“Don’t count,” Raze whispers to me. When I frown at her, she explains, “You’re counting how many we’re taking down. It will drive you insane. They’re insensates, not humans. Remember to aim for their heads to kill them.”
I nod, thankful for the reminder because I might just have to kill one soon.
We make it outside, but it’s absolute chaos. Buildings are on fire, and there are wounded and dead people lying everywhere. Soldiers are already fighting a large group of insensates.
The gunfire is deafening, and where some soldiers have run out of ammunition, they’re caught in hand-to-hand combat with the insensates.
Jesus! I didn’t expect to see so many insensates.
My eyes land on Dawn, who’s kneeling in front of someone, her shoulders shuddering with sobs.
Leaving Chance and Raze, I run to her, but everything around me slows down when I see who she’s holding.
Gerald.
Sweet Gerald.
No.
Blood covers the whole left side of his face, and his eyes are frozen in an empty stare.
“Jasper!” Chance shouts, ripping me out of the shock.
I turn around in time to see insensates running toward Dawn and me. It looks like a wave of blue is coming right at us.
I grab Dawn’s arm, and yanking her up, I force her into the nearest store where the windows have been shot out. “Stay here!”
I won’t let Dawn die.
I look at Gerald, then run toward the insensates. Lifting both my arms, I start pulling the triggers of my weapons.
I hear my breaths and my pounding heart, and when the first body drops, a piece of me dies with the man.
That was someone’s husband or son.
I suck in a strangled breath and pull the trigger again because they keep coming, and I have to protect Dawn at all costs.
I empty the clips, taking down four more insensates. Grabbing the two clips from where they’re tucked into my shirt, I reload the weapons as quickly as possible.
“Let’s go, Jai.” Chance shouts to the right side of me.
I run back and grab hold of Dawn, forcing her to come with me.
More insensates pour into the street, and I shove Dawn in Chance’s direction. “Run to Chance! Get to safety.”
Lifting my arms, I run toward danger, only sparing a second to make sure Chance has Dawn.
“Jasper!” he shouts as he flings Dawn to Raze, setting after me.
No. Stay back.
I can’t lose you.
Focusing all my attention in front of me, I start to shoot. Bullets fly past my body. Somewhere something explodes, and the sky lights up with a ball of fire.
It gets easier to kill them as I get closer, and I notice they don’t move as fast.
They’re not like the trackers.
I hear a round of blasts sound up behind me, but I don’t look. I keep going, and the enemy keeps dropping.
When the guns click in my hands, signaling the clips are empty, I panic. The insensates are too close for me to reload. Dropping one gun, I keep the other so I can use it to hit them as I get ready to fight.
My blood rushes through my ears, and I launch myself at the first one as he tries to fire a shot at me. Using all my weight to take him down, I smash the gun against the side of his head.
His hand closes around my throat, and he clamps my windpipe closed.
I feel something tear through my shoulder, then I hear Chance shout, “You have another fucking weapon. Use it.”
Chance kills two insensates while I struggle to reach behind me. My vision goes spotty from the lack of air, but I manage to grab the gun from behind my back, and pressing the barrel right against the insensate’s head, I pull the trigger.
The grip around my throat immediately loosens, and I watch as he exhales his last breath, his arm dropping to the ground.
With the immediate threat dealt with, a hand grabs hold of my arm, and I’m yanked into a tight embrace. “You’re okay,” Rachel breathes, and it’s only then I realize she’s holding me, breaths bursting over her lips. “You were so fucking good.”
I push away from her, and our eyes meet for a moment before I walk toward a pissed-off-looking Chance.
He’s breathing hard, his eyes on me filled with anger. “I have zero fucking patience left with you. You fucking stick to my side.”
I slam into him and wrap my arms around his waist. “I’m okay.”
He doesn’t calm down and keeps ragging, “You don’t get to come into my life and pull a fucking stunt like that. We look out for each other, which means you are always next to me.”
“I couldn’t leave Dawn unprotected.” I pull back and frame his jaw with my hands. “You need to start trusting me, Chance. What does it help you train me, but you won’t let me fight?”
“I’m training you so you’ll fucking survive!”