Page 46 of Last Shot

0:03

She couldn’t move. She couldn’t make sense of it. Gio was there. Now he was gone.

Grey:Max! Jump Max!

0:02

Grey’s arms around her.

Grey’s arms no longer around her.

Falling.

Falling.

BOOM!

14

Grey

He didn’t know who he fell on top of. All he knew was that his body was pressed over them.

But he was too late.

He was always too late.

They weren’t moving.

Everything was dark.

Then the smoke came.

15

Max

Max couldn’t move from the weight of Grey on top of her.

She tried to scream his name, but nothing came out. The world was black. The world was ringing. Just a black, ringing world with an unmoving Grey on top of her.

The ghostly sound of a dishwasher rumbled in her head, churning her insides ...

Wait. No. That was a breath.

He’s breathing.

Something shuffled next to her.

Grey was breathing but he wasn’t moving. Every time she tried to squirm out of his grasp, he held her tighter, pushing her to the ground.

Everything was still ringing. But someone was yelling. Their yells were slightly lower-pitched rings.

‘Fire,’ someone was saying. ‘We have to get out.’

‘I can’t move him,’ she said to the disembodied voice. ‘He won’t get up.’

‘Hold onto me,’ the form on top of her said. ‘Just keep holding on, I won’t let go.’

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