Page 110 of Wreckage

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I blinked, my pulse hammering in my ears. I could still hear it. I swore I could still hear it.

Tha-da. Tha-da. Tha-da.

"HEY!" My voice cracked, raw, desperate. "I'M HERE! Please! I'M FUCKING RIGHT HERE! HELP! HELP ME!"

I stumbled forward, my injured leg screaming in pain, but I didn't care. I kept moving, reaching, shouting, praying.

"PLEASE!"

The sound faded.

My heart plummeted.

No.

No.

I whirled in circles, searching the sky, my breath heaving, my vision swimming, my body barely holding itself together.

But there was nothing.

No helicopter. No sound. No rescue. Nothing.

I let out a sharp, ragged sob, my chest caving in on itself.

My legs buckled.

I hit the snow hard, my knees sinking into the white fluff, my entire body shaking violently.

This was it.

This was the end.

I sucked in a breath, my head tilting toward the sky, my vision blurring with exhaustion and cold and tears.

And then, barely more than a whisper?—

"Adrian…"

My voice was a breath, a ghost, a prayer that fell on the brutal wilderness.

If a man screams into the wild and no one is there to hear, does he make a sound?

"Elena…"

Their names felt like a lifeline, the last thing anchoring me to this world.

I had failed them.I had failed.

Tears slipped down my frozen cheeks, my breath heaving, rattling. I couldn't go on. This was the end of the road.

I took off my gloves, giving in.

I pressed my hands together, my fingers cracked and shaking, and whispered,

"God, forgive me. You fucking win."

I closed my eyes, and the darkness swallowed me whole.

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