Chapter 134 Harper
Harper
The world inside the building was fire and thunder.
Smoke curled through the air, thick with the sting of explosives and oil. The hallway stretched long and narrow, lit only by flashing emergency lights that pulsed red against the walls. Gunfire cracked, echoing so loud it rattled in my bones.
Carter moved ahead of me, a wall of motion and steel. Every time his rifle barked, another Redwood soldier hit the ground. River flowed beside him, calm and merciless, while Cyclone roared down the opposite side of the hall, his rifle booming like a cannon.
I pressed low, clutching the medical bag to my chest, my lungs burning with smoke. Fear surged with every shot, with every body that fell, with every ricochet sparking too close. But I kept moving.
Because stopping meant being left behind. And I refused to be left behind.
A man burst from a side door, rifle raised, eyes locking on me. My breath caught—I couldn’t lift a weapon, couldn’t stop him—
But Carter was faster. His shot split the air, dropping the man before he could even take aim. The blast left my ears ringing, but Carter didn’t look back. He didn’t need to. He trusted I’d keep moving.
And I did. My legs shook, but they carried me down that hall, right into the heart of Redwood.
A groan pulled my eyes to the side. One of the team—Gideon—was crouched against the wall, his hand pressed to his thigh where blood poured fast.
I dropped to my knees without thinking, the medical bag already open. My hands shook, but I forced them steady as I pressed gauze against the wound, my voice low and urgent. “Hold still. You’re not bleeding out on me.”
Gideon gave me a strained look, half-surprised, half-grateful, but didn’t argue.
Bullets screamed overhead, Carter’s shadow moving to cover us, his body angled wide as he fired down the hall.
I pressed harder on the wound, sweat stinging my eyes, heart hammering so loud it drowned out the rest.
Fear still lived in me. But so did fire.
And Redwood was about to learn I wasn’t just someone to protect.
I was someone to fight beside.