Page 326 of Fatality

A second later, he forces himself back to his feet on shaking legs. A single tear tracks down his cheek.

Ren… Ren is… No.

For one frozen second, I just stare at the wreck, smoke curls into the air.

It can't be.

I finally move again, I rush past Neo, dropping to my knees in shattered glass as I scramble toward Evren's side.

“Evren!” I scream, my voice raw with panic.

I don't feel the glass or the jagged metal slicing into my hands and knees.

“Evren!” I scream again. “Answer me! Answer me!”

“Riven!” Neo shouts.

“Evren!”

I shove myself toward the shattered window.

The sight stops me cold, my eyes go wide, my heart stops.

Evren hangs upside down in the wreckage, his eyes closed. A deep gash splits open the top of his temple, blood running down his face and dripping onto the crushed roof beneath him.

“E-Evren...?” I whisper. “Evren... baby, answer me...”

I lean farther inside.

A twisted length of steel—probably torn from the Charger itself—is buried through his stomach.

My hands fly to the wound, trying desperately to stem the relentless flow of blood.

“Please... please... please, no...” My breathing breaks apart. “Not you... not again... please... please...”

Varek's and Neo's hands clamp around my upper arms. I thrash violently.

“No! Don't touch me!” I scream. “He needs... he needs to wake up!”

I wrench myself free and grab Evren's face with both hands.

“Please...” I whisper, tears spilling freely now, my voice trembling. “Don't do this to me... Wake up... please wake up, you fucking idiot... Come on... Look at me... Scream... Hit someone... Kill someone... Please, I-I’m begging you...”

I gently brush a strand from his bloodied forehead. My mind unravels, I can't think.

All I can see is the only person who's made me feel alive bleeding out between my fingers.

“Varek!” I scream. “The door! Do it now!”

“Riv...” Neo says, his own voice breaking. “It's not—”

“DO IT!”

Varek steps forward. I stumble back just enough for him to work, my legs barely hold me upright.

He tears the ruined door away, reaches inside, assesses for a few seconds and carefully frees Evren from the wreck, mindful of the bar impaled, not moving it too much.

The instant he's clear, I drop beside him. I gather his head into my lap.