The Safe Zone - Reckoning (Book 2)

Chapter 7: Echoes of Betrayal

Lena:

The cold night air hit my face like a slap as we burst out of the bunker, our boots pounding against the broken pavement. The roar of gunfire behind us had faded into the distance, but the echoes still rang in my ears, each one a reminder of how close we'd come to dying back there. I could still feel the weight of my rifle pressing against my shoulder, the barrel hot from the rounds I'd fired. My pulse was racing, and every muscle in my body ached from the tension of battle.

We had barely escaped.

I glanced back over my shoulder, searching for any sign of Zara. She had stayed behind to finish turning off the relay, her last words echoing in my mind like a promise she might not be able to keep: Go. I'll finish it. But I couldn't shake the sinking feeling that we'd left her to die.

Ethan was ahead of me, moving fast and silent, his face set in that complex, unreadable expression he always wore after a fight. His steps were quick and determined, but I could see the tension in his shoulders, the way his eyes kept darting to the side, scanning the darkness for any sign of pursuit. We had made it out, but we weren't safe yet. Not by a long shot.

The Enforcers would be coming. And they wouldn't stop until they found us.

I stumbled, my foot catching on a piece of debris, and I bit back a curse. My legs felt like lead, exhaustion weighing me down with every step. But I couldn't afford to stop. Not yet. Not while we were still so exposed.

"Lena, keep up," Ethan called over his shoulder, his voice tight with urgency.

"I'm trying," I muttered, pushing myself to move faster. My lungs burned with every breath, and the night felt suffocating, the weight of it pressing down on me.

We darted through the remains of the old city, slipping between crumbling buildings and rusted-out cars. The landscape around us was a graveyard of the past; the once-thriving metropolis was now reduced to a wasteland of broken concrete and twisted metal. Shadows loomed around every corner, and the wind whistled through the empty streets like the ghost of a forgotten world.

"Do you think she made it?" I asked, my voice barely more than a whisper.

Ethan didn't answer right away; his eyes focused straight ahead. I could tell he didn't want to answer. The truth was, none of us knew if Zara had made it out alive. We had been forced to leave her behind, and every second that passed felt like a betrayal. She had risked everything for this mission, and we had abandoned her.

"She knew the risks," Ethan said, his voice low, almost cold. "She told us to go."

I clenched my jaw, forcing down the anger and guilt in my gut. He was right—Zara had made her choice. But that didn't make it any easier to swallow.

We reached a narrow alleyway, and Ethan motioned for me to follow as he ducked inside. The walls were close, pressing on either side, and the darkness swallowed us whole. It was safer here, hidden in the shadows, but I still felt exposed, like a target waiting to be found.

Ethan stopped at the far end of the alley; his back pressed against the wall as he scanned the area ahead. I came up beside him, my heart still racing in my chest, and leaned against the cold brick, trying to catch my breath.

"We need to lay low for a while," Ethan said quietly, his eyes never leaving the street beyond. "The Enforcers will be looking for us. We can't risk leading them back to the camp."

I nodded, though the thought of returning to Callum and the others filled me with a different kind of dread. We had succeeded in turning off the relay—at least, I hoped we had—but it had come at a cost. Zara was still out there, and the Enforcers wouldn't let this go. They would come after us, and when they did, they wouldn't stop until we were dead.