Page 55 of Deceptive Lies

If you don’t do this Cooper will die.

Fear of losing him was enough for her to summon what strength she had left and push with all her might until she was able to roll Cooper to the side and scramble up onto her knees.

They were out of the helicopter.

It wasn't enough though.

They needed to put distance between them.

If the helicopter caught fire now, they’d catch fire, too, because she wasn't leaving Cooper’s side no matter what.

Breathing heavily, she staggered to her feet and reclaimed her grip on Cooper’s hands.

Each step was excruciating.

Willow lost count of the number of times she fell.

Each time she forced herself to get back up.

Forced herself to keep moving.

The helicopter grew smaller.

The darkness around them seemed to grow larger.

Or maybe that was just because her hold on consciousness was weakening.

The next time she stumbled, Willow knew she’d reached the inevitable.

She wasn't getting back up.

She was too weak, too exhausted, her body no longer had enough steam to move.

A red fireball suddenly streaked through the night.

The helicopter exploded.

With all she had left to give, Willow threw her body over Cooper’s to protect him as best she could and succumbed to the darkness pulling at her mind.

Chapter

Fourteen

July 13th

2:17 A.M.

There was roaring in his ears.

Cooper couldn’t figure out where it was coming from.

Everything was all jumbled inside him.

He couldn’t seem to figure anything out.

He had no idea where he was, what had happened to him, and why something was lying on top of him, pinning him to the ground.

Or why he hurt so badly.

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