Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Evelyn
The detonator was pressed. Red numbers started counting down.
Sixty seconds. Even if I were free right now, even if my legs weren't tied, weren't numb from hours of being bound, I'd still need at least ten seconds to sprint this distance at full speed.
But I wasn't free. I was strapped to a goddamn iron chair with nylon rope.
So the exact number didn't matter anymore.
I was dead.
Only now did I see how stupid I'd been. I was about to kill myself and the baby inside me. Worse, I'd dragged Victor down with me.
Despair rose from my stomach, sour and bitter, like a hand reaching inside to twist my guts.
I looked up at Victor.
His shirt was soaked through with blood. That expensive white cotton fabric now looked like a rag thrown into a slaughterhouse. The bullet hole in his left shoulder still oozed blood. His entire left arm hung at his side, fingers trembling beyond his control.
"Victor, forget about me. Just go."
Victor didn't answer. He kept struggling with the knots on my armrest.
His hands shook. Blood covered his fingers, dark red stuff packed under his nails. His left arm tried to help but only lifted a few centimeters before dropping again. The movement sent fresh blood gushing from the bullet hole in his shoulder.
Pain twisted his face for a moment. His brow furrowed tight, lips pressed into a white line.
"Let go," my voice trembled. "You can't run with me. Leave by yourself."
Victor ignored me, fingers fumbling over the knots, searching for a gap he could pry open.
The numbers kept jumping.
Fifty. Forty-nine. Forty-eight.
The thought of killing him finally broke me.
"I'm begging you, Victor." My voice turned into a shattered scream. "I screwed everything up. I didn't listen to your warnings. I doubted you. I ran off. This is what I deserve. You can't take the fall for all this. Run. Do you hear me! Get out!"
Victor finally looked up and roared at me. "I'm not leaving you here alone. Don't you ever think you can shake me off."
"You'll die, Victor." My voice broke with sobs. "I can't keep hurting you."
He didn't answer, just bent his head close and kept fighting those ropes.
"Please. Please, just go." I repeated desperately.
Time had run out. Victor took a deep breath and straightened up.
"Hold still, Evelyn."
Before I could react, he raised the gun at me, aiming at the connection between the rope binding my right wrist and the armrest.
"Don't move."
The nylon fibers exploded under the gunpowder's impact. My right wrist came loose. Victor threw the empty gun on the ground, used his right hand to tear away the loosened rope, then crouched down to yank at the rope around my ankles.
When I fell from the chair, my legs were completely numb. Both knees slammed into the cement floor. The pain blacked out my vision.
Victor grabbed my waist and hauled me up from the ground. His right hand locked around my waist, his left arm still useless. He glanced up at the countdown screen.
His whole body froze for an instant. Then, with one arm, he half-carried, half-dragged me to the only table. He used all his strength to flip the table over, letting it block in front of us.
"No time to get out."
Then he turned, both hands gripping my shoulders hard. His tall, heavy body crashed into mine. We fell backward together. My back hit the cement floor, but I barely felt the pain because Victor cushioned the fall with his hand.
He pushed me toward the corner farthest from the explosion point. His back pressed against my front, wedging me between him and the wall. The table blocked in front of us.
A massive explosion consumed the entire bunker in an instant.
Scorching fire mixed with a devastating shockwave swept past us. Victor pressed me deep into the corner. His arms locked around me from both sides. His chest pressed against my face. He pushed my head beneath his collarbone, his chin pressing down on the top of my head.
The explosion's shockwave made the entire bunker shake violently.
I closed my eyes, covered my ears. No thoughts in my head, just praying for it to end.
Then the shaking slowly weakened. The flames disappeared. The bunker fell back into dimness. The air reeked of gunpowder and burning.
I was shocked to find myself still breathing.
I was alive. I was actually alive.
I tried to open my eyes. I needed to see Victor's face. I needed to know he was safe. I needed to tell him how sorry I was. Everything, all of it, was because of me.
Just as I was about to lift my head, a terrifying sound came from above us.
Concrete cracking.
This old bunker's structural supports were already deteriorating. That explosion had completely destroyed what little support remained.
The ceiling split open.
Massive chunks of debris fell from above, crashing straight down around us.
This was a second disaster! God, what did we do to deserve this! Oh, wait, Victor didn't exactly do good deeds.
My brain started wandering under extreme stress.
I quickly scanned around, looking for somewhere to hide. Fortunately, a hollow had been blasted into the wall nearby. Victor and I might be able to squeeze in there.
I struggled to support Victor, holding him while dodging the larger chunks of debris, stumbling our way over. After settling him in, I tucked myself in too, curled against him.
In the darkness, I heard Victor let out a suppressed groan. I held him tight, tears streaming down uncontrollably.
"I'm right here with you, Victor. Don't even think I'm abandoning you."