I shove my thigh into his groin, causing him to fall over on his side.
I jump to my feet and at the same time, he grabs my ankle. “Help!” I scream, hoping someone will rescue me, but they stand there with blank faces. “Somebody help me!” I shake my leg as hard as I possibly can, but he never loosens his grip.
“You stupid twit.” Sarge grabs my other leg from underneath me and pulls, slamming my body onto the ground and instantly knocking the wind from my lungs. “Now I’m going to cut your throat.”
He sits on top of my chest and startles me to my senses.
I gasp.
His knees hold down my arms and he flips out his blade.
I’m pinned.
I’m horrified and frozen under his control. I close my eyes and hold my breath. Make it quick… Make it quick.
“Sarge, get up, man! Now!” someone screams.
My eyes snap open.
The crowd scatters.
Sarge looks up. “Oh my G—”
Out of nowhere, Zeus flies through the air, plowing him over while wrapping his mouth around his throat. Sarge swings his arms and kicks his legs to no avail. Zeus jolts his neck.
I hear a snap.
Instantly, Sarge’s body hangs limp.
Just as I’m about to scream, Cole plants himself beside me.
“Go. Now!”
Cole pushes me down just as a bullet flies past my head. He grabs my arm and drags me along behind him. My ankle screams at me to stop, but I keep running forward. The sound of feet pounding the dirt gets louder, the chanting gets closer, and the firing of weapons in rapid succession makes my brain feel like it’s hemorrhaging. I know this has to do with us.
“Why are they after us?” I shout between breaths.
Cole doesn’t respond. He just keeps running. I look over my shoulder and see people bolting to shelter and screaming, leaping away from the men who rush toward us as they pistol whip the ones who refuse to move.
Cole yanks me away from the main street and heads toward the hospital down another alleyway. Every building has boarded-up windows. The doors hang off their rusty hinges and glass crunches under our feet as we run. It screams death.
Cole turns abruptly.
“They’re after you!” He exhales.
“Then why are they trying to kill you?”
“I’m in their way.”
“But you’re a guard—”
He yanks my arms and we’re running again.
I guess they don’t care about that either. Psychos.
We dart down all the alleys we come across, going up one, down the next, and across the other. I’m guessing Cole’s trying to throw them off course or confuse them as much as he possibly can.
My ankle burns and I feel it pop. “Cole!”
He comes to a complete halt, turns to me, and meets me on the ground.
“What’s wrong?” He looks behind me.
I gasp for air and Cole pulls me behind an overflowing dumpster. His breathing is unlabored, but he drips buckets of sweat.
“My ankle…” is all I can muster.
He puts his fingers under my chin and tilts my head back until we’re eye to eye.
“I want you to trust me. Can you do that?”
“I already do,” I say.
I can’t believe I just said that. I don’t trust anyone.
Cole grabs my waist and flips me into his arms, taking off down the same alley we just traversed. His arms are strong, secure, and wrapped around my small frame, and I’m glued to his torso. I tuck my face into his neck, hiding from this sick world.
“Wrap your arms around my neck.” And I do as he says. “Tighter.”
I squeeze.
“Too tight.” He chokes.
I relax. He boosts me higher, closer, and my forehead rests against his ear.
I close my eyes.
He runs.
I hold on.
A new anxiety overwhelms me.
I don’t want them to hurt Cole—not because of me.
“Just leave me,” I whisper into his ear. “I won’t let you die trying to save me. I’m a sinner. Let them have me.”
“Never,” he says in a short gasp.
The gunshots come from behind, but I can tell they’re far from us now. Cole seems to know this place by heart because he never second-guesses his next step. I wonder if he ever had to do this for anyone else.
Or am I his first?
“Hide here.” He drops me to my feet in front of a cellar door. “I’ll be right back.”
And just like that, he disappears, sprinting farther and farther away. I creep into the cellar and close the door behind me. Zeus decides to stay with me, and I’m okay with that. He’s proved his loyalty.
I listen for movement where Zeus and I hide, but I hear nothing.