Red Awakening (Red Zone 2)

“Keiko, I hope to hell you can hear me,” the woman’s voice said. “This is Sandi, Mace’s sister.”

That almost made her stumble. But she kept on running. Dodging bodies and debris, firing wildly as she did so. Desperate to get to the man she loved. The man who was gravely injured. She watched in horror, her eyes glued to him, as he sent her a faint smile.

He was saying goodbye.

And she wasn’t going to let him.

“Look up,” Sandi said. “If you can hear me. Look behind Mace.”

She couldn’t help but glance behind him. Only to find a shuttle hovering off the side of the terrace. His sister in the driving seat. As she watched, the shuttle went into a steep dive and disappeared.

“What?” Keiko said as she ran.

Nearly there. She was nearly there. Mace was swaying in place. Clutching his side. Making no attempt to protect himself from the people around him. He needed her. She had to get him to safety.

“Listen to me,” Sandi ordered. “We need to save Mace, and we can’t get to him. I need you to grab him and jump off the building. We’ll catch you.”

This time, Keiko did stumble. She couldn’t be serious.

A shot fired, barely missing Keiko, hitting the wooden pergola beside her head. She turned her weapon, fired back, and kept on running.

Almost there.

She could almost reach him.

His face was gray, and his eyes were closing.

“Jump,” Sandi barked. “We’ll catch you.”

Mace started to wobble. He was going down. Losing consciousness.

“Mace!” she screamed.

He struggled to open his closing eyes. To look at her. And then, he smiled. A soft, sweet, sad smile filled with love.

She saw her name on his lips.

And she made her decision. Throwing the gun away, she launched herself at the man she loved.

And holding him tight, she took them both over the side of the building.

The air rushed up to meet them. The sky surrounded her once again. The agony of falling made her sob against Mace. But she would not let him go. All she could do was close her eyes and pray Sandi hadn’t lied. Pray she’d catch them.

Chapter Forty-Four

Shuttle outside CommTECH Research Facility

Houston, Northern Territory

“She did it,” Ignacio shouted. “Holy crap, she did it.”

He was in the back of the shuttle, the side door open wide. Sandi glanced at the falling bodies, Keiko wrapped around her brother. She’d turned the shuttle, keeping it close to the building, angling it so that—God willing—they fell through the open door.

“A little bit forward!” Ignacio shouted.

She moved the shuttle, careful to keep the stubby wing from scraping the building.

There was a thud, and the craft shook. Sandi fought to control it. To keep it in place.