She Outshines Them All (Athena and Matthew)

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.

came to his mind was that he was extremely lucky to be saved. Nicolette examined his external injuries and nodded. "You're fine for

her combat radio. "Any updates on Zayn

but he's not in a

what's

he's in a stable condition. I'll send you my location. Send a car to pick us

put his hands on the ground and tried to get up for a while. He then

and the other side,

some time to go around the river to pick us up and will probably take about an hour for them to

in surprise. "I'm more than six feet tall

you. It's

wasn't affected by the things he said. She just smiled. "Indeed, ordinary people can't carry you, but I'm a professional soldier. My current

and squatted

know what to say. He wasn't sure if he was

is wasting precious time.. Also, I'm a soldier and you're an injured civilian.

circumstances. You shouldn't be

tonight if you don't even

this basic awareness."

afraid that you'll get hurt," Brandon explained guiltily. After that, he lay face down on her back and put his arms

who didn't look very tall or brawny.

prickly weeds and walked upslope step by

river to

of about a hundred yards. The ground was uneven, and the weeds were dense and grew taller than his waist. It wasn't an easy terrain to walk on, but Nicolette's every step was as stable

weeds and thorns scratching her face, leaving thin traces of blood but she didn't frown, not even a bit. At this moment, Brandon was certain that Nicolette earned her stripes as a major general. A strange feeling bloomed in his heart. 'What's is this strange feeling in me? It's not something I'm familiar with. Wait, is this a sense of security?' He tried to analyze what he was feeling in

and family may have given him ample sense of security when he was very young, but perhaps he had forgotten what that exactly felt