Sparrow’s Flight by Jenika Snow Page 0,28

behind a tree when one of the men fired off a gun in his direction. Asher leaned to the side, aimed his gun at the shooter, and put a bullet right between his eyes. The blond looked right at Asher, but his attention was diverted when someone tackled him to the ground.

Ash ducked when another bullet flew by his head and swiftly ran toward where he knew Mason had gone. But when the sound of a gun going off close enough to him that his ears rang, he stopped and watched in horror as Mason fell down to one knee. The bullet had gone through his shoulder, and Asher turned on the fucker who shot Mason. He shot twice into the guy’s chest, and he fell to the ground in a heavy, bleeding heap.

Asher lifted his gun, and when he saw Collin grappling with another guy, he aimed, not caring which one he hit but knowing one of them would go down. He fired, and saw it land in the man Collin was wrestling with. The bullet hadn’t killed him, and by the rage on the man’s face, clearly he thought Collin fired, since he renewed his fighting tenfold. Asher turned to Mason. They needed to get out of this carnage. Mason stood and braced a hand against a tree.

“Fucking asshole shot me.”

Ash looked at his shoulder, saw the entrance and exit wound, and thanked whoever the hell was listening for small favors. “Come on. I don’t know how many other guys they have stashed in this camp, and I know the infected have to be on their way.” Everything that happened since they fired off that first shot had gone by quickly. It couldn’t have been more than a few minutes, but fuck did it feel like it lasted a lifetime. “We need to get to the cabin.”

“We have to find Sparrow.” Yeah, they did, but Mason was no help right now when he was barely holding himself up and the blood was a steady flow from his arm.

“We will.” And they would, because that was their girl, whether she knew it or not.

Chapter Ten

Sparrow dragged herself out of the lake and immediately collapsed on the rocky shore. She gasped for air and blinked back the water that was steadily dripping down her face. Her hair stuck in clunks to her cheeks and forehead, and even though she knew she had to keep going, she was exhausted from running through the woods and swimming across the lake. Survival was grueling and painful, but it was worth it to stay alive. By some miracle, she still held the gun Blondie had given her.

Hauling herself off the ground, she stumbled forward once and caught herself before face-planting on the rocks beneath her. She looked over her shoulder, saw the fire still burning brightly across the water, and heard the gunshots as if she was still standing in the thick of it. Once she heard that first shot go off, she pulled away from her bonds and headed for the water. She contemplated heading into the woods, but Collin warned her there were men lying in wait. Whether that was true or not, she didn’t know, but she wasn’t stupid enough to find out. So, she dove into the frigid water.

She turned back around, held onto the butt of her gun even tighter due to her involuntarily shaking body, and made her way quickly through the trees. Her limbs felt still, her muscles aching from the exertion and the cold that seeped into her body, but she forced herself to keep going. It was dark, and no moonlight pierced through the thick branches overhead. Sparrow had no idea where she was going, or where she would end up, but anything was better than what was behind her.

Keeping straight, she had to right herself several times as her feet kept catching on branches and vines. Her heart was pounding fast, filling her ears, clogging her throat, and drowning out everything aside from the fact that she needed to keep running. A flash of white to her side caught her eye, and she turned to look, but before she could see anything, she fell over a fallen log. Head slamming against the hard, unforgiving ground, she groaned and immediately gripped her temple.

The throbbing pain was intense, and she tried to shake it off and stand again but stilled when she heard the low, gurgled groan coming from right behind her. Pulling up all of