I don’t have time to dwell on it more. A hundred yards away, Nora is weaving around the planes, exchanging shots with her pursuers. My tiny pet against four armed men—the thought fills me with sickening terror and rage.

Gripping both weapons, one in each hand, I begin running. The second I have a clear line of sight at Sullivan’s men, I open fire.

Rat-tat-tat! One man’s head explodes. Rat-tat-tat! Another man goes down.

Realizing what’s happening, the two surviving men turn around and begin firing at me. Ignoring the bullets whizzing around me, I continue running and shooting, doing my best to zig-zag around the planes. Even with the vest protecting my chest, I’m far from immune to gunfire.

Rat-tat-tat! Something slices across my left shoulder, leaving a burning trail in its wake. Cursing, I grip the guns tighter and return fire, causing one of the men to jump behind a small service truck. The second one continues shooting at me, and as I run, I see Nora step out from behind one of the planes and take aim, her eyes dark and enormous in her pale face.

Pop! The shooter’s head explodes with a bang. Her bullet hit its target. Twisting, she turns and fires at the one hiding behind the truck.

Using the distraction she’s providing, I change my course, snaking around the truck where the remaining man is taking shelter. As I come up behind him, I see him aiming at Nora—and with a bellow of rage, I squeeze the trigger, peppering him with bullets.

He slides down the side of the truck, a bloody mass of lifeless meat.

There are no more shots, the resulting silence almost startling.

Panting, I lower my guns and step out from behind the truck.

37

Nora

As Julian emerges from behind the truck, bloodied but alive, I drop the AK-47, my fingers no longer able to hold on to the heavy weapon. The emotion filling my chest goes beyond happiness, beyond relief.

It’s elation. Stunning, savage elation that we killed our enemies and survived.

When the wall exploded and armed men ran into the hangar, I thought that Julian had been killed. Gripped by blinding fury, I opened fire on them, and when they began shooting at me, I ran mindlessly, operating on pure instinct.

I knew I wouldn’t last more than a couple of minutes, and I didn’t care. All I wanted was to live long enough to kill as many as I could.

But now Julian is here, in front of me, as alive and vital as ever.

I don’t know if I run toward him, or if he runs toward me, but somehow I end up in his embrace, held so tightly that I can barely breathe. He’s raining hot, burning kisses all over my face and neck, his hands roaming over my body in search of injuries, and all the horror of the past hour disappears, pushed away by wild joy.

We survived, we’re together, and nothing will ever tear us apart again.