Page 39 of Survivor
“Maybe I didn’t have a choice.”
“And neither do I.” He held up a hand and wiggled his fingers. “But I can make it pleasant. You won’t feel any pain.”
“How kind of you.”
He canted his head. “No, just efficient.”
Boot falls had him tensing. Fuck, someone was behind me.
I slammed my back into the wall as another figure appeared.
Pincer guy again.
Shit.
“She’s mine,” leather face said.
“Like hell.” Pincer guy lunged at leather face.
I made a break for it, skirting around the tussling pair.
But an arm snaked around my waist and propelled me backward. My butt hit the ground hard.
Shit.
“Stop. Wait,” leather face said. “What if we split it?”
Pincer guy stepped away from his opponent. “Nothing in the rules saying we can’t. If we kill her together.”
Ice trickled through my veins. In these close quarters, fighting them both off was going to be next to impossible. I stood slowly and fell into a defensive stance.
“You can fucking try.”
The two guys exchanged glances and then attacked.
23
VEX
Dammit, where is she? She should be here by now. X marks the spot. I study the map in my hand, and unease crawls up my spine. There are no cameras here because Braker doesn’t expect the contestants to find this route. My shoulders brush each wall. I need to get the fuck out of here.
The thought that she may be hurt, may be dead, flashes through my mind. But I squeeze my eyes shut. I’ve seen her fight.
Her body is a weapon.
The radio in my hand crackles softly.
“Vex. We’re in. We’re ready,” Xavier says.
They did it. They fucking did it.
“No need to finish the gauntlet. Get her out. Take the route we mapped, and get your ass here.”
“She’s not out yet.”
Silence. “Something’s wrong. Even with two interruptions accounted for, she should have been with you by now.”
Fuck it. “I’m going in.”
