Chapter 18 · Don't Let Her Die

Ghost's weight keeps sliding. Rona digs her fingers into the woman's jacket and drags her forward. The smoke clears behind them but the air still tastes like copper and burnt meat.

"Stay with me." Rona's voice cracks. Ghost doesn't answer. Her head lolls against Rona's shoulder.

Rona's boots slip in something wet. She doesn't look down.

The tunnel curves. Up ahead there's a crack of gray light—real light, not the red glow from those things in the walls. She stumbles toward it. Ghost's breathing rattles. It's too shallow. Too slow.

"Come on." Rona shifts the woman's weight higher on her back. Her own legs shake. "You don't get to die before you tell me what the hell my mom was."

Ghost makes a sound. Maybe a laugh. Maybe a cough. Blood flecks Rona's neck.

She gets them around the curve. The light's closer now. Twenty feet. Fifteen. The floor slopes up. Rona's thighs burn. Ghost's hand slips off her shoulder and hangs limp.

"No. No no no." Rona stops. Lowers Ghost against the wall as gently as she can. The woman slumps. Her face is gray. The bandage Rona tied around her side is black with blood.