“Off limits,” I said as a joke. Mostly because there was no time to explain.
“Austin.” He tried to be serious as he turned to face me.
“Follow the yellow tunnel in the back. It will lead you to the barn where there’s a covered ATV. Key’s under the seat.” I grabbed his shirt and, in a dramatic fashion, pulled him in for a searing kiss. “Weave through the woods and head northwest. You’ll reach the river, where you should find a dock and a boat. Tell me you know how to operate a motorboat.”
“I do,” he said swallowing hard. “Do you not?”
“I do,” I said, sadness pulling down the corners of my lips. We were out of time. “Stay. Alive.”
“Austin,” he said as my words sunk in, and then his lips turned into a frown.
I pushed him away, watching with panicked eyes as he stumbled back a few steps and came close to tumbling down the stairs. Luckily, he caught himself at the last second. He looked ready to charge at me.
But it was too late.
I slammed the door closed, placing my thumb against the fingerprint reader and then hitting the lock button.
The muffled yell of my name had me nearly breaking down in tears.
With a shake of my head, I pushed the bookshelf back into place.
The front door burst in as I was headed to the front of the stairs.
I was completely fucked. Out in the open and alone.
They had helmets, body armor, and semi-automatics.
I had… the stuff you find when starting a survivalist video game.
Shit. I had shit.
The one advantage I had was I knew this house like the back of my hand and everything in it.
I barely had time to duck down behind the couch before the person in the doorway started spraying bullets. If I’d had a moment to think, I would have been super pissed that they fucked up the one place I had good memories from my childhood. It went silent, so I thought it was the perfect time to pop up from behind the couch and fire off a couple of shots.
Might have had ninety percent of their body covered, but not much is gonna help you if you get shot through the eye.
They dropped like a sack of potatoes and the next person walked right over them, handgun aimed right at me.
Duck and roll, that was about my only option. I had to keep them guessing if I wanted to stay alive.
Several sets of boots now pounded over the hardwood floor. They weren’t even trying to be stealthy. The moment I saw the butt of the handgun coming from the side of the couch, I used one hand to push the gun up. A shot fired into the ceiling, deafening me temporarily. We struggled until I had him backed into a wall. He let out a grunted noise as he attempted to get the upper hand.
Another shot went off, the wall to my left, shattering in a way that suggested someone behind me had a shotgun.
I grabbed the straps of his bulletproof vest and flipped us before he knew what was happening. Another shot went off, and with a wide-eyed, slacked-jawed look, he fell limp in my hands.
Dropping the dead body I’d just used as a shield, I ran at the man holdingmydamn shotgun, pissed that he thought it was okay to put his hands on my shit. I ducked low, using my weight to hit him in the stomach. He let out a breath of forced air as we went down, his head landing in the fireplace. The screams that soon followed weren’t ones I’d be able to get out of my head for a while. As he attempted to scramble out of the flames, forgetting that he was supposed to be fighting me, I took the opportunity to stand. It didn’t take much as I brought myfoot down, snapping his neck against the brick surrounding the fireplace.
The prickle of danger tickled the back of my neck. I grabbed the iron fire poker as I whirled around. My head snapped to the side as I took a punch to the face.
“Fuck,” I spit out.
If I wasn’t mad before, I was now.
Then I reminded myself that I didn’t matter. As long as Ford made it out safe, then I’d take a few more punches.
I just wanted to make it out of this alive so I could know that he was okay.
