Chapter 2

2

Avery, who was sitting between us, screamed and kicked the door behind me open. She shoved me out of the moving vehicle with her foot.

"Liam! Stop acting like you're the big boss here!"

The other team members in the car were shocked, but they quickly joined in on Avery's side.

"Captain Miller, we're all colleagues. You can't just get violent like that."

"If you have enough energy to hit someone, you clearly aren't dying. Why are you trying to steal Silas's supplies?"

It was pathetic. Taking back my own property was now considered stealing.

But I couldn't even form the words to argue.

The sand beneath me was scorching. It felt like I was being fried alive on a griddle.

My vision began to blur, and the metallic taste of blood filled my dry throat.

Silas peered out from behind Avery, his eyes full of mockery.

"Maybe I should just give it all back to Liam. I don't mind. As a member of the National Survey Team, I'm willing to sacrifice myself for the job."

Avery slammed the car door shut, blocking out the heat for themselves.

"Don't say that. I won't let anything happen to you."

I was left behind in the blistering desert sun. My voice was a broken rasp.

"He doesn't care about his teammates. How can he say such a thing?"

Avery rolled down the window just an inch, glaring at me.

"Stop slandering Silas!"

"We grew up together. I know exactly what kind of man he is."

Grew up together?

When Avery broke the rules to bring the unqualified Silas onto the team, that was her excuse.

I was stupid enough to believe her.

But what kind of childhood friend receives so much favoritism that a wife lets her husband die?

My ears began to ring, and my consciousness started to slip away.

My survival instinct forced me to grab the edge of the car window to pull myself up.

Avery suddenly rolled the window up, trapping my fingers in the glass.

A sharp, agonizing pain shot through my hand, and I let out a muffled groan.

The other team members watched my struggle through the glass as if it were a show.

"Man, he's a good actor. The Captain should've gone to Hollywood."

Avery kept her finger on the window button.

"Since you want to fake a heatstroke so badly, stay out there and see what it actually feels like!"

"I refuse to believe an ex-soldier can't handle this better than the rest of us."

I couldn't even scream for help. I had to risk breaking my hand to yank it free from the window.

I crawled painfully into the small patch of shade cast by the SUV. It didn't help much.

I felt like I was melting under the sun. The terror of death began to wrap around me.

The sound of laughter from inside the car drifted further and further away.

Just as I was about to lose it all, a heavy boot pressed down on my face.

"You probably didn't know, but Avery has been wanting to divorce you for a long time."

I looked up with hollow, hateful eyes. Silas looked down at me, grinning.

"But she couldn't do it. A divorce means you get half the assets. Being a widow is much more profitable."

He took the last of the electrolyte water and poured it into the sand right in front of me.

"So, I'd rather pour this out than give you a single drop!"