Page 25 of Hollow State

Darwin hesitated for half a second before scrambling across the pavement on his hands and knees while Wynn took another detailed scan of the area. Darwin could handle the wounded.

She squinted, surveying beyond the blast. Beyond the building. She glanced to the sky. No helicopter. And she saw nothing lurking in the shadows. If the bomb was the only threat, who was the intended target? What had Finch expected to happen? All questions that demanded answers to understand what had just happened. If she could piece together enough intel, she could make the right decision on what to do next.

Only she had nothing.

"Give me an assessment," Darwin demanded, and Wynn snapped her attention back to the three men on the pavement.

Elis halted the compressions on his father. Blood smeared his scrub top, his hands, even the side of his neck. His tears mixed with the dirt streaking his face.

Darwin knelt on the other side of Prewit. “Move.”

Elis shifted back. "It's time to stop."

"I'm the doctor. I'll make that call." Darwin placed the heel of his hand against the center of Prewit’s chest, locked his other hand over it, and began compressions.

Hard. Bone-crunchingly hard.

Prewit’s body moved beneath the force.

Wynn edged closer, examining him. Blood pooled under his head. A deep gash at his side. Skin pale. Lips blue.

A low rumble rolled through the institute, and she turned her head. A section of the exterior wall collapsed inward—a result of the initial blast—sending sparks and smoke into the air.

She flinched, shifting her focus to the tree line on the west side of the campus. That would've been a good spot to hide and then sneak inside during the chaos.

Nothing.

That bothered her more than gunfire would have.

"I might not be a doctor, but even I know when to call it." Elis rubbed a hand over his face. “And you have to get out of here.”

Darwin didn’t stop. He didn't slow. If anything, those words made him more frantic. “Find a crash cart.”

“The emergency wing is gone. The fire’s raging. We can't get in through there.”

“Then find another way, and get an AED. Anything.”

"The staff is doing their best to get the patients out on the east side. I can see them gathering outside on the other side of the building." Elis shook his head. “The institute is tied into the local emergency band. The alarm triggered the second the first blast hit. Fire and rescue should be here any minute.”

“That's good.”

“And so will the police," Elis said.

Wynn knew what that meant, but Darwin didn't, or he didn't seem to care as he pushed harder.

Elis reached into his pocket and pulled out a keyring. “My car is in the employee lot. Take it. There’s a service road behind the maintenance building. It connects to the main road, past the entrance where the fire trucks and police will come in.”

Darwin shook his head. “I’m not leaving your father.”

Wynn stepped in behind him.

Elis placed his hand on Darwin's shoulder. “Dad's gone.”

Darwin turned and glared.

“I knew it as soon as I saw him," Elis said. “But I had to try. We both did.”

Wynn swallowed against the pressure building in her throat. Prewit had been more than a mentor, a colleague, and a friend. He was family—he and his son. And Prewit was the one person that Darwin felt like he could always count on. Losing him would be like losing a piece of himself. Wynn knew what that was like. It was how she felt when she lost her grandma.