Chapter 42 Beckett
Beckett
The desert gave no cover, just endless rock and sand and the echo of Hydra closing in. Every step was a fight against gravity, against exhaustion, against the weight of Elara’s hand gripping mine like she refused to let me go.
The trucks barreled closer, engines snarling. Gunfire spat sharp and wild, rounds sparking off the ridge. One caught the stone inches from Elara’s shoulder. She didn’t flinch—just pressed closer, moving when I pulled.
“Keep low!” I shouted, dragging us into a dry wash cut deep into the earth. The ground dropped hard, forcing us to tumble the last few feet. Pain jolted up my side, but we landed in shadow, hidden from the ridge above.
Elara rolled to her knees, pistol raised, eyes burning. “We can’t keep running forever.”
“Don’t need forever,” I growled, racking another round. “Just long enough to thin them out.”
Boots hit gravel above. Shouts barked in Hydra’s tongue, commands sharp and cruel. Dust sifted down from the edge of the wash.
I pressed Elara back against the wall, body shielding hers. My rifle came up steady, breath locked. The first man dropped into view, weapon first. I fired once. He folded before he hit the ground.
Two more followed. Elara’s shots cracked sharply beside mine, clean and ruthless. Both fell.
For a moment, there was silence. Then Hydra responded with fury—grenades hurled into the wash, explosions shaking the ground, and sand choking the air. Elara’s hand tightened around mine as the earth buckled, rocks collapsing around us.
“Go!” I pulled her up, dragging us toward a break in the wash. We staggered through smoke, lungs on fire, the world a blur of fire and dust. Hydra didn’t stop. They never stopped.
We broke free onto another stretch of open desert, the sun climbing higher, heat already brutal. Trucks swerved to cut us off. Engines roared like predators scenting blood.
Elara’s voice was ragged, fierce. “They won’t stop coming, Beckett.”
I glanced at her—dust streaked her face, blood at her temple, eyes alive with defiance.
“Neither will I,” I said.
And with Hydra closing the circle tighter, we ran again. No backup. No way out. Just the two of us, against an army that would rather see us buried in the sand than free under the sun.