Chapter 28
Bullets whiz past my shield, but a few make contact at the center, forcing me to stumble backward.
I catch myself before I fall, the shield dipping to my forehead for a brief moment. The small opening is enough for a few bullets to clip pieces of my hair.
The handful of people who could recognize me may no longer be alive, given the repeated sound of piercing bullets shot from a sniper rifle.
My jaw tenses.
Craning my neck to peer out of the clear sliver of material in the shield, I frantically search for the most obvious thing I can spot: a bundle of spiky red scales. Guy may still be watching out for me from afar after I dashed out on him, since he was instructed to keep me safe.
It’s a long shot, but it’s all I have.
I glance over the first row of barricades, dull greys and neutrals camouflaged within the sand. Bullets hit my shield, growing in ferocity as I approach the compound.
“Guy!” I scream. My voice sounds muffled, my hearing numb and buzzing from the continuous blast of firearms.
“Guy! It’s May!” I scream again.
Lifting my eye-line through the piece of clear shield, I inhale to yell again, hopeful Guy’s hearing is as good as Lowell’s.
“GUY! HEL—” My voice is cut off by an impact to my chest, knocking the wind out of me.
Have I been shot?
I’m tossed and spun, my shield slipping from my grip and landing on the battlefield. When my vision focuses, the area remains spinning, grey floaters swirling across the bright-blue sky.
“No, no, no…” A voice frets. “Why did you come back? Lowell’s going to be pissed.”
Rubbing my eyes with my fingers until my vision clears, I recognize the voice. When I look down from the sky, a sharp-scaled red Lizardfolk stares at me with a pitiful look and a forehead wrinkled with concern.
I exhale with relief.
“Guy they’re bringing—” I start, stopped by a sudden hand pushing my head down. Bullets nick the top of the concrete, pieces spraying out and over our heads.
“You could have been shot! What are you doing?” Guy shouts, shielding parts of me that spill over the barricades with his body.
Before I answer, I’m drawn to the jarring sight of his uniform littered with bullet holes. Only a few shots from the sniper have pierced his skin. Red rings form around the fabric, some crusted and others still glistening with wetness.
Guy looks worn-out.
“Lowell was right. About everything,” I begin, words slurring together.
“The supplies Kinsley is giving you are hiding bottles of herbicide, the same ones used in Misya Swamp, the desert, and Goddess-knows-where-else. Kinsley’s scheme is in danger of being discovered, so he’s trying to pin everything on Gaia 4. ”
Guy winces in shock, his expression perplexed. “But that still doesn’t explain why you’ve come back,” he says, eyes softening. “You could go home, return to your life — what happens to us in Gaia 4 is not your concern anymore.”
I drop my gaze to the ground, my chest feeling tight.
Going home sounds so silly, now.
“Look, May, I can sneak you over to Nilsan’s vehicles, but we need—”
“No,” I say, pressing my lips together in a thin line. “Not with them.”
Guy tilts his head. “What? Why not? They’re your allies. If you don’t go back now, I don’t know when you’ll have the chance again.”
“They’re not my allies, Guy. And they’re not military.
They’re scientists,” I explain, breathing heavily.
“Nilsan doesn’t know Kinsley’s here. Meaning Nilsan doesn’t know I was captured.
These scientists are here of their own volition to cover up for their entire department…
” I shake my head. “There is too much to explain, but you have to believe me when I say I can’t go back with them. ”
With a gentle hand on my shoulder, Guy lowers his head. “I don’t get exactly what you’re saying, but friend-to-friend, you need to go with them.”
My face contorts in disbelief. “What the hell? Are you even hearing me?”
Guy squeezes my arm, a somber look dulling his bright colors.
“If you stay here, you’ll be killed. Go back to Nilsan and finish what you’ve started, May.
The thing is…. it’s, uh.” The scales at the base of his pointed chin pinch.
“It’s not looking good for Gaia 4. Lowell is in bad shape, and we are scrambling for medics, never mind the sniper picking us Lizardfolk off one-by-one.
We are not coming out of this the victors; we’re outmatched and outgunned. ”
I can only stand and gape. The hopelessness in his voice is unnerving.
“You leave with them or you don’t leave at all,” he says. The acceptance of his tragic fate shows in every pained line that forms in his bittersweet smile.
I hold out my hand, flexing my fingers. “Then give me my crossbow. I know where the sniper is,” I say, pleading. “I’m not going back with them.”
I won’t be able to look at myself again if I cower back to Kinlsey and let Guy and the others die here.
I can’t leave Lowell.
I don’t want to leave Lowell.
The thoughts pain me, an unfamiliar sting squeezing my heart.
“I’m not going to be able to convince you, am I?” he asks despite already knowing the answer.
“Nope. Not even the threat of Lowell’s wrath,” I say, jutting my hand out again.
Guy shakes his head, wincing each time a chunk of the barricade is lopped off by a bullet. “But there could be more than one sniper. They’ll see you. While I’m sure you’re skilled, it’s you versus an unknown number of others.”
“If there are more, they would have shot Lowell at the same time,” I point out.
“There are approximately fifteen scientists with Kinsley from what I can tell. I seriously doubt he could find more than one sniper who could not only shoot piercing ammo but was willing to defy Nilsan’s protocol.
In all of Nilsan, there are only five people who can reliably snipe with piercing ammo, and I’m one of them. ”
Guy presses his scaled lips together. He looks like he’s on the verge of tears as he says, “I… I don’t know. I can’t in good faith ask you to abandon your home for the sake of our group.”
There’s that word again. Home.
I ease my expression, placing my hand atop his. “I’m not abandoning my home. Kinsley and the others are traitors. Guy, you must trust my decision. I don’t want you all to die for this.”
He sucks in a few shaky breaths, a tear sliding down his dusty scales. “I promised Lowell I wouldn’t involve you. He thinks you’re in a vehicle with Kinsley right now. Safe.”
“Lowell isn’t going to make it out of this alive to scold you if you don’t let me help you,” I say. The reservation on Guy’s face is once again apparent at my suggestion of aiding him.
“Does Gaia 4 have a sniper? Someone who could make the shot instead of me?” Although tension rises around us, I try to keep my voice as gentle as possible. I must tread carefully since Guy is the only one I can realistically convince.
Guy shakes his head again, but this one is more forceful than the others. “No,” he replies. “Most of us are just civilians. No one besides Lowell, Ginny, and a few others are trained in combat let alone firearms.”
Of course, I already know this. Their clumsy attacks were proof enough of their overall inexperience. I’m the only one on this side who can make a genuine shot.
Wiping away tears with the back of his hand, Guy asks, “But what happens afterward if you fight with us?”
Truthfully, I have no clue what will happen. For the first time in a long time, I’m at the mercy of my instincts. Nothing seems to make sense anymore, and planning is out the window.
“If I live, then I report Kinsley’s crimes,” I say with a cracked smile. “He will retreat, I’m sure. He’s a coward. All this mess will all be sorted out in the Nilsanian courts when I return on my own, okay?”
All of it is a lie, but I’ll say anything to ease Guy’s mournful expression.
Guy pauses. “I…”
“Do you trust me?” I interrupt. “This is my choice, not yours.”
With a deep exhale, he reluctantly slips my crossbow and bolt bag off his back. He holds them out to me but yanks them back quickly.
“Don’t make me regret giving these back to you.”
I smile, elated to have the familiar wood grain inches from my fingertips. When Guy sets it in my palms, my smile widens to the point of pain.
“Don’t miss,” he whispers.
“It’s been good knowing you,” I say, not dropping my smile.
“Don’t say that…” Guy’s voice is so low it’s almost inaudible.
A somber energy drapes over us as I load a bolt, the sounds of gunfire becoming nothing but white noise in the background.
I turn to Guy, who watches me intently. “I need to find a better spot to shoot from. With as bright as you are, if you’re following me, I’ll be spotted. Stay and help Ginny and the others.”
Guy looks uneasy upon hearing her name. “But I can’t leave you alone.”
I stare at the spiky mess of worried scales, easing my stare. “She’ll need help, go protect her. I’ll be okay on my own.”
Not only do I work better alone, but having a tear-filled giant like him on my heels will make focusing much more difficult. I’m not exactly confident I can make a clean shot from this far away anyhow, so I don’t need a panicked, jumpy body elevating my stress.
“Okay…but find me once you down the sniper, okay?” he says, conflicted.
I’m lucky his love for Ginny transcends his fear of Lowell.
“I will,” I nod, knowing what I’ve agreed to is a lie.
I won’t stop at the sniper, and I have no plans on retreating. It may be the anger and betrayal consuming me, but I want my bolts to taste as much blood as there is strength in my hands to draw it.
Guy scurries off in the opposite direction, his tail hanging low. I wait until I see him make contact with Ginny and the medics before I begin to round the barricades.