He barreled back toward the tent as he cut the last few meters and slammed the flap aside and the tent was empty... well except for Monty who was laying down at the side.
Monty was there looking back at him. "She's gone," he said.
"Gone where?" Jason asked, the world shifting into a single, bright tilt of panic.
"She left a few minutes ago. Said she had to check the fuse."
Jason's chest closed. He spun around quickly to leave but Jasper and Finn were near the entrance. Finn ran up to him and tried to place a hand on his shoulder. "Jason talk to me—"
Jason didn't slow. He shoved past Finn and ran out through the gates before he broke out into the trees.
He ran until the trees blurred and the camp shrank behind him, until the only rhythm was his breathing and the thump of his boots.
"Damn it, Raven," Jason muttered between breaths, his boots hammering through the undergrowth. Branches tore at his sleeves as the night air burned in his lungs. "What the hell are you thinking?"
The forest blurred past in streaks of shadow and silver light, his heartbeat syncing with the drum of his feet against the earth. His enhanced stamina kept him moving faster than any human should. The chill of night wrapped around him like smoke until, suddenly, the trees broke into a clearing and there she was.
"Raven!" he barked, the sound echoing across the clearing.
She jolted at the voice, almost dropping the jar in her trembling hands. Blood slicked her lip and dripped down her chin, staining her collar. Her face was pale, too pale, her breaths uneven. Jason's gaze dropped to the red-stained jar she clutched.
"You're infected," he said, disbelief tightening his voice.
"I know." Raven's voice was thin but steady. "But I gotta do this."
Jason's jaw clenched. "No, we need to get you back to camp now."
"I'm not leaving!" she shot back, staggering as she tried to stand.
Jason swore under his breath, as his anger flashed hot and quick. "Why the hell are you doing this, Raven? You trying to die out here? Because that's exactly what's gonna happen if you think you can pull this off alone!"
Her tired eyes lifted to meet his. "But I'm not alone, Jason," she whispered.
He froze. "What?"
"I'm not alone. You're here."
That hit him harder than he expected.
Then she pleaded, her voice cracking, "Please. Let me do this. I have to."
Jason exhaled slowly, chest tight. "…Fine."
Before she could even blink, he grabbed the bomb, slung it across his shoulder, took the gun from her hand, and scooped her up into his arms like she weighed nothing.
"Jason—wait—!"
"Hold on," he said, and then the world blurred.
He sprinted at full speed as the trees whipped past them, the ground cracked under his speed and the added weight. Raven's eyes widened as she felt the impossible momentum, her arms instinctively wrapping around his neck. She couldn't even form a full sentence just gasps between the rush of wind and pounding heartbeats.
———————————
By the time morning broke, the sky was still dim with the cold light spilling over the nearly ruined bridge ahead. Jason slowed, dust and mist swirling at his feet, and gently laid Raven down beside a beam.
"We need to set the bomb now," she rasped, fumbling for the backpack.
He nodded, crouched, and reached for the containers. She pulled the first jar of hydrazine while Jason steadied the empty canister. His hand brushed hers; her skin was burned hot and he noticed her fingers trembling. Blood was running from her nose again, her vision swimming.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
Jason glanced at her, his voice was low but calm. "Hold this."
She obeyed, clutching the canister while he placed the hydrazine in first, then opened the second jar and let the gunpowder drift around the liquid in a dark, toxic cloud. He'd just set the lid when—
Thoom.
A deep, rhythmic pulse rolled through the air.
Jason's head snapped up, as his whole body tensed up and his muscles tightened.
"What is it?" Raven asked weakly.
"Shit… war drums." His eyes cut toward the tree line. "They're here."
Raven's breath hitched.
"We gotta hurry!" Jason said, sealing the container.
From the forest came the first shadow showed. There, dozens of Grounders emerging from the dark, their torches flickering like an army of ghosts. Jason stood, gun raised.
"Pour in the rest!" he shouted.
"What are you doing?!"
"Buying you time!"
Arrows whistled from the trees and he swatted one aside with the barrel of his gun, metal scraping sparks. He caught sight of flickering torches closing in. "They're here, Raven! GO!"
Raven hesitated, eyes wide.
"Go!" Jason barked, stepping forward as the first Grounder charged.
Raven turned and ran, stumbling as her strength faltered.
And then the forest erupted.
Dozens of Grounders broke through the treeline, their painted faces twisted in fury, blades glinting in the morning dark. Torches flared. War cries shattered the morning.
Jason's pulse slowed.
His pupils dilated.
The sound of his own heartbeat drowned out the drums.
"Come on," he muttered, his lips curling into a grin. "Let's dance."
The first Grounder lunged forward, spear aimed at Jason's chest. He twisted, caught the shaft, yanked the man forward, and slammed his forehead into his nose. A sickening crunch followed as blood sprayed. Jason ripped the spear away and impaled him through the chest.
A second Grounder screamed and swung a hatchet. Jason pivoted, his elbow cracking against the attacker's jaw before he buried the stolen spear into the man's gut. He kicked the body off the shaft, spinning as an arrow sliced his arm.
"Bad move," he hissed.
He leveled his rifle and fired once. The bullet caught the archer through the eye. Another Grounder rushed him; Jason side-stepped, using his free hand to grab the man's throat and hurl him backward into the the forest
With a broken neck.
Every movement was a blur of strength and precision fused into one.
He grabbed a fallen machete, parried a blade with a clang, then reversed the swing, cutting deep across his enemy's abdomen.
Raven stumbled far behind him as she struggled to get a decent amount of distance away from the bomb, her vision spinning, her voice breaking.
"Jason—"
"Keep walking!" he yelled, kicking another body off the bridge. "I'll hold them off!"
Three Grounders charged at once. Jason dashed forward, sliding low beneath one's swing, kicking another's knee sideways till it snapped. He rose fluidly, disarming the third and spinning the sword in a backhand grip. His blade flashed a quick, brutal arc and a head rolled into the dirt.
Blood sprayed across his face and the grounders saw his grin widened.
His mind whispered, 'My blood's pumping in my ears.'
He felt alive. A dangerously, terrifyingly alive.
He fired three more times and one shot caught a Grounder mid-jump, the other tore through a second's shoulder, the third ricocheted off a rock and clipped a torchbearer's leg. When the rifle clicked empty, Jason tossed it aside and went full feral.
A blade swung at his neck; he ducked, grabbed the assailant's wrist, twisted until bones cracked, then drove his sword into the man's throat. Another came from behind but Jason kicked backward without looking, his heel crushing the man's knee, spun, and stabbed him through the ribs.
The stench of blood filled the clearing.
He grabbed the sword with both hands as two more charged. Jason blocked one slash, parried another, then deflected an incoming arrow again and other deflected shaft pierced straight into a Grounder's eye.
"Beautiful," he muttered with a smile.
Bodies piled around him. The ground turned slick with blood as he kept on killing.
Still, more came from the forest, snarling, screaming and fearless. Jason's chest would have heaved had he been an ordinary human; his strikes never faltered. He cut, dodged, slammed, and crushed, every movement was a violent rhythm of survival.
He was drenched in crimson, his shirt torn, his muscles twitching from adrenaline.
Then a moment of realization.
They were hesitating now.
The Grounders had formed a semi-circle, wary of him.
Jason's grin faded into something colder.
"Scared now, huh?"
That's when he saw them.
In the trees beyond the far ridge were Jasper and Monty with Jasper aiming his gun at the canister, seeing this Jason's mood uplifted as there was another that could take the shot.
"Come on," Jason muttered. "Take the shot."
Jasper fired once. Missed. Fired again. Missed.
"God damn it, kid!" Jason yelled, ducking another arrow. He spun, slicing open the chest of a Grounder that caught up to him and driving his blade home through another's throat.
He looked down and was welcomed with empty clicks as there were no bullets left. 'Perfect.'
So he ran.
Ahead, Raven lay collapsed at the bridge's edge, coughing blood. Finn was on the ridge, shouting something, about to rush forward.
"Stay back!" Jason roared, sprinting toward her.
A bullet struck the ground near his leg, dust exploding upward. The next instant, the air went white—
BOOOOOOOM.
The explosion tore through the forest. The sound was a living thing, a monstrous roar that drowned the world. The bridge disintegrated in a thunderous blaze—timber, metal, and fire folding inward as a shockwave threw Jason forward mid-sprint.
He hit the ground hard, rolling once before instinct took over and he twisted his body, curling around Raven and shielding her from the debris. Heat seared across his back, shards of burning wood raining like hellfire.
Then… silence.
After almost five minutes, Finn's voice broke through the haze moments later. "Jason! Raven!"
He stumbled down the slope, eyes wide. Jason's body was sprawled over Raven's, both bloodied but breathing. The bridge behind them was gone, reduced to splintered wreckage and blackened earth. The firelight painted the trees crimson.
Finn swallowed hard, gaze locked on the destruction. Half the forest burned and the path to the grounders settlement gone.
Jason groaned, pushing himself up, his back in pain but it will heal, his chest still protecting Raven's motionless form.
He looked at what they'd done… what she'd done with her invention.
"Guess…" Jason coughed, voice hoarse, "…it definitely did not survive you huh."
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