His expression darkened. He understood instantly.
Half the family wouldn’t survive.
00:12
I reached deeper into the housing. My fingers found the transmission chip.
There.
But before I could disconnect it, Derek shouted:
“She doesn’t know about the second trigger!”
I looked up sharply.
Too late.
A second timer illuminated.
00:08
Daniel grabbed me.
“Move!”
I tore free.
There was no time.
No safe option.
Only probability.
I ripped the transmission chip loose.
00:05
Nothing happened.
For half a heartbeat, hope appeared.
Then the second trigger activated.
00:03
Derek smiled.
00:02
Daniel tackled me sideways.
00:01
The explosion shattered the backyard.
Heat slammed into us like a wall. Glass exploded outward. The grill launched through the air. Smoke swallowed everything.
My ears rang violently.
For several seconds, the world became white noise and fire.
Then slowly, shapes returned.
Daniel lay partly over me, blood running down his forehead.
“Harper?” he coughed.
“I’m fine.”
Not true.
Pain burned through my shoulder. Probably dislocated. Maybe worse.
Behind us, flames climbed the porch roof. Family members screamed from the road.
And Derek—
Derek was gone.
The deputy staggered upright.
“He escaped!”
Of course he had.
The bomb had never been about killing us.
It was a distraction.
I forced myself standing.
Daniel grabbed my arm.
“You’re injured.”
“I’ve been injured before.”
Then I saw something in the smoke.
Movement near the tree line beyond the backyard.
Three figures. Black tactical gear. Silenced rifles.
Not local.
Extraction team.
For Derek.
One of them raised a weapon.
“DOWN!” I shouted.
Gunfire cracked through the yard.
The deputy dropped instantly.
Chaos erupted again.
Daniel’s soldiers returned fire while dragging civilians toward cover.
