Kira was back in his arms, Nick in his sight. Euan was at a loss.
The sound of automatic gunfire rattled off in the distance.
‘Miles off,’ Nick muttered.
‘Still too close,’ Euan returned.
‘We need to find shelter,’ Kira added.
Euan nodded. ‘We do.’
The stream stretched out before them. They needed to find more than shelter, they needed to find protection, an opportunity for sanctuary, even if it was just so they could fall to their knees and hug in safety.
Euan needed time. He had to consider their options, the risks and alternatives. He had never been one to make rash decisions, his skill had always been in weighing out the pros and cons. This was no different, except now, both Nick and Kira were at his side, vulnerable and exposed.
Kira broke the silence, her thoughts a direct hit to his own. ‘We can’t give up. We can’t let him win.’
Euan’s shoulders sagged, Nick let out a long sigh. Euan wrapped an arm around the woman, the other around the man. Their bodies pressed in warm against him. He kissed both their brows in turn, drew strength from the combined hold they shared. If survival was to win, then death was to lose. Euan did not believe that Parker would give up so easily. If they had known of the bunker, they knew of Kira and Nick.
Above them, a rumble then a crash, and the sky finally released its burden and allowed the rain to fall. Nick tipped his head back, opened his mouth. The droplets of water splashed on his tongue.
Euan’s gaze also turned skyward. He blinked as the rain pattered against his cheeks. He had no answers, he had very little hope. But Kira’s words reverberated in his mind.
We can’t let him win.
‘Let’s keep moving,’ he said.
Chapter 7
Euan
Fate was a vengeful mistress. But that evening, she took pity on them.
Euan slammed through the door using his good shoulder. It splintered into a thousand shards of kindling as the dust from the implosion bloomed around them. He waved his hand in front of his face to clear his vision and coughed as the cloud of decay and abandonment filtered through his lungs. The encroaching gloom thwarted his vision as he scanned the interior of the forsaken barn with his single working eye.
He scattered what was left of the timber out of the crumbling frame. His calloused hands were coated in the remnants of neglect, the cracks and the beds of his nails dark with the ash. A glance over his shoulder ensured his companions were close before he ducked through the void.
Critters scampered in his wake as he took the few steps forward into a dusty wooden barn. Above him, the rafters creaked and groaned. Damp and rot were in his nose. The wind whistled through the cracks in the timber and the smell of animals still lingered in the cold air, a reminder of an age of domestication, of hobbies, of diversions.
A period in the history of the human race that was now lost to the winds of time.
His boots were loud in the cavernous space. Each step was taken with care, with consideration. When his eye adjusted to the gloom, he latched onto the single most important characteristic of the space.
It was empty, and it had been for a long time.
The gates to the stalls were open. The horses that would have slept here had been mercifully set free before their owners had perished. The dust on the floor was unaffected by human intruders. Leaves, straw, soil and the remnants of critters was the only markings that life lived here. Bales of hay lined one wall. Yellow with time, the twine that bound it was faded and frayed. Protected from the elements, it would serve as bedding for tonight.
Euan said nothing as he limped further inside. A simple gesture of two fingers flicked forward was his only outward indication that it was safe to follow. He heard Nick step over the threshold and sigh. The crinkle of material echoed in the building as Kira slid from his back.
‘It is safe?’ she whispered.
Euan turned as Kira shivered where she stood. Her lips tinted blue as she began to stamp her feet and shake out her limbs in an attempt to dispel the chill from her bones. Platinum hair was flaxen and slick against her skull, her scarf lost to the deluge outside in their flight for shelter. Nick was equally soaked. Dark fatigues clung to lean muscle, wet hair was raked back multiple times with dripping fingers. Short blond eyelashes were clumped over shadowy green eyes.
Euan’s focus shifted from the temptation that they displayed to traverse the hardwood trusses that supported the building’s slate roof. Rain dripped through the missing tiles, a constant patter of wetness against concrete. He flexed his cold fingers and began to unbuckle the packs from his shoulders. ‘For tonight,’ he said.
The adrenaline was fading fast from his veins and with it came the pain, the aches, the stings, the fatigue. The pressure he’d put on his body to get them to safety had come at a cost. A significant one. The setback to his healing may put them out for days. He hoped this barn could keep them hidden for more than an hour. He hoped that all the effort they’d put into avoiding detection would pay off.
He hoped he was relying on more than luck to see them safe.
He hoped for a fuck-load. All of which would be based on the wiles of chance, nature and one ruler of the damned.
‘Let’s get these bales of hay into one of those stalls,’ he murmured as he pointed to the far wall. ‘We’ll use it as bedding. I’ll go see if there is anything useful in the tack room.’
Nick bumped his shoulder as he moved past. ‘It’s been so long since I’ve had to run for my life. I’m outta shape. I think I’m gonna need to sleep
