Page 47 (2/2)

Every word Knox spoke brought Jessica closer to the edge She needed to hit so She needed to hit someone The most painful hour of her life passed with every second and felt like an eternity Jessica didn’t want to live to see her own funeral She fought the urge to jump out of the vehicle and race to the casket—her casket—climb inside, and let them bury her alive At that point, no death would be as excruciating as the alternative—living

“Look at me” The uneasy tremble to her brother’s voiceon end

Jessica’s heart hid in her throat, sending waves of throbbing pain through her body as tears stung her eyes She knehy Jude wanted her to look at him On the other side of the privacy-tinted as her everything

How could fate be so cruel?

“Jess, don’t do it … just don’t”

Jessica looked at her brother the way soer pointed at their own teretful “I have to … I have to see him one last time”

The heartbroken shell of a woman turned toward theand there he was, surrounded by his falasses hid his deep navy eyes that had pieced her back together as nature tailored suit he as black that day She cursed hiinal—a splash of flare in honor of her funeral

Her gaze drifted to his shoes Inside she felt a blink of reprieve fro those argyle socks; she couldn’t see them … she just knew Jessica knew that man Jessica loved that oodbye to that man In another blink, the pain returned

How could life Be So Cruel?

Jude squeezed her hand “He could come with us”

“I know” Her voice cracked under the weight of pain He already thought she was dead “I can’t take him from them I want him … but they deserve him”

The Days were transported to an undisclosed location that defined middle of nowhere, a million miles from civilization—no cell phones, no television, no computers … no alcohol They were dropped off by plane, literally dropped from the plane with parachutes on their backs Jessica and Jude were els for Innocent Lives) and therefore they were experts in two areas: combat and survival

Weekly food rations were deposited from the same plane, like aid and sustenance to soldiers But their as not a physical war; the eneeted their emotions There were no hidden ca by therief felt like a cruel psych experiment They mourned the loss of their parents and the loss of themselves

Cheating death more than once, Jessica had seen so much in her short life Not once did she contemplate the worth of her own life Not once did she think a single suicidal thought—until she said a silent goodbye to Luke at the ce his shoulder, and so some sense into her How could the person she ?