Page 102 of Sawyer

Utter silence follows the pop-pop of bullets. Then another pop.

No one moves.

I hold my breath, though my heart slams in my ear. Fast, it’s too fast. I breathe slowly, in through my nose and out through my mouth.

“Clear,” Bryn states. “We should hurry now.”

“Let’s go.” Rumor doesn’t wait for Bryn as he packs up and grabs me by the pack, dragging me up. “We need to get across that bridge as fast as possible,” he whispers.

“I don’t think it’s safe,” I argue. “They have to be getting across it somehow.”

“That isn’t how we will find this facility that definitely exists. There is no question about it.” Rumor pauses and turns to me. “You were right this whole time, Sawyer.”

Hearing those words gives me validation, but at what cost? The lives of women who never should have met the fate they did.

I follow Rumor as he sets a fast pace. The sun sets, and the path narrows.

This is why no one comes this far into the mountain range. My pack is almost too big to press against the cliff. Rumor is too big, and he has to swing his forward.

Luckily, the tight path doesn’t last long and opens up, and with it, relief spills over me. It physically feels like ice getting dumped over my head.

I focus on Rumor, but I fall a little behind him. My legs are smaller, and there’s no way I’m going to rush and fall over.

I’ve done so well with not looking down either.

Don’t do it.

See, now that I’ve thought about it, I want to look.

Do not look, Sawyer. Focus on Rumor’s sweet ass, his fatigues, the sweat on his brow, and his dark hair sprinkled with white.

Cliff!

I looked, oh hell no, I looked.

My eyes widen as I stare down at the impossible drop, and my head swims.

“Baby girl,” Rumor murmurs. “Focus on me.”

“Good idea,” I squeak out and slide along the wall a little faster.

Oh, that is a drop that is an instant kill. No one could survive that, and yet they want me to cross that creepy bridge. The one coming up.

I finally get a good look at it as the path blessedly opens up, and I rush to a broken tree limb and park my ass. Well, I know one way to get rid of cramps—near-death experiences.

There are two tree stumps with a rope tied to them, old and fraying. It looks like it’s going to snap with one step. The wooden planks look even more dangerous, yet it’s the scrap of clothing beside me that draws my eye. Reaching down, I pick up a torn piece of fabric no bigger than my palm. It’s blue with darker blue polka dots.

“It’s a hospital gown,” I mutter. “The one and only time I ever went to a beta hospital, they had these gowns that some patients wore. I remember the pattern distinctly. Four years ago, I traveled to the Northern Province. I was there to do a report on the first one they built.” I hold it up for my camera to get.

“May I?” Rumor reaches down for the scrap of fabric, and I hand it over. He twirls it around his fingers as Sin and Bryn catch up. “They escaped over that bridge,” he whispers.

It’s the same conclusion I’ve come to as well.

“If they can do it, then so can I.” Stubbornness bleeds through me, and determination steels my spine. “It’s just about sundown.”

“We should cross now and get their walkie-talkies.” Bryn wipes sweat off his forehead.

At least the weather is holding out and it isn’t snowing.

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