A sharp glint flashed in Echo’s eyes.
In an instant, her hand shot up and hooked around the native’s neck. The fine wire from the ring she wore snapped out, and with all her strength, Echo drove her fist toward the native’s neck. She moved so fast that he didn’t have time to block it.
The wire sliced in effortlessly. Without wasting a second, Echo clasped her hands together and twisted them hard in a clockwise direction. There was a sickening sound-a gush of warmth hit her face, and crimson blood sprayed everywhere, painting the air in red.
It all happened in the span of a single breath.
Echo’s heavy breathing echoed in the silence, and after what felt like half a minute, she blinked away the blood in her eyes.
Just inches in front of her, the native’s head dangled from his shoulders, barely attached. His eyes were wide open, as if he couldn’t believe what had just happened. There was no other expression, just pure shock.
Echo couldn’t bear to look at the scene any longer. She shoved the native’s body off her, but his grip on her leg was still tight. With one final push, she managed to roll his body off, tumbling into the water herself, though his hand still clung to her leg.
Determined, Echo propped herself up, gritting her teeth as she used the wire to slice through his ape-like fingers. A quick swipe, and his five fingers separated from his body. Blood slowly filled the pool, turning the water a deep red.
No matter how strong or brutal someone is, they’re still just flesh and bone. They can’t stand against a blade as sharp as the one Echo held.
Now free from his grasp, Echo quickly kicked the severed fingers off her leg and grabbed the two pieces of her radiation suit, covering her exposed skin as best she could. She felt no pain, no weakness. She leaped out of the water and sprinted toward the exit.
“Ryan, where are you? I’m running downstream along a river. Where are you?” Echo shouted as she ran frantically through the tall grass, taller than she was.
She didn’t stop, didn’t care about anything but escaping. As she tried to reach Ryan over her comms, she kept announcing the clearest, most noticeable details of her surroundings. She didn’t know exactly where she was, but she gave the most obvious signs in hopes someone could find her.
Survival, sometimes, wasn’t about luck-it was about precision.
The grass, sharp like scythes, sliced across Echo’s exposed skin, and blood started trickling down her body. Cuts and scrapes multiplied on her as she ran, but Echo had no time to feel the pain. Her mind was focused on the one thing that mattered-running in the opposite direction from the native tribe. She didn’t have speed or strength, but the further she could get from them, the better her chances of survival.
“Ryan, where are you?” she muttered under her breath, her voice strained as she ran frantically.
The communicator gave no response, and Echo’s anxiety spiked.
Suddenly, she grabbed onto a large blade of grass to stop her mad dash, her face turning even paler as she stared ahead.
A native stood there, watching her coldly. On his shoulder, he carried the carcass of a massive animal, almost like a rhino, and his menacing face, combined with the bulging muscles, created an oppressive, suffocating atmosphere that enveloped Echo.
Without a word, Echo spun around and bolted in the opposite direction.
Behind her, she heard the heavy thud of the animal’s body hitting the ground. The intense, terrifying pressure coming from behind made her want to scream, but before she could even let out a sound, a powerful force struck her back. The native had hit her, sending her flying forward, crashing into the ground.
Gritting her teeth, Echo quickly flipped onto her back, but before she could get up, the native was already looming over her, his face dark with anger. He looked down at her with rage pouring out of him, and as Echo stared up at the furious native, one thought flashed through her mind-this was it. She was done for.
The native pointed at her and started shouting something in his language, which Echo couldn’t understand.
She glanced down at herself-bloodstains. Though her face and hair had been washed clean when she fell into the water, her clothes still carried the smell of blood. Her radiation suit had been discarded nearby, and her torn clothes reeked of blood, filling the air with a heavy metallic scent.
As the native’s face grew darker and his killing intent more obvious, Echo instinctively backed away, her eyes fixed on him. She knew she had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.
Suddenly, the native let out an angry roar and threw a punch directly at Echo. His speed was like lightning, and his clawed hand was aimed right at her head. This wasn’t an attempt to capture her. He wasn’t trying to force her to reproduce for his tribe. He wanted to kill her. Without thinking, Echo rolled to the side, desperately trying to dodge the blow.
She could hear the wind whistling past her ears and the sound of the grass blades snapping as the native’s hand cut through the air. He was too fast-there was no way she could outrun him. She could already feel the sharpness of his claws grazing her cheek.
Echo’s whole body tensed, her hair standing on end, and without thinking, she screamed, “Ryan!”
Bang!
A loud sound echoed, and Echo suddenly felt a surge of heat pass across her face. A burst of red exploded before her eyes.
The native’s claw, just inches from her head, was abruptly stopped. A hand shot out from behind her, grabbing the native’s wrist, five fingers clamping down hard, forcing him back.
In an instant, Echo heard the sound of bones cracking, and before she could process what was happening, a strong force yanked her back, tossing her behind.
A figure quickly darted past her, and she saw a swift kick land squarely on the native who had been standing still. The impact was loud and fierce, exploding in that brief moment.
Echo, thrown back by the powerful force, rolled several times before she could stop herself. Before she even had a chance to lift her head, she heard a heavy thud as something hit the ground hard.
She looked up quickly, but there was no sign of the native anymore. Instead, a cold, imposing figure turned around swiftly.
The moment Echo recognized him, a wave of overwhelming relief flooded her. As he hurried toward her, tears suddenly welled up in her eyes, and before she knew it, they were streaming down her face.
“Ryan,” she cried out.
Ryan rushed over, immediately wrapping Echo in his radiation suit, and pulling her tightly into his arms.
“Why are you crying?” he asked in a low voice, as he quickly moved through the tall grass, running in another direction.
Behind them, the native’s body lay on the ground, his head blown to bits by gunfire. His twisted fingers, which had reached for Echo, lay bent in unnatural angles as if they had been snapped in half. Blood poured from the wound in his chest, the heavy stench of it thick in the air.
Cradled in Ryan’s arms, Echo sobbed, “I don’t know… I thought I was done for.”
She clung to his arm, holding on tightly as if that was the only way to confirm that Ryan was really there, that she was still alive.
As Ryan sped away, his voice was calm but firm. “You never taught me how to use the comms.”
Hearing that, Echo immediately cursed herself. When she’d explained the functions of the earring to Ryan, she had gone over all the high-tech features and multi-functionality, but she’d completely forgotten to tell him how to activate the communication system. She was supposed to, but then someone-Tiger or Cobra, she couldn’t remember who-had interrupted, and she’d completely forgotten. And now, because of that, she had almost lost her life. She’d even thought Ryan had abandoned her.
Ryan looked down at Echo, who was bruised and battered, her face full of frustration and hurt.
Ryan gritted his teeth. Whoever dared to hurt his woman was going to pay for it.