Chapter 14 · The Key to Iron Gate

The bullet hit the concrete block beside my head and threw gray dust into my mouth.

I spat, wiped my lips with the back of my glove, and shouted, "Move! Move now!"

Nobody moved fast enough.

Cole was dragging Benji by one arm. The kid's other hand pressed against his stomach, and blood kept slipping between his fingers. Leah had one shoulder under Marta, who was limping so badly her boot barely touched the ground. Behind them, the rest of our people stumbled through the burned-out service road with rifles held low and packs banging against their hips.

Iron Gate sat less than three hundred yards ahead.

Three hundred yards might as well have been three miles with half my crew bleeding and Red Hammer shooting at our backs.

Another round snapped past me.

I ducked behind a wrecked pickup and checked the road through the cracked windshield. The old gatehouse stood at the far end, boxed in by concrete barriers and rusted chain-link. A faded black iron sign hung over the entrance. IRON GATE MUNICIPAL DEPOT.

The sign had been shot full of holes. So had everything else.

"Evie!" Leah yelled. "Marta's going down!"

"Get her moving.