She Outshines Them All (Athena and Matthew) novel Chapter 421

Brandon answered the call and an indistinguishable voice rang out. "There are explosives buried in the pile of concrete under Zayn's feet. If you don't want Zayn to die, tell him to leave immediately."

With that, the person on the other end hung up. Brandon broke out in a cold sweat and wondered who the other party was, how the person knew so much, and if the person was credible. 'Can this person be trusted?' he thought.

However, whether he believed it or not, he couldn't leave Zayn's life to chance.

Therefore, he shouted, "Zayn, there might be explosives under your feet," and rushed over at full speed to the ten-foot-tall concrete pile. He tugged Zayn to get off it.

Brandon ran very fast, but Zayn's feet were injured and he couldn't run as smoothly as Brandon. Just like that, the two people, who weren't synchronized in speed and strength, fell to the ground and rolled.

"Boom!" Right when they got to the ground, a deafening explosion thumped. Brandon instinctively flipped over to protect Zayn's body with his. The pile of construction waste exploded, sending rubble and broken iron flying everywhere.

Brandon felt an intense pain in his back and legs. He knew that he had been hit by flying shrapnel. The impact from the explosion pushed his body, and that made him roll down from Zayn's body and then down the slope.

The intense pain was the only thing he felt. He couldn't even open his eyes. He could only faintly hear shoutings coming from all directions. "The Jackal have appeared. Everyone, stay on your toes!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" Gunshots were fired very shortly after that.

Brandon rolled into the river and the icy water woke him up instantly. He gulped a few mouthfuls of it. He struggled with all his might, trying to swim to the bank, but he was seriously injured and couldn't move his feet at all.

He wanted to call for help, but he choked on the water. His mouth and nose were in grating pain, making him unable to make a sound. His consciousness was rapidly fading away.

He couldn't help but think to himself, 'Am I really going to die here tonight? 'If I die, so be it." He sighed inwardly. "At least I helped Zayn once before I died. It's not a loss. It's just that I won't be able to eat home-cooked food anymore. Now, that's sad."

Just as Brandon's head sank into the water, a powerful force clamped his body and dragged him upward. His head broke the surface and fresh, cool air rushed into his nostrils, and he started breathing instinctively.

Then, this force dragged him through the water. Brandon's head was in a muddle, and he couldn't think. He only knew that he had been saved. It felt like a whirl, and as if time was distorted.

Slowly, he felt his body getting out of the water and being dragged ashore. Then, he was placed on the ground. His body was hurting from the uneven ground.

Brandon slowly opened his eyes and saw that the person beside him had turned on the flashlight. To his surprise, it was Nicolette. 'Did she save me?' he wondered.

The first thing that came to his mind was that he was extremely lucky to be saved. Nicolette examined his external injuries and nodded. "You're fine for the time being. Rest first."

Then, she took out her combat radio. "Any updates on Zayn and Jackal?"

"Zayn's fine, but he's not in a good condition. Jackal has been terminated."

"General Trevor, what's your location?"

Nicolette replied, "I'm on the other side of Wyo River. I'm injured but it's nothing serious. Zayn's brother, Brandon, is with me. He's seriously injured but he's in a stable condition. I'll send you my location. Send a car to pick us up and inform Zayn and Jaden."

Then, Nicolette looked around and asked Brandon, "Can you stand up?"

Brandon put his hands on the ground and tried to get up for a while. He then shook his head. "Sorry, I can't."

Nicolette nodded. "Although it's just a river between us and the other side, there's no bridge connecting the two banks.

"It'll take them some time to go around the river to pick us up and will probably take about an hour for them to get here. There's no place to park on the bank. I'll piggyback you to the roadside."