RED MIST FALLING
Page 22
The big man slapped them away. ‘Am I hearing you right, girl? That little lady lying there gave her life to save your ass and everybody else's, and now you's just gonna give up?’
I turned away, forced my eyes to look at Zana's body a few metres away. ‘You always talked sense Coop, but this time you’re not making any. It’s over for me, can’t you see that?’’
‘Give me your phone.’
‘What?’
He held out a hand. ‘Give me your phone, I said.’
Meekly I handed over the DIAL phone. He threw it as hard as he could into the thick bushes a little further down the hill. ‘Now no one knows where the hell you are.’
I couldn’t believe what he’d just done. ‘I’ll never be able to thank you enough, Coop.’
‘Just stay alive. That's thanks enough. You got anywhere to go… as far away from here as possible?’
I rubbed the tears from my eyes. ‘My dad… he's in Tobago I think. Maybe I'll try and get there.’
‘Fuck knows if you'll make it or not; you’re on your own now, Maddie. So get out of my sight... this place will be crawling with sightseers any moment. You's got an hour's head-start before I call Scott and tell him we're a man down. Fortunately for you, that thing in the sky over there is gonna take everyone's attention for a good while.’
‘You're a good man, Coop.’
He shook my hand.
‘Nah, I'm just a fucking moron!’
Ryland Cooper watched, his heart breaking, as Madeline knelt down next to Zana's body, kissed her gently of the forehead, and pulled the red hood back over her head. His eyes followed her as she stumbled, half-blinded by grief, back down the hill and out of his sight.
He doubted he would ever see her again.
He struggled over to the body of the girl who had intended to harm the human race, but found love and then saved it from harm. He pulled the hood tight around her face, and turned her a little so no one would see her features.
Madeline's chances of survival were slim, he knew that. He hoped with every fibre in his body she would make it in one piece. He had felt her pain, a woman who didn't believe she had a heart, but then discovered she had. And was now finding out that owning a heart also meant it was vulnerable to getting shattered into tiny pieces.
He shook his head desolately, looked across the hill to the red glowing ship filling the sky with light. And despite his pain and heartbreak, a slight smile spread across his face. What he saw was perhaps a poignant tribute to the girl who had given her life to save so many.
The thick damp mist still shrouding the city was reflecting back the light from the dying ship. It wasn't white anymore.
Now it was a red mist.
______________
Don’t miss the thrilling sequel to this book!
‘Red Mist: Homecoming’ continues the epic story,
when it becomes clear that nothing is quite what it seems.