Chapter 25 · Water Tower Kill Zone

The first shell hit low, right where the tower met the ground. The whole platform kicked under my boots. I grabbed the railing and it bent in my hand, metal screaming. Cole slammed into the side wall, shoulder first.

"Down!" I threw myself flat. The explosion punched up through the structure. Heat rolled over us. Dust and rust rained down. My ribs lit up, the old break reminding me it was still there.

Cole scrambled toward me on his hands and knees. His rifle clattered off the edge. "Evie—"

"Stay low." I pulled him behind the water tank housing. It was the only solid cover we had up here. The whole platform was open mesh and rust. Bad place to be when someone's lobbing shells at you.

The second one came in high. I heard the whistle. Two seconds, maybe less. I shoved Cole's head down and covered him. The shell hit the platform edge, twenty feet out. The blast threw shrapnel across the deck. Something hot zipped past my ear. The mesh under us rippled like water. Then the noise caught up and I couldn't hear anything but ringing.

Cole's mouth was moving. I shook my head.