NERO: Chapter 74

Agony.

My head. My hand. My shoulder. Hip. My entire body. It all hurts.

I try to blink my eyes open. Try to remember what happened.

Oh god, why does my head hurt so bad? My limbs feel like they weigh a thousand pounds.

There’s a loud sound.

Or at least I think it’s loud. My ears feel like they’re filled with mud.

I try to blink my eyes open as something wet trails across my face.

Willing my hands to wipe it away, but I can’t. My hands aren’t working.

I blink again, my eyesight blurry, and try to make sense of what I’m seeing.

I’m in the back seat. But––my stomach lurches. Giles is slumped from the ceiling, dripping blood onto Robert’s still body.

Another muffled crash vibrates my seat.

Not the ceiling.

We’re sideways. The whole vehicle is on its side. Giles and I stuck on the top side, dangling in the air.

I try to look at Robert, lying against the window that’s shattered against the ground. But I can’t tell if he’s alive.

Panic claws into my chest.

Someone did this because of me.

These men are dead because of me.

Another thud. Impact? And light streams into the hazy interior from behind me.

Voices, new ones I’ve never heard before, follow the light.

I try to call out. Try to beg Robert for help. But the words won’t form. My brain won’t cooperate.

But when hands grab at me, I scream.

I scream as loud as I can.

And it hurts so bad.

The new voices hiss at me.

They cut me free, and I crash into their arms.

More pain. More fear.

And when the voices grip my arms and drag me through the debris, out of the caved-in rear window, I fight.

I kick. And I twist. And I reach my burned hand out to claw at the faces in front of me.

I’ve always run. But this time I fight.

Because now I have things to lose. Someone to lose.

Because now I have someone to miss me.

The sound of my ringtone trickles through the blur of fear.

And I fight harder.

My lungs fill with agony at the force of my screams.

My muscles ache with every movement.

But then an arm circles my throat from behind.

And I can’t scream anymore.

Because my body is failing.

And I can’t breathe.