Continue it like this. I kept the run exhausting, the helicopter frightening instead of hopeful, and the horde pressure still behind them.
They ran until running turned into dragging.
The woman was too heavy between them. Iyisha had one arm hooked under her shoulder, but every step pulled at her back and burned through her legs. The woman's feet scraped more than walked. Blood kept soaking through the cloth at her side.
Iyisha panted through her teeth.
Malcolm saw it.
He did not ask.
He shifted close, grabbed the woman under the ribs, and hauled her over his shoulder like a sack. The woman cried out, a broken sound that made Iyisha flinch, but Malcolm only tightened his hold and kept moving.
"Sorry," Iyisha said, though she did not know who she was saying it to.
The woman groaned against Malcolm's back.
"Run," Malcolm said.
So they ran.
