Page 68 of All He Sees
"I'm going to snap your neck," Chad said lowly into her ear. "You're going to die."
Nicky tried to move, but she couldn't. His grip was strong, and she could feel him starting to apply pressure.
Nicky jabbed him in the stomach with her right elbow, then spun and brought her left fist up to hit him square in the jaw. He flew backwards, and he hit his head on the wall of the tunnel.
But he wasn't done yet. He caught his balance and dove back at Nicky.
"Give up!" she yelled. Chad tried to rush her, but she dodged him yet again.
"You're going to jail!"
"No!" he yelled back, and he grabbed her jacket.
Nicky yelped as he threw her against the wall. Her head hit and she saw stars.
"No," she said, loud enough to hear over the sound of her own heartbeat. "You don't get to win Chad. You don't get to win."
As Nicky stood up, she felt something in her skull crack. Her vision swam, and she felt Chad moving closer toward her. He was going to get the jump on her. He was going to finish her off before she ever had a chance.
Nicky's vision cleared for just a moment, and she saw the gun lying on the ground. She saw Chad moving closer and closer.
He was going to get a gun.
But then--there was a shot.
It flashed through the tunnel and pierced Nicky's ears. Everything moved in slow motion. Nicky's vision became glitchy as she tried to focus, to see what had happened.
Her mind cleared. So did her eyes.
And there, she saw a trembling Mira, holding the handgun, pointed right at Chad--who had fallen to the ground.
"No," Chad said. "No--"
But it was too late. Mira had hit him in the chest, and he was bleeding out fast. Nicky already knew--Chad Medina was breathing his last breath. It was over for him.
"Mira," Nicky said, her own voice shaking.
Mira turned to look at Nicky and rushed over, holding out the gun. Nicky felt the warmth of the gun in her hand, and she realized something: she was safe. She was safe. She was safe.
She was safe.
Mira's hand was shaking, and Nicky took it.
"Are you okay?" Mira asked.
"I'm okay," Nicky said, but she wasn't sure if she was telling the truth. She felt numb, like she was watching this all happen to someone else.
Her mind was blank.
She looked around her. She saw the three unconscious men. She saw the guns.
"We did it," she said, heaving. "We did it."
Nicky dragged herself back to shore with Mira at her side, the late-day sunlight piercing her eyes. More members of the coast guard were arriving by boat, pulling up, and another helicopter was parked by the beach.
Nicky had used one of the boy's phones to call for backup, and now police were back in the tunnel, finishing up the arrests of the two boys who lived. Chad was pronounced dead on the scene.
But Nicky and Mira--they had made it.
