Slow and steady, but quick pulls. Slow the world down, give them evidence to find. A trail. Something to go off of. Don’t just disappear into oblivion, give them some breadcrumbs.
I released a slow breath and finally ripped out my gun, firing off a shot, watching as his shoulder ripped back, blood spilling down his jacket.
He snarled. “You fuckingbitch!” he roared, and lunged.
I pulled the trigger again and again and again, the guy slowing, stumbling, but still coming for me. Adrenaline. I never accounted for adrenaline. I never thought to. This was only the second time in my life I had actually shot a person, adrenaline never crossed my mind.
I pulled it again, blood spreading across his sweater, his eyes wild.
He grabbed the muzzle and ripped it out of my hands before grabbing my neck and jerking me forward. “You’ll fucking pay for that,” he snarled, my oxygen completely cut off.
I gasped for air, digging my nails into his arm, tearing them down, trying to draw as much blood as possible, filling my nails with his skin. Evidence. I needed evidence.
The woman appeared in my peripheral vision, smiling. “Well,” she said, taking in her friend, “I’ll give you props for that one.”
Spots danced in my eyes, my heart pounding against my ribs. I couldn’t pass out. I wouldn’t. I had to stay awake, I had to…
The man started to sway, his face paling, his teeth bared at me, his grip failing him.
The woman rolled her eyes and grabbed a chunk of my hair just as the man collapsed to his knees, nearly causing me to fall.
I gasped, coughing, sparks jumping through my mind as I fought to maintain consciousness. “You’re going to regret this,” I rasped as she forced me to my knees.
She smiled and pulled out a needle. “No, I don’t think I will.” She slammed the needle into my neck and shoved the plunger down.
She dropped me to the ground a second later. “Okay, come and get her!” she called, stepping back.
I collapsed onto my back, the damp grass seeping into my clothes, my heart slowing, my head falling to one side as the drugs quickly took effect. I could see Lucy gnawing on Wade’s neck, his body unmoving, blood covering both of them.
She was such a good dog.
“Dumb bitch,” I heard the woman say distantly.
I forced my head up, my heart pounding painfully. She was holding a gun now and she was pointing it directly at my dog.
My eyes widened, the panic filling me, having nowhere to go. I tried to scream, swinging my too heavy arm out, hitting the back of her knee just as the trigger went off.
Lucy yelped and then the world fell silent.
The panic and pain that filled me was indescribable. Everything was going numb, and I couldn’t even run to her. I could barely think. All I could do was scream, and the sound wasn’t even human, it was something other.
I screamed and I screamed and Iscreamed.
Not my dog.
Not Lucy.
She was everything to me.
She was all I had.
I couldn’t lose her.
Notmy dog!
Another sharp pain pinched my thigh, my heavy eyes finding another male standing above me, dispensing another round of drugs into me.
“That should shut her up,” the woman said. “Come on, we need to get out of here before anyone else shows up.”
