Page 7 of The Last Strike

Reed delivered a second blow underneath the man’s chin. His head snapped back and he stumbled. Reed kicked his knee cap and the man howled before Reed clamped his hand over his mouth.

“Quiet!” Reed reprimanded as he delivered a knee to the man’s stomach, winding him and making it impossible for the soldier to shout for help.

But it didn’t matter. Reed heard the footsteps approaching this time, and there was more than one soldier coming his way.

Reed grabbed his weapon and pressed his back against the wall, sliding down so he was crouched on his heels. He angled his weapon up and waited, silently counting the seconds.

Three, two, one!

Reed fired two shots at the first soldier’s chest and he fell. Shots fired back, directly above his head, chipping the wall. Reed had anticipated the move and had crouched down to dodge the shots.

He kept firing as the soldiers ran forward, falling one after the other. When Reed heard no more footsteps, he sprung up and ran from the closet, firing one last shot into each of the soldiers to make sure they didn’t get up—a risk he couldn’t take.

Running through the bedroom, he paused at the hallway and peered around the architrave, checking each end of the hallway.

“Go!”James said.

“Right!”Samuel directed, which was a good thing, because Reed was about to turn left.

He turned right and sprinted forward. There was no element of surprise now—speed was his only tactic.

Thanks to Asher’s audio message, the hallways were clear, but Reed had the strange sense he wasn’t alone. He looked up at a security camera as he ran and knew he was being watched.

He pushed faster, ignoring his burning lungs.

Reed saw it, but he saw it a second too late. He hurdled, but his left foot clipped a neon-green laser beam.

His life seemed to flash before him and when he fell to the ground, it shocked him that nothing happened. He looked back at the green bar of light that ran from one side of the hallway. He’d definitely just tripped something—it was not there for decoration.

The confusion stunned him for a moment but he decided he’d deal with whatever catastrophe he’d just created when it presented itself.

He got back to his feet, sprinting forward again, his eyes more mindful of electric tripwires. But the rest of the hallway was clear and when he got to the front lobby of the palace, it was empty too.

And quiet.

While Reed had anticipated most soldiers and staff would go to the bunkers, he highly doubted everyone would. A percentage of soldiers should’ve stayed to control the palace. Something was wrong.

Reed ran for the front door, quickly realizing it didn’t have a lock. He pulled the handle but it didn’t move. His eyes shot up at the sound of something spraying, like an automatic air freshener. Reed held his breath just as James’s voice sounded in his ear.

“Use the window!”James said with an urgency to his voice that wasn’t normally there.

Reed ran for the windows in the adjoining rooms, but they didn’t have locks either. Reed frowned and grabbed a nearby chair, hauling it through the air and into the window. The glass cracked, but didn’t break. Reed backed up a few paces and then surged forward, kicking the window. It finally broke and Reed continued to kick his heel into the glass until he had an opening large enough to fit through.

Reed stumbled and pressed a hand against the wall to catch himself. His vision blurred and his eyes stung.

“Reed, are you okay?”James asked.

“I’m fine,” Reed said as he pushed through the sudden pain. His eyes stung and nausea rolled through him like tidal waves. His heart seemed to be beating a million miles an hour.

“Reed, breathe. Go through the window. Now!”James commanded and through the fog Reed somehow heard his voice.

He focused on the window, which kept shifting. Reed pressed his hand against the wall and inhaled the fresh air. He took a few deep breaths and immediately felt better.

“Reed, move! Get out! Go through the window!”James was yelling at him, but Reed barely heard him. Everything was hurting again, and everything was hazy.

It took all the strength he had, but Reed grasped the top of the window frame and maneuvered through it. He hissed as a shard of glass cut his skin. Reed dropped onto the flower bed below, his body twitching and convulsing.

“Get up! Move!”James commanded.“Get up!”

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