apart. All she could do was keep moving and put one foot in front of the other until finally the door to the basement slammed shut behind them.
Relief flooded her chest at the sight of rows of vehicles. They weren’t free yet, but they were pretty damn close.