Screw that!
Natalia crouched down to retrieve the fallen keys, working fast since she was forced to hold both them and the gun in the same hand.
You have to find cover. Get your ass in the car and drive the hell away!
Her mind raced through the plan. The window may have been shattered, but that wouldn’t keep the engine from doing its job.
Natalia kept her eyes on her immediate surroundings. Staying low, she laid the pistol and keys on the ground next to her, so she’d be able to use her hand. It was a risk, but one that was necessary if she wanted to make it into the car.
Reaching blindly behind her, she kept her eyes glued on her immediate surroundings as she attempted to open the door. Tears of pain and relief rushed to the surface when the door finally creaked open.
Natalia grabbed the gun and the keys, groaning in pain as she maneuvered her wounded body into the seat behind the wheel. With her head bent down, she placed the gun in her lap and focused on the keys.
Blood marred the jingling pieces of jagged metal, but she ignored it and inserted the key into the car’s ignition. It wasn’t until she was met with dead silence that Natalia realized?—
The car has no power.
She’d been so busy focusing on getting inside the car, she hadn’t noticed the interior lights staying off when she’d opened the door. But now, despite her multiple attempts, the engine refused to even turn over.
It didn’t so much as click. In fact, there was no sound ofanykind. The car was dead, and she would be, too, if she didn’t figure out another plan fast.
A second shot came from the field’s direction. Rather than hitting her, the bullet struck the hood of the car, dead center.
He’s playing games.
Well, she wasn’t interested in being his pawn any longer. Her only focus was finding her way back to Jagger.
That would be admittedly harder now, without a car to drive her away. And unless the pain in her shoulder was affecting herhearing, that last shot had originated from a spot much closer than the first.
On to Plan B.
Making it up as she went along, Natalia painfully crawled across the console and opened the other door. She half-slid, half-fell from the car to the ground, landing with an audible moan.
Ignoring the pain and blood consuming her left shoulder and arm, she used the vehicle’s frame as a shield while she gave herself a minute to look around and think.
Lure him inside the building and take him out there.
It was the only plan she could come up with. She just prayed it didn’t end with her dead.
Natalia sent up a silent prayer before rising cautiously to take a quick glance through the window for her shooter. She watched and waited, not hearing anything but the leaves blowing in the breeze.
She had to make a run for it. It was the only way she could make it out of this mess alive. And the longer she waited, the less time she had left.
With her back against the car, she pulled in a deep breath. And then she took another. Thoughts of Jagger threatened to send a rush of tears to her eyes, but she held them back knowing this wasn’t the time.
Later, when she was home and curled up in his arms, she could let herself break down and cry. Or she could just kiss him senseless and hold him close until the fear of losing what they’d recently found floated away.
For now, her focus had to be on inside the building. Preferably without getting her head blown off in the process.
Sounds like a pretty good plan to me.
Refusing to stall a moment longer, Natalia readied her position while studying the path from the car to the building.Fear, nerves, and pain threatened to take over, but she tuned them out and counted down from five.
When she got to one, she took off in a dead sprint. The muscles in her legs worked hard, her boots moving fast as they covered the grassy earth.
Natalia turned around and took a few random shots as a way of providing cover. She felt a sense of relief and accomplishment when she made it to the building’s front door.
Her bloody, trembling fingers managed to turn the knob without dropping the gun. The wood creaked on its hinges as she opened the door, and she started to step inside.
