Page 113 of Locke 2

I heard shuffling sounds. I swung my arms in all directions, telling him to come to me. My fingers suddenly hit cold flesh, and I moved now, pain be damned and wrapped my arms around the small body in front of me. “Lenny, oh, my God.”

I ran my fingers through his hair, breathing him in. I hugged him, feeling my fear spike at the bones protruding from his little body. My happiness faded abruptly. I ran my hands over him. “Are you hurt, Lenny?”

He didn’t respond, but I felt the slightest shake of his head. I wanted to ask him if the doctor had visited him. If he’d hurt him. If he’d seen anyone else, but none of that seemed to matter right now. We were down here, alone, in the darkness, and I could feel how weak he was.

“Lenny, talk to me,” I whispered.

“Tired,” he whispered back, and then he turned into me and buried his head into my chest. His fingers dug into my shirt and clung tightly. Everything ached and burned, but that didn’t stop me from hugging him tighter to me.

“It’s okay,” I told him. “We’re going to be okay.”

But the words sounded hollow, and all I could remember was the promise I made to Aurora. The one I broke. I sucked in a breath and blew it out slowly, trying to steady my breathing. He couldn’t sense my weakness. He needed my strength, and I could be strong for him.

I whispered to him, and he barely moved. The only thing stopping me from shaking him to see if he was alright was the feel of his chest moving against mine.

My body felt cold. I could feel the puddle of blood beneath my leg growing. My leg was destroyed, and the swelling made my skin feel tight. Despite the agony, I scooted back with Lenny, until I felt a cold wall against my back.

“It’s okay, buddy,” I whispered to him. “I’m here. It’s okay.”

No, it wasn’t okay.

We were going to die.

Forty-Eight

Jem

He had heard Kali’s screams as the darkness cloaked the skies. Jem had barely gotten far, but he heard her and knew she was being dragged to the hole. The sound of the door booming closed echoed across the quiet forest.

There was nothing more horrifying than that sound.

Jem couldn’t double back for her. He moved, a broken man, through the forest beside the road. He had the phone raised up every few minutes, desperate for a signal, but nothing came.

He needed to go down the mountain, and he was a fool to trek this close to the road—

CRACK!

The bullet that whizzed past him set his blood on fire.

He bolted, pain forgotten, wading deeper into the bush. He knew the doctor was behind him, fast approaching. Jem didn’t stop. He couldn’t. Not now.

Another bullet burst through the air, narrowly missing him and hitting the tree close to his head.

Fuck!

Jem didn’t stop, not even when he felt the familiar dip in the land. A dip that—

He tripped and tumbled down a steep hill.

His bones smashed along stumps and rocks as he fought desperately to slow down. He dug his heels into the ground, trying to slow down, but he couldn’t stop. His vision spun. The black sky, the black ground, the feel of leaves and sharp sticks, and brambles that tore through his arm that he shrieked in pain from.

And still, he didn’t stop.

He kept tumbling, and fear crawled up his being as the sound of rushing water hit him, and he let out a loud curse as his body suddenly soared over the edge. He closed his eyes—unsure of how long he was in the air, unsure if he was going to land and die—unsure of why it even mattered to try, before he crashed into the water.

The cold and current pulled him under.

He was going to drown.

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