Page 95 of Scorch

Staying calm is most important and gives you an advantage.

The tracker I have embedded in Lydia’s a high-end deal Aleksandr helped me secure and will track her to within one centimeter. I flip open the app. Immediately, a map of the campground comes into view. There’s a tiny red dot behind several cottages further down the road.

“He’s got her in one of the cottages.”

We walk through the nearly vacant campground. I swivel my gun toward the sound of a twig snapping, only to find a doe staring at us with wide, sad eyes.

“A sign of good luck,” Zofia says softly. “The Native Americans believed seeing a deer in the wild like this was a sign of good luck or good fortune.” She sighs. “Let’s find her.”

We can do this.

I didn’t even tell Lydia before she lost her shit that everybody in my family has these, including Vera. Me, all my brothers, my mother and my sister. It doesn't just track our locations but our biometrics.

I scan her reading. Her heart rate is elevated, but it’s still beating. She's alive but terrified.

Clouds move in, covering the sun, and a brisk wind kicks up. Distant thunder rolls overhead just before fat raindrops begin to fall.

“You have her?” Nikko asks, standing behind me, Zofia and Vera between us.

I nod. “Yeah. It says she’s about half a mile up ahead.”

“It’s one of the cabins,” Vera says, swallowing hard. “It’s apart from the rest on a little island… there’s no possible way to get there without them seeing us. It’s a trap, you guys.”

“I don’t fucking care,” I say, shaking my head. “If I had time, I’d get a helicopter and a bomb squad, but I don’t trust them.”

“You’ll go after her,” Nikko says. “I’ll stand on the shore and shoot anyone who fucking moves.” I nod. It helps to have a trained assassin on your side.

“You’ll save some for me,” Zofia says softly, her eyes gleaming. Nikko gives her a look of surprise. Her eyes narrow. “That’s my daughter, Nikko. You know how I feel about my daughters.”

“I do,” he says. “And I’ll give you whoever you shoot first. Deal?”

The skies open, and rain pours down in torrents. I’m glad Vera is with me because she knows the layout of the campground better than anyone else.

“This way,” she says, speaking above the sound of the pouring rain. Mud splatters onto us, our footsteps slippery. Zofia slips, but Nikko grabs her arm and rights her. We move forward as one.

Lightning strikes, the campground temporarily illuminated in vivid white before we’re cast back into a cloudless darkness. I look back at the monitor and see Lydia’s pulse has slowed, only a little. She’s remembering to stay calm.

Good girl.

“Here, Viktor.” Vera comes to a stop. “Do you see past that huge tree, there’s the water?—”

I’m already past the clearing of trees, trying my best to see the small cabin in the middle of the water.

Suddenly, a gunshot rings out. Two. Three. Zofia screams, and the heavy sound I know too well to be a body thuds to the ground. Lightning strikes again, lighting up Nikko’s face. “Sniper,” he says, jerking his chin in front of us to where a man lies on the ground, blood pooling from his head onto the earth.

“Good catch, babe,” Vera says, her voice wobbling.

Nikko nods. “But we just rang the doorbell,” he says as the cabin door flies open. “They know we’re here.”

His gun is poised next to Zofia’s. “Viktor!” she screams. “Behind you.” She pulls the trigger just as the cold blade of a knife hits my neck. I turn on instinct and grab the fucker who tried to hit me by the throat as Zofia’s shot goes wide.

I squeeze hard, feeling the cartilage crunch beneath my fingers. He gurgles, clawing at my hand, but I don’t let up. Time slows. The woman I love is in danger, and I’m going to fucking murder anyone who gets in my way. I don’t let up until I feel him go limp. I release the man in my grip, his body crumpling to the ground. Nikko doesn’t hesitate and with one quick shot, he finishes what I started.

“Dammit,” Zofia says, shaking her head. “I promise you, I won’t miss a second time. There!” She screams and pulls the trigger again. A body falls to the ground, and Nikko swivels to get another and another.

“It’s an ambush,” he yells at me. “Go! We’ve got you covered here. We’ll use them as a diversion, and I’ll cover you when you surface.”

Two more come out of the forest, barely visible through the downpour. Thunder roars overhead as I yank off my shoes and shirt and toss my phone beside both of them. I step toward a roughly hewn peer and dive into the water.

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