Forty-seven
Tess laughed, but she didn’t come for Brice. He ran, scrambled up the first Proteus he came to, and lay on the roof. From here, he could see the whole of the drop zone.
To his right was the Hermes, silent and still. To his left, the other Proteus, the one with his friends. A short distance from this was the crate. And all around was the empty space of the drop zone, grass and mud, surrounded by trees.
Only it wasn’t empty. Ronat’s body lay motionless, the ghoul called Tess standing over it. She licked her lips, gave the body a kick, walked back to the Proteus.
And in the distance, even now bursting from the trees, came six ghouls. They didn’t run, but they walked fast.
Brice’s body shuddered, from adrenaline and lactic acid build-up. With every breath pain pulsed through h
