Shatter-Me-PDF-Shatter-Me-Series-Shatter-Me-Shatter-Me-1-Tahereh-Mafi (1)

just fine. He doesn’t tell me to leave him behind and save
myself. He doesn’t tell me to watch his brother in case he
dies.
He doesn’t need to.
We both understand the reality of our situation. Adam
could be shot right now. I could be captured at any moment.
This entire building might suddenly explode. Someone
could’ve discovered Kenji and James. We might all die today.
The facts are obvious.
But we know we need to take the chance just the same.
Because moving forward is the only way to survive.
The gun is growing slick in my hands, but I hold on to it
anyway. My legs are screaming against the pain, but I push
them faster anyway. My lungs are sawing my rib cage in
half, but I force them to process oxygen anyway. I have to
keep moving. There’s no time for human deficiencies.
The fire escape in this building is nearly impossible to find.
Our feet pound the tiled floors, our hands searching through
the bleak light for some kind of outlet, some kind of access
to the streets. This building is larger than we anticipated,
massive, with hundreds of possible directions. I realize it
must have been a warehouse and not just a store. Adam
ducks behind an abandoned desk, pulling me down with
him.
“Don’t be stupid, Kent—you can only run for so long!”
someone shouts. The voice isn’t more than 10 feet away.
Adam swallows. Clenches his jaw. The people trying to kill
him are the same ones he used to eat lunch with. Train with.
Live with. He knows these guys. I wonder if that knowledge
makes this worse.
“Just give us the girl,” a new voice adds. “Just give us the
girl and we won’t shoot you. We’ll pretend we lost you. We’ll
let you go. Warner only wants the girl.”
Adam is breathing hard. He grips the gun in his hand. Pops
his head out for a split second and fires. Someone falls to
the floor, screaming.