Page 94 of Chasing Sarah

“Let’s do this.”

We walk side –by side toward the door we’re going to be entering.

“Alright. Watch your six and stay alive,” I say into the comms.

“Roger that.”

“You got it, boss.”

“Let’s get these fuckers.”

I smile at the replies that come through, then motion for the first wave of soldiers to advance.

The doors to the home burst open, bouncing off the internal wall.

“Go! Go! Go!”

Sarah moves with trained precision, sweeping the area with her weapon raised. Something gives her pause for a split second, and then she’s off, sprinting down the steps.

Bullets rain from all directions. Shouts and the thuds of bodies meeting the ground fill my ears.

“Sarah!” I scream, but of course the infuriating woman ignores me. “Fuck.”

The first man to step into my line of fire gets a bullet between the eyes before he has a chance to raise his gun. The back of his head is blown out, sending brain matter flying.

When I reach the bottom of the steps, I nearly crash into Sarah, who stands frozen in place. The scent of smoke burnsmy senses. “Someone lit the place on fire!” I shout through the comms.

“We need to go.” I wrap a hand around Sarah’s bicep and tug. She’s staring at the flames that begin crawling from behind a closed door. Her eyes are blank, distant.

“Sarah!” I shout, jostling her to get her attention.

When she comes to, she sucks in a breath. Panic mars her face. “Hey. Hey. I’m right here,” I say. Her head snaps in my direction, eyes wide with fear.

“I need to get them out,” she mumbles. “They’re going to die.”

“Who is going to die?” I ask but it’s like she doesn’t hear me.

“We have to save them!” she screams, jerking her arm, attempting to pull away from me.

The shouts in the comms come and go as the team gets out of the building. “What are you doing?! We need to leave!”

Sarah manages to break free, and she takes off down the hallway, toward the flames. I follow, yelling for her to stop so we can escape. Smoke rises to the ceiling, darkening my vision as it sears my retinas.

Pounding echoes through the space and I blindly follow the sound.

“Xander! Colson! Tommy! Ronny!” Sarah cries. Her fists slam against a closed door.

Who the fuck?

“NO!” She shrieks when I wrap my arm around her body and haul her away. She thrashes against my hold, clawing at my skin. “LET ME GO! THEY’RE DYING!”

My heart cracks at the agony in the voice.

“We can’t stay here, Sarah.”

She fights the entire way out of the building. I’m coughing uncontrollably by the time we make it outside.

“Please! Please let me save them!” The fight is slowly leaving her as the fatigue begins to set in.

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