Since they obviously wanted me dead and no fire came from the front anymore, I was dealing with the same determined asshole. I eased back from the target zone, attempting to find a good spot, but found that there weren’t any. I needed to get away from this fucking vehicle, or I was assuredly going to die.
The swish didn’t sound until the impact struck the metal of the vehicle right next to my head. The mother fucker had me pinned down. The thump of boots hitting the hard pavement sounded before I spotted movement.
I didn’t hesitate releasing round after round, one hitting him center mass in his chest. His body armor kept him coming. He even had on a protective helmet that made him a fast-moving bullet-proof shadow.
Fuck!
The empty magazine dropped, and I reloaded, jerking my extra clip from my waistband. The few seconds it had taken me to trade out my magazine had given the asshole a chance to creep up on me.
The barrel of his weapon was less than four feet from my face. At that range, from an automatic weapon, my head would crack open like a ripe cantaloupe. I didn’t drop my pistol because I was willing to take this dark fucker to hell with me.
Arjen’s face appeared and eased the dark edge of my impending death while I stared into the black metal hole that held my fate.
The blast of the gun sounded. Odd. I should have been dead or dying and not hearing anything. When a harsh jerk twisted the man’s body, I didn’t hesitate to let loose more rounds, concentrating on his head and neck areas.
He wobbled towards me like he was drunk with his gun hanging limp in his hand. The silence that followed his fall was as loud as the sound system inside my car, pushing out the base and thumping out a rhythmic drumbeat against my body.
I turned past the back end of the vehicle to see the guard who still had his weapon aimed in our direction from his position behind the berm. He had saved my life.
The movement behind him drew my attention. Too charged to speak or warn him, I commenced to shooting at the emerging figure at his back. Despite my bullets connecting with the target, his armor kept him in play and the guard took a shot that sent him slamming into the hill he had taken cover behind. He had taken his attention from his target to help me, and the man had snuck up behind him.
I ran towards the shooter, putting myself in the open to take his ass out. The six shots I let loose pounded into his chest and against the helmet he wore.
The body armor kept him alive, but the punch of the bullets put him on his ass, and he was unable to return fire. The guard lay slumped against the hill so that I was unable to see his face, but noticed his body shaking uncontrolled.
Fuck!
The asshole that shot my guard lifted his gun to shoot at me, but a clean shot from HB took most of his fucking hand off, disarming him. He was wearing a helmet like the other prick, so the headshot hadn’t landed clean and appeared to have rearranged something upstairs.
I turned the guard over, releasing a loud heave from the effort. The first sight of the damage he endured caused my heart to fight gravity and drop. A neck shot had blood pouring from him like a spigot was tapped into the side of his neck.
His blood flowed thick and warm between my fingers. Based on the amount of blood spilled on the ground and painting his shirt, I already knew he was nearly gone. His stressed gaze was pinned to mine as his chest rose high and sank low in quick desperate jerks as he wheezed for air. I gripped his hand and held on tight, hoping it helped in some way.
“I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry. If you have a family, we will make sure they are taken care of.” It was the only peace I had to offer him.
His glazed eyes grew wide as the last breath he’d ever take was released as a ragged moan. His eyes lowered but didn’t close all the way, staring at my face but looking at nothing. He was gone, and I didn’t even know his name. I didn’t pray often, but this was as good a time as any to send one up.
“Lord. I don’t know this man’s life, but I pray that you see fit to make room for him in your heavenly home, to give him respite as he makes his transition. Amen.” His limp hand fell away from mine when I let go.
The asshole who had shot him was struggling to flip himself over so he could stand up or crawl, I suppose. The moment of peace I had summoned for the guard had dissolved.
I allowed myself to descend into the quiet where chaos kissed my mind, and noise no longer existed. After I approached the shooter, I stood over him before I jerked the helmet off his head, nearly breaking his neck in the process. One of my bullets had caught him in the top of the head, leaving a piece of his scalp missing but he still appeared to be functioning enough to communicate.
“Who the fuck sent you to kill me?”
His lips quivered as he gawked and attempted to reach across his quivering body for his gun with his good hand. I shot him in the hand he had left, enjoying the pain playing out in his horror-filled eyes. I fed on the stress creasing his face, and the vibrating cries that exited his wide mouth.
He refused to abandon his quest to pick up his rifle. However, it didn’t matter what he was attempting to pick up because his hands looked like shredded cabbage in tomato sauce.
I tucked HB into the back of my waistband before I stood atop his busted up hand. The unnatural feel of his blood and mangled flesh and bone under my bare feet sent an odd shiver through me. The scream he released lit up the mountains and sent the sound waves bouncing back in our direction and hitting my body. I picked up his rifle, flipped it in my hand, and sent the butt of the weapon slamming against his cheek.
“Who sent you to kill me?”
His breaths blew so hard, that the tooth I knocked loose flew out of his mouth with a thick wad of spit and blood, landing on his chin. I lifted the weapon and slammed it down harder against his head a second time. The lick sent him into a series of frantic cries as he twisted and turned his body to stave off the pain.
“I’m shattering your jaw with the next blow. Tell me who the fuck sent you!” My voice roared loud enough to shake the space around me.
“Ca-ca-denas,” he spit out over a chorus of harsh breaths.