A Loaded Gun

Chapter 35

Brooke POV

I emptied the last clip of my pistol, smiling in satisfaction at the near-perfect target coming toward me.

Daniel came up behind, grinning. "You're getting really good, Brooke. Fastest anybody's picked up on this."

I smiled back at him, clutching my target with 7 bullseyes in content. "Come on, let's head back. I wanna show Marcus," I said, dragging Daniel toward the door of the shooting range.

I hopped in Daniel's Corvette, rolling my eyes as he revved the engine.

During the drive, I chattered about random things; the funny joke Annabelle made in Physics, Lucas's observation that in some cases cannibalism is moral.

Through all my mindless blabbering, Daniel smiled and nodded but seemed preoccupied, continually checking the rearview mirror and frowning slightly.

I cocked my head at him. "All good, Daniel?"

He glanced at me and his eyes seemed panicked. "Do me a favor and text Marcus from my phone. Just say "4SFD," he'll know what it means."

I shrugged but obeyed, frowning when Marcus texted back immediately saying, "KGHC."

I read it out to him and he relaxed a tiny bit, releasing tension I didn't notice was there from his shoulders. "Ok, what's going on? What's with the secret code and the panicking?"

"Just...don't freak out." Naturally I immediately freaked out. "What the hell is going on? Daniel, tell me what's going on."

He sighed. "We're being followed. 4 SUVs, 1 behind us, 1 on either side, and 1 in front. I need you to stay calm, we're gonna get out of this."

I nodded shakily, my hand slowly sliding to grasp the handgun I had been practicing with like it was a security blanket.

"You won't need that," Daniel said, noticing my movements. "I think."

"You think?" I asked, my voice calm, hiding the hysteria I felt. "Is there backup coming or something? Where the hell are all your stupid mafia men?"

"They should be on the way," Daniel said, equally as calm, but I could see his knuckles tightening on the steering wheel.

Suddenly we jolted forward, the seatbelts stopping our chests from hitting the dashboard. The SUV behind us had just rammed the car. I had a feeling help wasn't gonna come in time.

We were jerked forward again, and I gripped the gun tighter. Daniel breathed slowly, keeping both hands on the wheel. "We're gonna get out of this, Brooke. I need you to do something, though."

I nodded frantically. "Roll down the window and aim for the tires of the SUV to your right. If we can knock some of them out of the running, we'll have a better chance."

I ducked my head as I rolled down the window, the mechanical whir making a horrible humming sound over the ringing in my ears.

Slowly, I brought the gun up. Inhale, exhale, trigger, shoot. A shot sounded, but no tires burst. I missed.

"It's ok, try again." Daniel's voice was soothing.

Ok, simple physics. We're moving a bit slower than the SUV, so I just need to aim a little to the left and...

Inhale, exhale, trigger, shoot. A horrible pop and a loud screeching rang in my ears, and I gasped in astonishment. I had actually hit a tire!

"Good job, Brooke," said Daniel calmly. I watched as the SUV swerved and ran into the sidewalk, spinning out.

It didn't help. Just before Daniel could execute a maneuver and move over to the right, another SUV came zooming up and took its place.

The SUV behind us continued to ram into the bumper, and Daniel had his hands full trying not to run into the SUV in front of us.

"F*ck," Daniel muttered.

"I can try to shoot the tire again," I offered, but glanced down at my shaky hands in disgust.

"Backup should be here soon," said Daniel soothingly, noticing my stupid trembling.

Not soon enough. The SUV rammed into us one final time, and Daniel couldn't stop the car from slamming into the SUV in front of us, who abruptly applied the brakes.

I again heard the horrific crunch of metal that was becoming so familiar before I passed out.

Daniel POV

My head was pounding, I could feel blood leaking out of a cut in my leg, and a car alarm was going off somewhere in the background.

Groaning, I looked around, observing the wrecked interior of my Corvette with dull eyes. My glance flashed to the passenger seat, feeling that I was missing something.

Brooke. Where was she? I turned my head, wincing at the jackhammer going off inside my brain.

Was she thrown during the crash? Why did we crash? My gaze landed on a handgun abandoned on the floor of the passenger side, next to the open car door.

Flashbacks of dark SUVs and gunshots ran through my head, my last memory being brake lights lighting up like a demented Christmas tree.

"BROOKE!" I screamed, twisting feverishly in the tangled seatbelt holding me back. "BROOKE WHERE ARE YOU!"

I managed to pull out my switchblade and cut the stupid seatbelt, but couldn't sit up due to the pain in my head.

"DAMNIT, ANSWER ME!" I was in a full-on anxiety attack now, terrified that I had lost her again.

The screech of car tires made my ears perk up as I prayed for help and Brooke. Marcus came into my blurry vision, his face panicked. "Hey, you ok? Where's Brooke?"

I felt like I had deja vu as I shook my head wildly, ignoring the pangs that came with the motion. "I don't know. I–I don't know, I just woke up. You have to find her, you have to–"

"Daniel, it's going to be fine," Marcus said, but I could see the anxiety in his eyes.

He gestured to EMTs I hadn't even realized had pulled up over to me, scanning the gash on my forehead and the jagged piece of glass sticking out of my leg.

I ignored their hurried questions as they attempted to extract me from the wreckage of the car, staring at Marcus. "Get her back, just get her back. I can't lose her again, get her back..."

I continued to beg until my vision went dark, the shouting of the EMTs fading away. Find Brooke.

A/N again, they just cannot catch a break.  We're getting closer to the end, y'all