“You two get down and stay here.”
He throws the truck in park as gunfire starts outside our vehicle. Ed throws on the helmet Al hands him and they both jump from the car. Heart and mind racing, I look around, not sure what I’m looking for.
Then my eyes land on the car Rico and his father are in. The gunfire has increased, but that’s not what has my attention. Juliana has climbed out of the car and she’s trying to crawl toward one of the cars with the guys firing at us.
My blood begins to boil. This bitch. I look back at the car Rico is in, and I see Mario has stumbled from the car with a bleedinghead. However, I don’t see Rico or his dad. My heart picks up and begins to beat double time.
“What are you doing?” Emilia hisses at me.
I hadn’t noticed myself grabbing clips from the duffel bag to place in the slots in my vest. I also have the gun I noted earlier. I look into Emilia’s eyes, and I see the fear and worry swarming along with her tears.
“I’m going to cover Rico and Fredrico. Something is wrong,” I say.
“They told us to stay here.”
“They also taught me how to help. I can sit here with you and be safe, or I can go out there and cover my man. You know me by now. What do you think I’m going to do?”
“Wait, I don’t want to be here alone.”
“Stay low. You’re going to be fine,” I say quickly and grab my gun from my bag to have a backup.
I tuck it into the back of my pants and place the spare helmet on my head. Taking a deep breath, I pop the door open and jump out.
I can hear my breathing in my own ears as I close the door behind me and move forward with my gun out. I’ve trained in one of these helmets, so it’s not as distracting or jarring as it had been the first time I had to wear one. However, we train with blanks and paintballs.
I’ve just jumped into live action. These bullets are meant to kill. These guys are trying to hurt the people I care about.
I race forward, shooting as I go. I hit one guy, and he falls back. I don’t have time to think about it, as I have to take out the next guy before I slide behind Rico’s car. Mario is by the front, firing then ducking. I reach for the door where Fredrico is. It’s completely smashed in, and I can’t tug it open.
I look into the car and see he’s lying across the seat. However, I can’t tell if he’s alive or not. I glance into the front, and I see Rico slumped forward against the dash.
I snap into action, needing to get around to the other side of the car. The problem is that’s the side taking fire. Just then, a car races to the gate of the driveway we were going to turn into. Men hop out on the other side of the gate then rush to start firing at the assholes shooting at us.
I take this as my chance. I dart around the car and jump into the back seat, where Fredrico is. He groans and looks up at me. There’s confusion written all over his face at first.
The helmets are black and gold, like the tattoos many of Rico’s men have. I’m sure he knows I’m one of theirs, he’s just not sure who.
“Oni?” he chokes out.
I nod as I check him over. His head is bleeding, but other than that, I don’t think he’s been hit. The back windshield blows out, causing me to jump and scream.
Looking into the front seat, I can see Rico still isn’t moving. I go to kick into action, ready to climb into the front seat to help him, but gunfire outside the car pulls my attention.
I look up to find Emilia has gotten out of the SUV. She looks confused and scared out of her mind. That’s when I see the asshole aiming at her.
I don’t have time to think. I pull my gun and aim, but I’m out of bullets. Then I pull my spare, but it jams. There’s no time for this.
I rush out of the car and run for Emilia. I pull a clip and try to reload as I get to her. At the last second, I reload and make it to her.
Jumping in front of Emilia, I turn and aim. I pull the trigger and catch the asshole between the eyes, but not before a burning sensation hits my shoulder.
“Oni, oh my God, Oni,” Emilia screams as I fall into her.
We drop to the ground as pain sears through me. There’s a ton of commotion happening around us, but I start to lose focus.Oh, I’m hit.I think to myself.
“Here, apply pressure. We need to get her to a hospital now,” Mario calls out.
I want to cry out as someone presses into the pain. Shit, my mom is going to be so angry. Then everything goes black.
