Page 7 of The Plunge

"Uncle Clyde..."

Ignoring my uttered plea, he does something even worse.

The doors of the elevator are about halfway closed, and the attacker just three steps away from us when my uncle gives me a hard push from behind. I stumble forward through the closing doors—and right into the arms of the guy with the gun. He's just fired another shot in our direction. Met with stinging pain on the side of my lower abdomen, I bend over due to the impact just before I crash against a rock-solid chest.

He's still running at full speed when I'm thrust into his arms, crying out in pain and terror after my uncle sacrificed me to save himself. Our bodies meet with vicious force, pushing the attacker off his feet and down to the floor. I land on top of him, blinded and numbed by pain.

It hits me all at once.

The ache. The shock. The mortal agony.

Far, far away, I hear the elevator doors closing, frenzied steps mingling in the other direction, and a dark voice cursing close to my ear. "Fuck!"

It's the last word I perceive before the world darkens around me.

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