“Ready?” Tammy asked impatiently.
“Yes.” I followed her outside and locked the door behind me.
We walked quickly toward the parking lot, where only three cars were parked. My keys dangled in Tammy’s grip as she moved toward the driver’s door.
I almost tripped at the sudden blast of gunfire. I swirled around, gun in hand. Despite the near-total darkness, Cherry’s puffy curls were easy to spot. She held her shotgun aimed at the sky, meaning she wasn’t trying to kill us—yet.
“I knew there was something off about you two!” Gone was the perkiness in her tone. “How ‘bout you come closer so I can see you?”
Through the thumping of my heart, I heard footsteps coming from the side.
“Tammy—”
“I hear it. Get ready to reach the car.”
“Hi, wasn’t I clear? Get your asses over here and—”
Cherry’s head exploded in a splash of blood, her body crashing to the ground.
“Now!”Tammy shouted, the gun in her hand smoking.
I turned around to close the last few feet to the car, but before I could reach it, the passenger's window shattered. I tried to stop mid-run, ending up tripping and crashing to the ground. The gun flew from my hand.
Close by, Tammy fired two shots toward the shooter’s direction, but he was invisible among the shadows of the trees.
“Get in!” she called and leaped into the car. With my ears ringing, I rose to my feet, giving up on the gun that I could no longer see. I opened the passenger door, but pain exploded in my thigh before I could jump in. I screamed and tumbled backward.
“Jonah!”
Another shot flew above my head, hitting the car. “Get out of here!” I shouted at Tammy through the burning pain. I couldn’t bring myself to climb into the car, and a silhouette of a man was coming closer, his gun raised toward us.
“Fuck,” Tammy hissed and started the car. “I’ll find you!”
Unlikely, I thought, as another bullet hit the car, this time smashing another window and sending rain of glass on my head. My thigh burned like lava, my body drenched in sweat. I could swear I felt the bullet in my flesh, buried inside a broken bone.
Tammy slammed the paddle, sending gravel everywhere as she sped away. More shots followed, and right when I thought Tammy was going to escape, her scream pierced the air. I couldn’t see where she’d been hit, but the car swayed violently before disappearing into the night.
“Are you armed?” Samuel asked, his footsteps getting closer.
“No!”
His features became visible, his face tense and alert. When he saw me lying on the ground, he lowered his gun. “How bad is it?”
“It’s in my thigh,” I wheezed. “I’m bleeding. Please call an ambulance.”
“Let me see.” He crouched down, smelling of gunpowder. “It’s not pretty, but you’ll live. How many others have you brought with you?”
“No one.”
He put his hand on my thigh and squeezed. Fire of hell consumed me, and I screamed into the night. “How many, Jonah?” he calmly asked.
“There’s no one else!” Sobs escaped me, my self-control reduced to nothing.
“Calm down. You won’t die. Possibly.”
“Is Hayden okay?”
He snorted and rose to his feet. “I think you have bigger problems than him.”
