117

You are twenty yards out from the wall when a burst of machine gun fire echoes across the open ground. Bullets graze the rubble just a few feet ahead and ricochet into the air with a piercing whine. Kate looks over her shoulder and begins to slow her pace to allow you to catch up, but you scream at her to keep running and she obeys your command.

When you are halfway across the gap, a wave of exhaustion descends on you like a lead blanket. Painfully your thigh muscles tighten until, in the throes of cramp, you stumble and fall. Desperately you try to rise but more shots ring out and you feel something sharp and searing, like a red-hot dagger, pierce your side. Your vision swims in and out of focus and the last thing you see, before total darkness descends, is Kate as she reaches the fire station.

Tragically, your journey and your life end here in San Angelo.