Page 97 of Red Zone Awakened

CHAPTER40

“Keiko, can you hear me?”A voice she didn’t recognize sounded in her ear as she ran across the terrace.She ignored it.There was no room for distractions.She had to get to Mace.

“Keiko, I hope to hell you can hear me,” the woman’s voice said.“This is Sandi, Mace’s sister.”

That almost made her stumble.Instead, she dodged bodies and debris, firing wildly as she did so.Desperate to get to the man she loved, the man who was clearly gravely injured.She watched in horror, her eyes glued to him, as he sent her a faint smile.

He was saying goodbye.

And she wasn’t going to let him.

“Look up,” Sandi said.“If you can hear me.Look behind Mace.”

She glanced behind him.Only to find a shuttle hovering off the side of the terrace, his sister in the driver’s seat.Although they’d only met once, when they blackmailed Keiko, she wouldn’t forget any of Mace’s teammate’s faces.As she watched, the shuttle went into a steep dive and disappeared.

“What?”Keiko snapped as she ran.

Why were they leaving?Couldn’t they see the state Mace was in?He was swaying in place, clutching his side.Making no attempt to protect himself from the people around him.He needed her.She had to get him to safety.

“Listen to me,” Sandi ordered.“We need to save Mace, and we can’t get to him.You have to grab him and jump off the building.We’ll catch you.We need you to control the fall.Mace will go limp, and there’s a good chance we’ll miss him if you don’t help.”

This time, Keiko did stumble.The woman couldn’t be serious.

A shot fired, barely missing Keiko, striking the wooden pergola beside her head.She turned her weapon, fired back, and kept on running.Whether she hit anything or not, she didn’t care.

Almost there.

She’d almost reached him.

His face was gray, and his eyes were closing.

“Jump,” Sandi barked.“We’ll catch you.”

Mace wobbled.He was going down.Losing consciousness.

“Mace!”she screamed.

He struggled to open his closing eyes.To look at her.And then, he smiled.A soft, sweet, sad smile filled with love.

She saw her name on his lips.

And she made her decision.

Tossing the gun away, she launched herself at her Viking.

And, holding him tight, she took them both over the side of the building.

The air rushed up to meet them as the sky surrounded her once again.The agony of falling made her sob against Mace.But she would not let him go.

“Keiko, aim for the shuttle door,” Sandi ordered.

“How?”She probably should have asked that before jumping.

“Angle your body,” was the terse reply.

It was insanity.Impossible and ludicrous.How was she supposed to direct their fall when Mace was a limp weight in her arms and the ground was rushing up to meet them?All she could do was hold on to Mace and pray Sandi hadn’t lied.Pray that she’d catch them.