In The End Box Set , Stevens, GJ [motivational novels .txt] 📗

of activity from the door, the gunfire took up again with a rampant fever, but soon fell as the numbers on the ground thinned.

I slowed, gaps lengthening between the blasts as the crewman took his time, the crowd diminishing with each burst.

We watched as a ball flew from the side door. An explosion tensed my shoulders forward as a spray of debris reached high in the air.

Backing off, the action gained ground. The helicopter crew were circling, chasing individuals hobbling as they only now started to disperse. More grenades flew from the doorway, explosions rocking me back as I jammed my fingers into my ears.

We backed off further and Matt had too, but he was still a few hundred metres away. I pulled my fingers from my ears and took a turn.

I breathed a sigh of relief, for the first time not retching at the foul smell. We were safe. They were dead. Again.

I hugged Andrew at my side, walked the few steps and met Zoe then Naomi, taking them in my arms. I felt the stress release with each squeeze, even sharing a smile with Cassidy as her sister hid away.

Turning, the sound of the chopper grew. The long machine gun had relaxed on its hinges, pointing down.

I took a few steps to Matt, stopped as the chopper grew nearer, eventually flying over our heads as they continued to follow the road.

For one fear-filled moment I thought they would race on along the highway, but I relaxed back again as it rose higher, sweeping to our side in a long arc and circling the field to head back our way.

I pushed my hands in the air, the others joining as we waved. We wouldn't allow them to mistake us for people who didn't want to be rescued.

Andrew said something in my ear, but I missed the detail. Instead I watched as the helicopter twisted, turning through ninety degrees.

I watched, still waving high as the machine gun pivoted. My stomach contracted as fire rushed from the muzzle and Matt fell, a red mist following the bullets ripping into his shadow.

22

The spray of lead glowed against the receding darkness, its path grinding onwards past Matt's slumped, unmoving remains as it kicked up great mounds of tarmac.

We stood in a line, transfixed as another version of death raced in our direction.

“Run,” I screamed. Everyone seemed to wake and turn on their heels, but I held my ground, waiting for their reaction.

Andrew speared across my front, his plan to separate and to get away from the group to force a choice to whom they'd kill first.

Zoe and Naomi clung to each other as they moved, but soon released and gained speed, running parallel along the straight road.

Ellie's short legs weren't pumping so hard. Cassidy slowed too as she scooped her around her front.

I wouldn't let them be the first.

I quickened my pace, catching them with no effort, grabbing around Ellie's stomach whilst locking my gaze with Cassidy as her eyelids widened.

She released her grip. Ellie squirmed as if I was the Child-Catcher from her nightmares, only calming as I slung her over my shoulder and she saw her sister running beside her.

“Get off the road,” I heard Andrew scream, his voice already distant.

I swerved left, seeing sense in his words; Cassidy followed too. I couldn't keep my gaze on Zoe and Naomi, my concentration fixed forward through the grass at the edge of the road as I tried to stop my top-heavy weight from toppling on the uneven ground.

At our backs, the machine gun had stopped screaming, but the engines were so loud, the tone bass as it changed pitch.

I glanced around to see it manoeuvring for the chase. I didn’t look for long enough to see who they were going after; the only chance we had was to run and hide.

An explosion rocked me forward, taking all my effort to recover from the stumble. Ellie let out a yelp, but the chaos sounded further away than I expected.

A pit of emptiness opened in my stomach as I realised they were going after one of my friends.

The sky brightened with each wide step. The grass fell down a valley at my feet, the lightening horizon filling me with hope.

In the dawn light a wood of dense trees stood a few hundred metres away. Somehow, I found more inside me and picked up the pace, ignoring the scream of pain in my legs.

The machine gun lit up the air and I winced as an explosion followed, brightening the sky with a flash. It was the unmistakable pop and fizz of a firework.

We were at the tree-line and I let Ellie down. With my arms aching at the relief, I stared on as she jumped the few steps to Cassidy, grabbing around her waist.

I followed as they turned to gawk at the onslaught. The helicopter had followed the course of the road. The pit opened wider in my stomach as I saw it must have been Zoe and Naomi they'd chased.

I closed my eyes and let my breath settle, said a Godless prayer in hope they'd split up to halve the chances.

A breath pulled at my lungs as I watched a thin silvered line appear from behind the chopper, the air popping with a blue glittered explosion at the tail rotor. The helicopter didn't react, a line of fire bursting from the door at its original target.

I wrapped my arms around myself. I was cold, but not the kind the sun would solve. The chill came from my impotence to change the next few moments.

Cassidy stepped near, leaning next to me. She looked up, her face warm, concern radiating in my direction.

“Thank you,” she said, glancing a look across at Ellie, watching as she hid behind a