We're Still Alive(Book1)BEING REWRITTEN

Twenty-One

 Arkansas

        Paige felt like she would collapse at any minute. Creating a buildup of cars, that was easy. Probably. Getting rid of them? That was a lot harder. This was the fifth one they had come across. There were plenty of others, but there were a couple they couldn't drive around because of the size of the horse trailer. That included this one. With Paige being the smallest, it was harder for her than the others, so she mainly steered while Allison or the boys would push the car forward.
          This one was a lot more difficult than the last, and it took twice as long to clear. The number of cars scattered here was unbelievable, some were even stacked onto smaller ones. They were about halfway done and moving onto another car when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Something was moving in one of the buildings closest to them. Not taking her eyes off of where she'd seen the movement, she grabbed Jaime's shoulder to get his attention.
          "What?" He asked in an exasperated voice.
          "Something moved. In there." Her voice came out as a whisper. He looked at the building, then back to her.
          "Okay, make sure nothing comes out of there alive. I'll be right back." Paige turned to see him walk over to Allison, Curt, and Adam, who were trying to move a camper out of the way. Looking back at the building, she gasped. She didn't have any time to warn them. The gunshot echoed through the town, followed by Paige's scream as Jaime collapsed onto the ground. Allison, Adam, and Curt had ducked down behind or under the vehicles, but Paige ran at a full sprint to Jaime's limp body. She fell to her knees and rolled him over onto his back. His eyes were wide open but blank, and blood was seeping out of his chest. Paige felt his pulse. Jaime didn't have a pulse.
          "No..." She whispered. "No, please, no." She heard another gunshot, and the window of a car near her shattered. She covered her head from the glass showering down. She was out in the open, she knew that, but she couldn't leave him.
          "Paige!" Curt's voice seemed far away. She didn't react to it, or the quick footsteps approaching. Suddenly she was picked up off the ground as Curt carried her back to the group, kicking and screaming.
       Allison wrapped her arms around her, but it didn't change anything. Jaime was still dead. Someone was still trying to kill them. She only calmed down when exhaustion took over. They'd been working for at least half an hour, and she was running out of energy.
          She leaned to the side of the truck they were behind, and looked at the building, to the window with the sniper in it. Not much of a sniper, she couldn't help thinking. "We have to kill him..."
          "Well we're not just gonna run in, guns blazing. There could be more." Curt was looking the building over.
          "He killed Jaime..." Her voice broke. "We have to kill him."
          Curt was quiet for a long time. He looked like he was observing the building, but to Paige he was just wasting time.  Finally Allison broke the silence.
          "I can't see any more of them. He's probably alone. If we could sneak into the building..."
          "How do we do that?" Adam asked. He was shaking visibly, a look of rage plastered to his face. She thought about how close he'd been to Jaime. She hadn't even bothered to ask. Were they brothers? Best friends? Gay lovers?
          "We can use the cars." Curt was talking again. "Run from one car to the next until we're at the door. We may have to split up. That way he'll have more trouble finding his target."
          "Let's go then." Paige started to stand up, but he pulled her back down.
          "Hold on." He handed her a pistol. "If something happens, you might not get enough time to pull out that bow. If you really need it, just turn the safety off, cock it, and shoot. Got it?" She nodded. "Okay then. Alli go to the left, Paige you go to the right. Adam, you'll have to stay back here and see if you can get a clear shot while he's going after us? Okay?" He looked around at the three of them, then looked over the car. Without warning, he ran forward to a green car just in front of them. Allison ran to a car on his left side, and Paige sprinted out to a red car on his right. It was farther away than the other two, though, and the cement cracked near her feet where the bullet hit. The shot was returned by Adam. Seconds passed, then Curt ran forward again, and Allison and Paige didn't hesitate to follow. This went on for at least 10 minutes until they met at the door of the apartment building, almost directly below the shooter so he couldn't see them. They quietly walked inside while Adam continued to exchange shots with the sniper.  They walked up the stairs to the 2nd floor, and followed the gunshots to a door at the end of the hall. Allison reached for the doorknob when the shooting suddenly stopped. The three exchanged glances. Paige knew they were thinking the same thing; Did one of them shoot the other? Did the sniper figure out what was going on? After minutes of silence, Curt nodded to Allison, who stood to the side of the door. He signaled  for Paige to get behind him while he held his rifle at his shoulder. With another nod, Allison pulled the door open and Curt shot into the room. It was then that Paige realized that her second guess was the right one. After Curt shot the bullet, a man appeared from the side of the doorway and stepped in front of Curt. Paige heard a grunt, then a gurgling sound before Curt collapsed. She stepped back and before the man could move toward her with the bloodied knife, she pulled her gun out and shot it. The recoil surprised her at first, but she didn't stop until she heard the click of the now-empty gun. The man was lying on the floor, past dead and covered in blood. His rifle was still set up next to a window, on top of an upside-down crib. She dropped her gun and bent over Curt. Allison had rolled him onto his back, and Paige gasped. There was a gaping hole in his chest from the knife, and his eyes stared blankly at the ceiling.