Carefully reaching down to Matt’s utility belt, I nimbly snatched the pin with my fingertips and held it up for Matt to see.
“Hey, look what I found.”
Matt gasped as he shoved me away to get at the now active grenade currently ticking away on his belt.The second he released me, I dove in Kayla’s direction, knowing full well he wouldn’t throw it at her if he got it loose in time.
Reaching Kayla, we both ducked behind some thick furniture just as Matt managed to toss the grenade through the opening of the kitchen wall just outside the house.It detonated the second it hit the ground, exploding right in front of an oncoming Hummer, causing it to abruptly swerve right into the house and straight through the kitchen and dining room.
The giant vehicle bulldozed through everything in its path, including Matt as he tried to flee.It plowed into his side and sent him flying.My eyes widened as it continued in our direction.
“Shit, move!”I shouted, pulling Kayla with me.
“Fuck!”
But with the rest of the house in complete disarray, there was very little room to maneuver out of the way in time.While we were clear of the Hummer itself, we weren’t able to secure enough distance from all the shit it crashed through.We both quickly found ourselves painfully pinned down by shattered cabinets, broken furniture, and the remnants of a glass display case full of sports memorabilia.
The Hummer finally stopped as it crashed into the massive fireplace, shaking the entire structure of the house.I grunted under the heavy weight of the broken structures that had me trapped on my side as the adrenaline tore through me, causing my entire body to shake.
“Kayla?”I called out.“Kayla, can you move?”I knew she was somewhere next to me, but I couldn’t move my arm very far to reach her.When she didn’t respond, I started to actively panic.“Kayla?Talk to me!”
Horrified by her silence, I worked quickly to try to tuck my knees into my chest and carefully squirm my body over onto my back.With my feet pressed into the heavy wood above me, I inched them up the surface as far as the space would allow my legs to go.When I finally had the right angle for leverage, I pushed with all the strength I had in my legs until there was enough give for me to scooch out from underneath.
Groaning, I rolled back over onto my hands and knees, gritting my teeth through the pain now radiating down my spine.My head was pounding, my jaw was aching, and my hip was screaming.
Let’s never do that again.Like, ever.
Lifting my head, I could see Kayla was just a few feet in front of me, eyes closed shut.With the remnants of the display case pinning her lower body down, blood trickled from her temple down the side of her scratched and bruised face, and I suddenly felt my stomach plummet.
“Kayla!”I called, quickly crawling over to her and pressing two fingers against her jugular.
When I felt her pulse, my exhale of relief was short-lived as I hurried to assess her other injuries.Lifting the display case off her legs, I moved it over just enough so that I could easily pull her out from under it, but judging by the thick piece of glass I could now see sticking out of her thigh, that would be easier said than done.
Gently shaking her shoulders, I tried to wake her.“Kayla?Kayla, come on, can you hear me?I need you to wake up.”
When she didn’t respond, I pulled her upper body into my arms and lifted her up as best I could to carefully drag her across the floor and into a large storage closet nearby.Pressing the secret switch beside the door frame, the latch on the wall disengaged, revealing the door to one of the many panic rooms hidden throughout the house.
Pulling Kayla inside, I closed the door behind us, then set her down on the mattress that had been placed in the far corner, and for the first time, I finally heard her grunt.
“Kayla?”I called again, brushing her bloody hair from her face.“Kayla, can you hear me?”
She groaned again, turning her head in my direction as her eyes slit open.
“What…happened?”
“A Hummer almost ran us over, but we’re okay,” I answered.“I have us in one of the panic rooms, so we’re safe for now.”She grumbled something under her breath that I couldn’t make out.“What did you say?”
Coughing first, she cleared her throat and tried again.“Matt?”
Turning my head, I looked on over at the numerous black screens secured into the wall but the EMP that had been launched earlier burned them all out.I wouldn’t be able to confirm if Matt was still alive unless I went back out there.
“I’m not sure.I saw him get rocked by the Hummer, but I don’t know if he survived or not.”For all I knew, he could be buried under the rubble too.
“Fuck,” she moaned under her breath.
“Kayla,” I began gently, “what are you doing here?”And why was she alone?
She huffed a small laugh as a tiny grin curved her lips.“I came to rescue you.”I nearly snorted, the sound making her giggle enough to bring me some relief that she would be okay.But then her hand reached down to the glass in her leg.“Fuck, that’s hurts.”
“No, no, no,” I said, stopping her hand from touching it.“You’ve got glass in your leg.Don’t touch it and don’t pull it out, or you’ll make the bleeding worse.”I was not in a position to test how deep that glass went.