“That was the sound of us getting five more minutes to get off this ship.”

“How?”

“Hull breaches,” Avery said. “She’s sinking.” She moved to another hatch. “Shoot anything that moves, Des. Don’t hesitate.”

“Wait,” Peyton said. “They’re holding my colleague, Hannah Watson.”

Avery glanced at Desmond, silently saying, Shut her up.

“Is she still alive?” Peyton asked, looking from one to the other.

Desmond looked to Avery, who said nothing.

“Is she?” Peyton stepped closer to the blonde.

“I don’t know. She’s in the hospital wing.”

So McClain hadn’t followed through on his threat. They had finished the surgery. If the ship sank, they would leave her. Hannah would die for sure.

“We have to bring her with us,” Peyton said.

“No way,” Avery said quickly. “Absolutely not. I’m not even sure if we can get out.”

Peyton fixed Desmond with a look that said one word: Please.

He turned to Avery and stared.

“We’re dead if we do this, Des. I mean it.”

“Then we’ll die trying. We’re not leaving anyone behind.”

Chapter 60

Chapter 60

Desmond’s heart pounded in his chest and in his ears, like the sound of a truck driving over train tracks. He gripped the rifle, trying to make himself ready.

The night vision goggles bathed the cramped corridor in a green glow. Avery walked a step in front of him, to his right, giving him a clear shot if they encountered resistance.

Peyton’s hand was tucked inside his waistband; he pulled her behind him through the darkness. She occasionally bumped into him and whispered, “Sorry,” when they came to a stop or changed direction.

Boots pounded the floors above and below. Muffled voices echoed through the darkness like ghosts chanting, seeming to close in on them.

“What’s happening?” Desmond asked.

“Chaos. Insubordination,” Avery said. He knew she had an earpiece in, tuned to the ship’s wireless comms. “Conner’s ordered a search for us. But most everyone is rushing to the lifeboats and tenders.”

That was a break. Maybe they had a chance.

Avery crouched by a hatch. She raised her NVGs, so Desmond did the same.

“Inside,” she said. “Stay along the perimeter. Move fast.”

The hatch crept open. Light poured out. This section had power. A battery backup? Generator?

Avery stepped through the hatch and broke right, moving quickly. But Desmond couldn’t help but stop at the sight of the vast room. It was as long as a football field and almost half as wide. The ceiling hung thirty feet above. Rows of cubicles wrapped in sheet plastic covered the floor, with soft yellow lights glowing inside, like Japanese lanterns floating on a concrete sea.

Each cubicle held a hospital bed, most with a patient lying still. Quiet beeps chirped from within, an out-of-sync symphony of death echoing in the cavernous space. A cart with body bags stood in the central corridor, abandoned.