Chapter 26 · Don't Open That Door

The red dots didn't move. Three of them, maybe four, locked on the cabin from the treeline. I could see them through the gap in the boards Cain had nailed over the window last week.

"They're waiting," I said.

Cain was at the other window, rifle in hand. He didn't look at me. "They want us to run."

"So what do we do?"

"You stay low. I go out the back."

I stared at him. "That's it? That's your plan?"

"They'll follow me. You slip out after."

He said it like he was talking about taking out the trash. Like it was simple. Like I wouldn't know what happens to the guy who runs first when four rifles are trained on a building.

"No," I said.

He still wouldn't look at me. Just checked the bolt on his rifle, slow and steady, like he had all the time in the world. "Layla—"

"I said no."

"This isn't a vote."

"Good. Because I'm not letting you die so I can crawl out the back like a fucking dog."

That got him to turn. His eyes were flat. Cold.