Page 119 of Beyond Oblivion

The other car had slammed into a massive boulder head-on, the force of the impact crumpling its front end like a discarded can. Flames had already engulfed the engine, the fire spreading rapidly as black smoke twisted and billowed into the sky. Two men clawed their way out of the wreckage. The first stumbled out screaming, his entire body engulfed in flames. The fire consumed him in seconds, and he collapsed to the ground, his cries silenced as the inferno overtook him.

The second man followed, coughing and swatting desperately at his arm, where flames licked at his sleeve. He managed to extinguish it, his chest heaving as he fought for air. Then his eyes locked on me. There was something terrifying in his expression—wild and enraged. Staggering toward me, his steps were uneven, his movements sluggish but determined, as if I were the only thing keeping him upright.

Panic surged through me. “Liis? What do we do?”

She held up her gun, shaking as another contraction rolled through her in an unforgiving vise. Gritting her teeth, she flicked off the safety with her thumb, then pulled back the slide with a sharp, practiced motion, chambering a round. The gun was ready to fire by the time she pressed it into my palm.

I swallowed hard, the cold metal unfamiliar in my grasp. My breath hitched as I looked at her, wide-eyed.

“What do I do?” I asked, barely able to keep the tremor out of my voice.

Liis growled through the pain. “Shoot him!”

The man was closing in, his face twisted in pain and fury, each step labored but relentless. My heart pounded so loudly it nearly drowned out everything else.

“Camille, shoot him!” Liis yelled.

With trembling hands, I raised the weapon, my arms shaking under its weight. I could feel every second stretch out as I squeezed the trigger. The gunshot cracked through the air, the recoil jarring me as the force snapped through my arms.

The man continued toward us, the stray bullet kicking up a burst of sand where it struck, the grainy plume rising for a moment before the desert swallowed the silence whole.

“I missed!” I cried, panicking. “He’s still coming at us!”

Liis clutched her belly, her breath coming in sharp, uneven gasps as she fought to force the words out through the pain gripping her from the inside out, “Keep shooting until he’s not!”

I squeezed the trigger a second time, and then a third.

Liis gritted her teeth, bracing as she looked up at me. “Feet shoulder-width apart,” she panted. “Steady grip. Exhale as you squeeze the trigger—don’t jerk it.” Another contraction hit, but she forced herself to finish. “Aim for center mass. Don’t hesitate.”

A bullet tore into him, jerking his body back as a dark bloom spread across his shirt. His arms flinched up as if trying to catch himself, but his legs buckled, and he crumpled to the ground, eyes wide with shock before the life drained out of them.

My hands still shook, the gun slipping from my grasp as adrenaline coursed through my veins, making it impossible to catch a full breath. Each inhale felt shallow and unsteady, as if my body was locked in overdrive, refusing to let me settle or think clearly.

Liis reached out with a trembling but steady hand. She pried the weapon from my fingers, flipped the safety on with practiced ease, and slid it back into the holster strapped beneath her shirt. A sharp breath caught in her throat as another wave of pain rolled through her, but she forced her shoulders back and gave me a firm nod. “You’re okay,” she muttered, though I wasn’t sure if she meant me or herself.

She shifted onto her back, focusing on taking slow, controlled breaths.

“Liis,” I whispered, shaking her gently.

“If I rest, it goes away. Just… give me a minute.”

“They don’t have a minute!” I said, looking toward the gorge. My stomach dropped as I glanced toward the edge. The SUV was gone.

“Trent!” I stood again and screamed, my voice feeling as if it had torn from my throat.

I waited a few seconds, and then a faint voice cut through the distance.

I staggered toward the sound. Images of what I might find as I looked down past the cliff flipped like channels in my mind’s eye—Trenton crushed under metal, his face unrecognizable, or Thomas lying lifeless on the ground below.

The voice grew louder, but still just barely audible over the chaotic mix of flames crackling and debris shifting, seeming to fill the spaces between. My legs felt weak as I stepped over and around the boulders that crowded the edge. They threatened to give out beneath me, but I pushed forward. I had to know. I had to see. When I reached the edge, my breath caught.

Trenton was clinging to a tree root, his face pale and strained, his other hand tightly around Thomas’s wrist, who was dangling below him. The car had already fallen, barely recognizable in the twisted wreckage far below.

“Cami,” Trenton gasped, his voice desperate. “My hand is slipping!”

“Hold on.” I fell to my stomach, reaching out for him. “I’ve got you.” My voice cracked as I grabbed his wrist.

“Thomas?” I called down to him. “There’s a protruding rock at your two o’clock where you can grab to pull yourself up to me. Do you see it?”

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