Chapter 17 - The Fall at the Rapids
Before the mercenary could pull the trigger, Maria threw her iron wrench with all her might.
The heavy tool struck the mercenary’s tactical mask with a loud metallic smash.
The man stumbled backward, his gun firing wildly into the night sky.
"Go!" Maria screamed, tackling the mercenary by his waist to pin him against the tree.
"Maria, no!" Emily shrieked, stopping in her tracks.
"Keep running, Emily!" Maria roared, fighting the towering man with frantic desperation.
"Don't let my sacrifice be for nothing!"
Julian grabbed Emily by the shoulders, pulling her away as tears mixed with the rain on her face.
They sprinted down the steep, muddy slope toward the roaring river below.
The water churned furiously over sharp, jagged rocks in the pitch-black night.
Behind them, a single gunshot echoed through the forest, followed by utter silence.
Emily froze, a piercing scream catching in her throat as her heart shattered.
"Maria..." Emily sobbed, her knees giving out on the slippery mud.
"We can't stop!" Julian yelled, grabbing her arm and hauling her back to her feet.
"Look!"
Two tactical flashlights were descending the hill at terrifying speed.
"Jump!" Julian commanded, pulling Emily toward the raging current.
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They hurled themselves off the muddy ledge into the freezing, dark water below.
The violent rapids swallowed them instantly, pulling them under into total darkness.
