90 DEADLY DAYS (WEEKLY UPDATES RETURNING THIS DECEMBER)

Chapter 26

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Chapter 26

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Sun thrusts down rays. New wounds sizzle and flowing blood cakes, and all the while Butcher hefts me ever further from the lake's shore.

The bridge swings tumultuously from the impact of runners' feet. The distance behind clogs with black shapes.

With every breath, the space between us and them thins.

My nails burrow into Butcher's back soaked with sweat. Fear and pain mingle together and I feel as if I may faint.

With every jostle the stab of my floating broken rib rises to a higher extreme, eliciting agonized wails. Every bounce of my slack body onto Butcher's immense, bulky shoulder shoves the shattered piece of me further into some unnatural place.

The shadows move close enough that I can see their hoods have fallen away. The faces are open for all to witness. A wild scream slips from my lips. I shut my eyes, but the wild, dark image is impressed behind the lids too.

I never thought I could see something worse than death.

But I have.

And my heart bleeds.

Evil is nearly on the doorstep of our fates when we arrive at the cliff walls on the other side of the bridge. I crane my neck around and take in the panes of rock that kiss the sky. There is no way up this stone wall. All Graduates have gathered here, mouths propped open and crowded with horror. Faced with this obstacle, we all know the truth—that the end has come.

The shadows close in.

"We're going to die!"

"They've got us trapped!"

I shudder and tremble like a tree's branches in tempests. Butcher hefts me off his arm and onto cold stone. The ground seems to move unsteadily and my knees quake just before collapsing beneath me. Before I land on my tailbone a steel hand grabs me, holding me upright. There is no warmth in the touch, no humanity, only frozen will.

"Are you ready?" Butcher demands, looking down. Ready for what? Confused, I fumble for an answer. Instead of waiting for a reply, Butcher yanks me so close that our sweaty fronts are pressed together. Fearing the worst about his intentions, I'm about to struggle free until he wraps my arms around his neck and says, "Hang on."

His legs burst into a top speed sprint while I hang on like a rag doll. Eyes wide and alive with shock, I tighten my grip and wrap my legs around his waist. The others follow us with their gazes, their expressions stripped of everything but fear and disbelief.

Over his shoulder, I see the shadows cut through the first Graduates. A spear shunts through a tall Raider. She goes down, an expression of bewilderment flashing from her eyes to her sorrowful lips.

There's no time to take in the first death, to honor it with some small moment of horror. Instead, I realize what the Raider I cling to has planned. After building up momentum, he launches us both at the wall. I holler as the ground becomes farther and farther away.

He going to kill us, so the shadows can't—to bash our brains against the unyielding rock.

For the few seconds in air I cry out, fearing the soon-coming end where my body becomes a fragmented collection of bones.

That moment comes. My back slams so forcefully into the rock face that my vision becomes a scene of pulsing lights and red spots. Blood bubbles up in my nose and comes gushing down. But instead of killing us, Butcher's long fingers dig into a hollow section of fallen rock. Pressed completely into me, he reaches for another handhold above my head and hauls the two of us higher. Seconds later he finds another place to grip.