Shadow Killer

Twenty One

"After that I told her that if you can't handle the beast you better not keep it caged."

"Jamal, you're just misquoting Wolverine at this point."

"What's Woleverine?" I ask, glancing in the rearview mirror to see Jamal looking horrified by my confusion. Just past him, I can see the faint glow of red and blue lights contrasting against the dark sky. "Fuck. Hold that thought guys."

I tighten my grip on the steering wheel and slam my foot on the gas pedal as we overtake the car in front of us. Another set of police lights turn on.

"Thats one of them fucking hiding cop cars!" Tyrone says, his eyes growing wide.

"FUCKING FLOOR IT POSIE!"

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK I'M DOING JAMAL! SHUT THE FUCK UP!" I roar, keeping my voice equal to Jamal's.

I overtake another car, glancing at the needle creeping upwards on the speedometre. I switch lanes, turning towards an onramp towards the tunnels. Ahead of us are two similar cars to the one we are seated in. I speed past before pulling in front of one of them, easing on the gas pedal, causing him to switch lanes to avoid crashing.

The sirens of the police car echo through the tunnel, bouncing off the high ceilings. We emerge from the tunnel, and I break off on the first off-ramp, moving towards a small town. One of the cop cars keeps on the highway, whilst the other still closely follows me. Ahead of us lays an intersection where the lights are red. I stomp my foot on the gas pedal once more, narrowly missing the cars, many swerving to avoid crashing into us. Behind, the police car gets caught as it tries to move around the vehicles which have stopped to avoid hitting us. I pull into the next side street, parking in a random driveway, turning off the engine and lights.

"Get down." The three of us duck down, hiding out of sight. We hear the siren speed past us, our breaths getting caught in our throats. Jamal peeks his head over the back seats, trying to see where he is going.

"Get your head down, Jamal. If we get caught because of you. I will personally bust your head open."

Jamal turns to look at Tyrone, disturbed, but he listens anyway, instead poking his head just above the centre console looking at me. "How long are we going to crouch for, my knees hurt."

"I think we need to swap cars. You two stay here. When I get the door open of that white car in the next driveway over, you grab everything we have and run over."

I exit the car without waiting to see if they understood. I scurry across the lawns to the next driveway, moving to the driver's side door, where I jimmy the car's lock. A few minutes later, I manage to get the door open. I look up to see Jamal and Tyrone running across, arms full of our belongings. I open the back doors, where they dump our stuff, while Tyrone sprints back over to grab the laptop we stole from Mikes house.

"So where are we going next?"

I look at the empty highway ahead, "Washington DC. That's where Maria Volkov should be."

"Did you know her, Maria Volkov?" Tyrone tentatively asks.

"I'm afraid so. She was one of the doctors who helped with the brainwashing. In her sick and twisted mind it would help make the world a better place."

"Now, why would anyone think assassins make the world a better place."

"We need an assassin to shut you up man!"

"Hey man, that ain't nice."

I roll my eyes as they begin to bicker, throwing insults back and forth. I tune them out, focusing only on the road ahead as we drive to Washington.