55

ALORA

JULY 4, 2013

I’m too late. Mr. Creed flies back and falls to the ground. Bridger stares at him, frozen.

So I take the chance to subdue the psycho. I charge and slam into her back. We tumble to the ground, and I dig my fingers into her arms.

She twists away and kicks at me, knocking me in my stomach. An explosion of pain rips through me, but I keep fighting. My fists swing and connect with her face and chest.

Vika’s weight suddenly disappears. She’s gone. I sit up and ask, “Where is she?”

Bridger breaks out of his numbness long enough to grab the gun that’s lying a few feet from me. “Do you see her?” he asks in a hollow voice.

“No,” I say, my head twisting in every direction.

Suddenly Bridger’s mouth drops open and his arm snaps up. He’s pointing the gun in my direction. Before I can move, he fires.

The sound is deafening, even louder than the fireworks overhead.

Then I turn around. Vika is lying on the ground with a perfect circle in her forehead, her lifeless eyes fixated on me.