Chapter 6 · The Dead Exit

The rubble shifted behind us.

I stopped. Held up one fist.

Everyone froze. Cole had his rifle halfway to his shoulder. Leah was still wrapping someone's arm. The wind kicked up dust and the smell of burnt metal.

There it was again. A scrape. Then a sound that might've been a cough or a dying breath.

"Move," I said. "Now."

Cole didn't move. He was staring at the collapsed storefront to our left. Half the roof had caved in. Rebar stuck out like broken ribs.

"Boss," he said. "Someone's under there."

"Yeah. And Hammer's got drones circling every exit we know about. We don't have time."

"It's a person."

"It's always a person, Cole. Dead or dying. We can't carry them."

Leah stepped closer. She wasn't looking at me. She was looking at the rubble. Her jaw was tight.

"If they're alive—"

"They won't be in ten minutes," I said. "Neither will we if we don't move."

Another sound. Louder this time. A groan. Then a weak voice, muffled under concrete and steel.

"Help."

Shit.

Cole was already moving toward the pile. I grabbed his shoulder and yanked him back.

"Don't," I said. "That could be bait.