Chapter 71
HARLAN - RUNNING OUT OF TIME
The woods were thicker than I remembered.
Smoke clung to the trees, low and dense, mixing with the dying light. The fire behind us still bled orange through the trunks, flickering like some hell-lit warning. The air tasted like ash. Every breath scraped my throat raw.
We moved fast, too fast for stealth, too slow for comfort.
The gun in my hand felt heavier than it should’ve. My ears strained for any sound that didn’t belong. And then...
Crack.
The shot rang out sharp and too damn close.
“Down!” I barked, ducking instinctively behind a tree.
Jack froze like a deer in headlights.
Remi grabbed him by the arm and shoved him behind her, already lifting her weapon.
“I said down, Jack!” I hissed.
A shadow moved to our right, just behind a patch of underbrush. I turned, raised my weapon, only to hear the rush of footsteps from the opposite side.
Too late.
A figure slammed into me.
We hit the ground hard, his elbow jamming against my throat as he tried to wrestle the gun from my grip. I grunted, using my shoulder to throw him off balance. My fist connected with his jaw once, twice; the impact reverberated up my arm.
He clawed for a knife on his hip.
I drove my knee into his gut, the wind rushing out of him.
“Remi... Jack!” I choked out but couldn’t look. Couldn’t check.
Could only fight.
My opponent recovered quickly. He swung, the blade grazing my ribs. I didn’t feel it yet. Too much adrenaline. Too much fucking fury.
I slammed him against a tree, disarmed him, and shoved the barrel of my gun beneath his jaw.
He froze.
“Wrong day,” I growled.
And pulled the trigger.
The shot echoed through the trees like a beacon.
I didn’t wait to see him fall. I turned...
Just in time to see Remi throw herself in front of Jack.
Another man had surged from the brush, and Remi didn’t hesitate.
Bang. Bang.
Two shots from her gun dropped him.
But not before his knife caught her hip.
She staggered.
“Remi!” I rushed to her side, catching her as she grabbed a tree for support. Blood bloomed across her jeans and shirt, dark and fast.
“I’m fine,” she said through gritted teeth. “Just a graze.”
“You’re not fine. We need to get you looked at or at least wrap it...”
“No,” she snapped. “You need to go.”
My gut twisted. “I’m not leaving you.”
“You have to find Ava.” Her eyes were wide, frantic. “Harlan, listen to me. She’s out here. Alone. She’s running out of time.”
I looked at her, torn in two. She was pale, shaking, still braced against the tree.
“I just need to catch my breath,” she lied. “I’ll be right behind you. I promise.”
A sound cracked through the trees, a gunshot. Distant, but not distant enough.
“Go!” she shouted, pushing me away with her empty hand. “If something happens to her because you stayed here...”
Another gunshot, closer.
“Move!” she screamed.
I hesitated one more second... one second to be sure.
Then I turned and ran.
The forest blurred around me.
Branches whipped past my face. My lungs burned, my legs ached, but I didn’t slow. Not once.
I ran in the direction of the last shot.
I ran towards her.
Ava.
I had to get to her.
I didn’t hear Jack behind me, only Remi’s voice yelling...
“If you’re not even going to try to protect yourself, Jack, go wait in the fucking SUV!”
Another shot.
Closer this time.
Then silence.
A silence too loud. Too thick.
The kind that follows a scream.
Or a final breath.
The glow from the fire in front of me painted everything in surreal hues: orange, red, shadow, and black. It felt like I was running through a battlefield and a nightmare simultaneously.
Every second was a countdown I couldn’t see.
I pushed harder.
Ducking under branches. Vaulting over logs. Ignoring the stitch in my side, the blood at my ribs.
“Come on, Ava,” I whispered. “Give me something. A sign. A voice. Anything.”
I burst into a small clearing... and there she was.
Smoke curled around her.
Gun in hand.
Blood on her sleeve.
Blood... everywhere...
Eyes like glass.
She looked at me… And I knew something inside her had just broken.
But she was alive.
She was still standing.
And I had never known relief like this in my life.
She choked on a sob before she dropped to the ground. I ran to her, dropping beside her and pulling her into my arms.
"We need to keep moving, Ava."
She nodded, her face pressed into my chest. But she didn't move.
"Do you know where Gray is?"
She cried harder and shook her head.
I brushed my hand down the back of her hair, trying to soothe something I knew would likely haunt her for a long, long time.
"It's ok, baby, I am here now and I have you ok."
Her small hand gripped my shirt harder as she shook, crying in my arms.
She finally looked up at me, tears staining her cheeks and said, "We need to find Gray. The last time I saw him, he looked hurt."
I stood pulling her up with me and placed a quick kiss on the top of her head when I heard it... A snap of a branch.
And then... "Well, isn't this touching?"