He started to speak, but the words were lost in the roar of a helicopter that had just appeared over the burned-out buildings on the west side of the alley, it’s searchlight pinning us. They’d found them. Cassandra rolled over onto her back and emptied the clip of her pistol at the light above them. The helicopter replied in kind, rounds ricocheting off the pavement, kicking up brackish water. She dropped the empty pistol and got up to run, still blinded.
She could feel the round as it hit her, burning straight down her back and into her thigh, stopping there with a sickening crunch. Darkness.
Only to awake to the sun. What felt like the sun, anyway. Blindingly bright, she could feel heat on her face. And sheets. What? She tried to set up, but could barely wiggle. But tried to move did make her painfully aware of the array of tubes and needles stuck into what felt like every square inch of her body. Where was she? And where was Kavin? A shadow loomed in between her and the light as she spoke.
“Cassandra?”