“Hadlee!” My voice is laced with confusion and I pick up speed, jogging toward her. I don’t understand. I can’t comprehend. How did she know where I was? Did she follow me here? She doesn’t belong here. It’s not safe. “Hadlee!”
She starts walking faster and when I can make out her face a wide, vibrant smile spreads across her lips. I fight back the smile I can feel forming on my face and start sprinting…
Then, all of a sudden it feels like everything is happening in slow motion.
Tires squeal.
An old black Lincoln whips around the corner.
The smile drops from Hadlee’s lips and she looks over her shoulder at the car, confused.
Me, I’m running as fast as I can. I’m grabbing my gun and palming it. I’m watching in horror as the windows to the Lincoln go down and a man with a machine gun sticks the barrel out the window.
I am screaming.
I am screaming.
Hadlee starts crying and I feel like I can’t breathe. I feel like all of the air has been sucked from my lungs by a vacuum and the only thing I can think about is running faster, getting to her before shots go off.
“HELP ME!” she shrieks. “HELP ME!”
The Lincoln rolls past her slowly. I see the bullets flash as they leave the gun. My eyes snap to Hadlee as she screams and hunches over in a ball on the sidewalk. Dots of crimson line her shirt and my stomach lurches.
I’ve seen plenty of people die.
I’ve seen plenty of people get shot at, but this is different.
This feeling is different.
A rage I’ve never experienced takes over me. I’m blind to anything and everything. I can feel the veins in my neck pulsating and bulging. I can feel all of my skin over-heating. My jaw locks and my teeth clamp down so hard I swear I almost bite off a piece of my tongue.
I am shaking.
I am shaking so violently my finger keeps slipping off the trigger of my gun.
I need to stay calm.
Keep focused.
So I take a deep breath.
Crack my neck.
Roll my shoulders.
Then wait for the Lincoln to roll past me. And when it’s diagonal to me, I see Connie’s face half hidden by the shadows, but I can make out the sadistic smile he’s wearing. My stomach twists and I think about yakking all over the pavement.
I swallow hard and opt for a better idea.
I aim at him, slide my pointer finger over the trigger and shoot that son of a bitch right between the eyes.
Chapter 4
~Hadlee~
There are limbs flailing in my face.
Sean is screaming at the top of his lungs.