Holly's hands were soft where she touched my face. "Laz, come on, please you have to get up. You can't do this."

Moving was the least of my concerns right now. Breathing was at the top of my list and that was one hell of an effort to accomplish. "Can't. Too difficult. Chest hurts." A whimper escaped when I attempted to take a deep breath. Pain tightened across my ribs. This had to be the end.

This past week had grown increasingly worse. The pain killers no longer had any effect on the pain. I might as well have been popping Tic Tacs in my mouth. I had remained on the couch, it was too difficult and painful to even think about moving. This was it. The final hurdle and I had a feeling I wasn't going to make it over. No, I'd catch a foot and fall on my face. This was the end.

I pried my eyes open and fumbled for her hand, grasping it as tightly as I could. "Promise ... promise me ... you'll make them pay."

Tears made trails down her cheeks and I wasn't certain if her nod was one of agreement or one simply meant to make me feel better. I sucked in a shallow breath, then another before I felt up to speaking again.

"Okay, good." Another breath. "After that ... you go ... go to the Grand Canyon. Ride ... one of those ... damn burros for me."

Her lips twitched and a tiny smile appeared on her face. "I will. Promise," she answered quietly.

"Good. It's all good." My hand slipped from hers. I couldn't maintain the grip any longer. The pain in my chest wouldn't allow me to draw a full breath and with each passing minute, they grew more shallow. The pain increased and my next inhalation hitched and I couldn't seem to pull in any more air. There was a heavy pounding in my head that I wanted to go away, fade-out, dim, anything but this. It would go away as I died, wouldn't it? It wasn't fading, it grew louder. My chest seemed frozen, my lungs locked and I knew there wouldn't be another breath. This was the end.

Panic set in. I didn't want this. I didn't want to die. That thought remained with me as I struggled to suck air into my oxygen-starved lungs. They burned even as the room around me faded. Holly's face grew dim and I struggled to hold on to it. To remain with her. It was a wasted effort. My lids slid shut.

I did not want to die.

It was over too quickly. One second he was fighting and the next he was still. Much too still. My training kicked in. I was a lifeguard for several years in the summers during high school. I knew CPR, but after several minutes I realized he wasn't coming back. Lazaro was gone. I tried to hold back the tears. To keep the sobs back, but I couldn't. Not now. He was gone. His struggle ended. It wasn't fair. The files said he would live!

The pain, the ache his passing left was too much and I allowed myself the tears. Several minutes passed before my head jerked around and I stared at the door. The pounding I was hearing wasn't due to my crying. It wasn't a physical symptom I was hearing inside my head. No, someone was pounding loudly on the door. My eyes went back to Laz and I placed a hand gently against his cheek. Whoever was out there, they were too late. He was gone. Still and quiet now, his struggle ended.

I rose and went to the door to pull it open. It didn't matter who it was. Not now. Letting them in wouldn't matter. Lazaro was dead. I stared up into the cold flint-gray eyes of Colonel Sturm. I'd only met the man on two occasions. Both at the hospital when he'd been there to visit wounded military personnel. I'd always found the man to be cold, uncaring, and emotionless. He came to visit the men and women in the hospital because it was his duty, not out of any actual care for the people who serve under him.

"You're too late he's dead." I glared up at the man.

"You meddling bitch! If you'd left him where he belonged we might have been able to help him!" His hand flashed out and struck me across the face.

Even if I'd expected the blow I couldn't have stopped it. He moved too quickly. I cradled my hand against my cheek. "I never would have left him there! He was miserable and he hated it! He deserved to be free!"

His lip curled. "I should kill you. Bury the two of you side by side." An evil little smirk appeared on his face. "Perhaps your mother will bury you beside Captain Rucka!" he snarled.

I took a quick step back from him. "Aunt Caroline?" The words came out as a croaked whisper.

"Sentimentality is for fools and apparently women," he said as he pulled a gun from beneath his jacket. "Caroline should have done her job. Remained impartial instead of becoming attached to the project test subjects. Instead of involving herself with radical anti-government terrorists! Now Rise is over and done with thanks to her and you! You've destroyed everything we managed to build! We were so close to reaching our goal!"

"If you pull that trigger I will make very certain you regret it for however many minutes of life you have left before I kill you."

The Colonel's eyes focused behind me at those cool and calmly stated words and I spun to find Lazaro standing beside the couch. Tall, shoulders back, and no hint of pain shadowing his eyes. He moved across the room, brushing past me to stand before the Colonel. Laz stared down at the Colonel who was a good three or four inches shorter than Laz's six foot one. It never occurred to me how short Sturm was, his persona was overpowering. Frightening even. It made up for his lack of height.

"Holy Mary Mother of God, it worked! It fucking worked! With your blood, we can fix what has gone wrong with the others! We can salvage this fiasco!"

Lazaro shook his head. "I know where the others are and I won't allow you to continue the Rise Project. I'm not going to allow you to continue to use us as lab rats. Making decisions about our life and death as if we're unfeeling cultures in a goddamned petri dish! This ends here and now!"

"You have no right to make that determination! Your parents signed paperwork giving us rights!"

"Fuck your paperwork. This is my life." His hand shot out, fingers wrapping around the Colonel's neck. "This is over."

The gun slipped from his hand as he tried to pry Lazaro's fingers from his throat. "No!" That one word came out as a choked gasp and it was Sturm's last.

Laz released his body and it fell to the floor with a solid thump beside his useless weapon.

I swallowed hard and look at Lazaro. "Laz?"

"I'm fine. We need to find the others and free them. If my blood can be used to save them then we need to find out how. This ends now." His eyes remained focused on the Colonel's body. "Pack what you can it's time we left. If the Colonel knew we were here he's likely told someone else, it's no longer safe to remain here."

I nodded and moved to go to the bedrooms and pack. When I looked back he had Sturm's body over his shoulder and was heading for the door. Not my problem, the Colonel deserved what he'd gotten. He killed Caroline. If he disappeared never to be found, it was no great loss to the world.

As I packed our things it did occur to me that I was an accessory to murder, but I couldn't find it inside myself to be sorry for the man's death. To wish it never happened. When I returned to the living room Laz was waiting.

"Ready?"

I held up the bags with a smile. "Yes, but the military will be looking for us. What do we do?"

He sighed. "We'll need your aunt's laptop. It has the files on it. Do you think you can get access to her bank accounts? We're going to need money."

"I packed the laptop, I figured it might come in handy being encrypted and whatnot. As soon as we settle somewhere for the night I can work on the bank accounts."

He nodded absently and turned for the door.

"Laz, are you sure you're okay?"

He sighed and looked at me over his shoulder. "I died and rose. How do you think I'm doing?"

"Right, sorry. It is a little weird. But I'm glad you're all right."

A smile touched his lips. "So am I and it's a relief to be free of the pain at long last, no matter the outcome."

I followed him out the door with a nod and we climbed into the car. As I started it I looked over and cursed. "The Colonel's car."

He glanced over. "Give me a minute." He stepped from my car and moved to the Colonel's vehicle. I waited as he hotwired the car. I didn't know what he did with Sturm's body but obviously, his keys were no longer accessible. He rolled down the window, indicating I should do the same so he could talk to me.

"Give me a minute to ditch this and I'll be back."

"Wait, why don't I follow you?"

He shook his head. "It would be better if the cars aren't seen together. As far as anyone need be concerned, we never saw the Colonel."

I understood and nodded. He turned the car around and vanished down the driveway. It was a good twenty minutes before he returned.

"Right, let's go."

With a nod, I started the car and turned around to leave the cabin behind. My eyes kept going to Laz where he sat beside me. He seemed calm, almost detached and it worried me. He seemed different and I hoped everything was going to be okay. His eyes remained fixed on the mirror, watching as the cabin vanished behind us.

Lazaro Gregg may have died in that cabin but Lazarus One rose in his place.