Page 58 of Freedom Fighters
Good. We stopped it. The thought was fuzzy.
She put it together. She had been shot. All this muzziness and the hot and cold feelings…that was shock.
She could almost hear Garrett scolding her.Move your ass Escobedo! They’ll come for you!
“Carmen!” It was Garrett’s voice and this time she wasn’thearing it only in her head. She looked up, forcing her head to lift. She wanted to lie down for a while. Lying seemed easier.
Garrett ran toward her. Behind him, two of the guards who had been on the roof of the car chased him, their rifles lifted. The other fighters were scattering. Running for their lives.
Carmen tried to shout a warning to Garrett but her voice wouldn’t work.
He droppedto his knees next to her, his hands on her shoulder. “You should have run.”
“He was going to shoot you.” It took enormous effort to say it.
His fingers pressed against the wound and behind her shoulder, too. It hurt.
Something flickered at the corner of her eye. She looked up.
A guard stood over Garrett, his rifle raised. As she looked, he brought the butt of the rifle down against the backof Garrett’s head.
Garrett fell against her, his full weight dragging her down. She toppled backward and cried out as her shoulder slammed against the earth. Bright sparks flittered in her mind.
Just before the blackness swamped her, she thought distantly,I’m lying down. Then, tinged with panic that could only express itself in her mind,Garrett!
Then nothing.
