Chapter 12 · Reverse Triage

The tunnel smelled like rust and old piss. Mara's boots splashed through something she didn't want to think about. Behind them, the checkpoint lights were still flashing, but the voices had faded.

Kade stumbled. She caught his arm.

"Don't," he said. His voice was thin. "You touch me and—"

"And what? You'll stop breathing? You're already barely standing."

Juno was ahead, flashlight cutting through the dark. She stopped at a junction where three tunnels split off. "Left goes to the old freight line. Right's flooded. Straight hits a maintenance hub in two klicks."

"Maintenance hub means cameras," Mara said.

"Also means medical supplies." Juno turned. Her face looked carved out in the flashlight glow. "And we need those. He's leaking."

Mara looked down. Kade's shirt was soaked black on the left side. The shots Crowe's people had put in him weren't closing. Whatever the relay did to his body, it wasn't fixing this.

"Straight," Mara said.

Kade didn't argue. That scared her more than the blood.

They moved fast as they could, which wasn't fast. Kade's breathing was wrong—shallow, with a hitch every third or fourth step.