Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 173

"All clear," Chloe called out.

"Still clear," John responded.

"Let's move!" Chloe sald and disappeared around the corner. Jon waited around the other corner while John backed up to us again and ducked under me again. We started hobbling down the hall and passed two fresh bodies; one of them had a hole in his head Just above the right temple, while the other looked like he'd suffered several shots to the chest. The second one stared up at me with lifeless eyes as we passed by, and it suddenly dawned on me that before this trip, I'd never seen a dead body outside of a funeral. Now, I'd seen... what... eight ten? Losing count of something like that wasn't a good sign.

Just behind us, we heard someone shout, "Hey! Stop!" When we didn't, there were a few shots fired.

"Fuck!" Chloe swore. "Move it!"

We did just that. I hobbled along beside John as quickly as I could, glancing behind us when I saw two men open fire just as we turned another corner. Drywall exploded as the bullets ripped it into sheds, sending plumes of fine dust through the air behind us.

Ahead, I could see a set of double doors up ahead and what looked like a pool of crimson spread across the floor in front of it.

"John! Pick him upl Move!" Chloe said. "Emily, can you carry her?"

"Yes!" Emily exclaimed, looking panicked.

"Then fucking carry her!"

John let out a frustrated groan and said, "Get on my back, sir!"

"Oh, Christ!" said but didn't hesitate to do as he suggested. I could barely walk, let alone run.

I glanced over my shoulder to see Emily taking a page out of John's book and hauling Natashya over her shoulders before following on our heels. In the low light, my sister's startlingly light grey eyes almost seemed to reflect the moonlight, wide with fear as she raced behind us.

Chloe and Shea were running behind us, but at a slower pace, taking time to look behind them. Sure enough, a man peered around the corner a few moments later, and Shea fired off a couple of rounds. Then she tossed down the gun and said, "I'm out!"

Chloe tossed her a gun and fired off another round at someone else. That was all saw as John hit the glass double doors and sprinted toward a dark SUV. As soon as he reached it, he threw open the back door, tossed me in like a duffel bag, and then disappeared around the driver's side.

Treating Natashya with more care, Emily ran past me, opened the back passenger door, and helped her friend gingerly crawl into the back seat before climbing in after her. She spun around and gripped the back headrest as she stared at the doors of the building where we'd just escaped, waiting for the others.

The engine fired to life, and John called out, "I have my orders! We've got ten seconds. Twenty tops. if they aren't in here by then, we're leaving!"

"What!?" Emily said.

"What!?" I exclaimed.

John didn't respond. We all waited in silence, listening to the sound of the motor purr and several more shots from within the building.

And then the gunfire stopped.

A heartbeat or two passed, and John said, "We have to leave, sir"

"The fuck we are," I called from the back, eyes fixed on the double doors. "I'm not-

The doors opened, revealing Chloe, Shea, and Jon as they sprinted toward us.

A silhouette appeared behind them, and Jon took a shot, forcing whoever it was out of sight.

"Get in!" Chloe bellowed, her blonde hair flying wildly behind her as she closed in on the SUV. Jon passed the back of the SUV and jumped in the front passenger seat. As soon as Shea and Chloe dove into the back with me, John floored it. The back wheels flung gravel high into the air as our getaway car quickly picked up speed and moved out of the warehouse parking lot.

"Gun!" Chloe barked, reaching out one arm as Jon handed her one of the rifles he confiscated. She turned around and brought the weapon to bear just as three more men ran out the front door, looking like they were about to open fire. Chloe fired several shots, causing them to dive for cover.

After leaving the drive and disappearing behind a fence, we heard a few more shots go off, but nothing hit us, and in a few moments, we left them far behind. Chloe reached up and shut the door to the back of the SUV, leaving the interior eerily quiet after being subjected to so much chaos.

I'd propped myself up on my elbows, watching the entire affair, and as soon as it seemed safe, I dropped back and inadvertently found my head in Shea's lap. She leaned against the back of the rear seat, gingerly pulling the collar of her shirt down her shoulder to examine her bullet wound, and I looked up at her.

"You okay?" asked, my voice a little hoarse.

She glanced down at me, and a smile graced her pleasantly plump lips as she ran her fingers through my hair. "I'll be fine. This isn't the first time I've been shot"

I glanced at her wounded shoulder and said, "Something tells me you're not just a masseuse."

Her smile deepened, and she let out a small "hmm." Then she said, "Who do you think referred me to Erin?" She glanced at Chloe.

I looked at my bodyguard, who had pulled out her phone and was tapping away furiously at the small screen. I had so many fucking questions for that woman.

Unfortunately, they would have to wait. Suddenly, I felt an overwhelming sense of exhaustion overtake me. I could feel every muscle in my body, and more than half of my skin felt like it was on fire from all the welts I'd received. I'd been captured for three days. How much of that had been actual sleep? Before I could even guess, I nodded off, noting somewhere in the back of my mind the whisper of asphalt under tires and the distant sound of police sirens.

I'm not sure how long I was out, but when my eyes fluttered open, I was no longer staring up into Shea's exotic features or Chloe's soccer mom good looks. Instead, I was looking up into a set of piercing blue eyes under the shaggiest pair of eyebrows I had ever seen. He looked more like Albert Einstein and less like the Victoria's Secret models I seemed to surround myself with. I blinked at him, and he looked down at me and huffed, his bushy, iron-grey mustache fluttering.