He climbed behind the wheel and shut the dooras Melanie and Lucy scrambled into the back seat. Melanie leanedforward and kissed his cheek. The unexpected, tender gesture meltedsome of the tension humming through him.
“Be careful,” she whispered.
He grasped the back of her head and pulledher down. Her lips were warm and pliant against his, and herelished the taste of them. Reluctantly, he pulled away and kissedthe tip of her nose.
“Get down,” he said.
He made sure she was on the floor beforestarting the vehicle. Then, he pulled the visor down, located thecontrol, and pushed the garage door button. His hands twisted onthe steering wheel while the door rolled up. Before it fullysettled into place, he hit the gas.
The tires spun briefly on the cement floorbefore catching, and the vehicle shot forward. Gunfire erupted assoon as they exited the building.
CHAPTER 34
No bullets pepperedthe side of the vehicle, shattered the windows, or pierced hisflesh. It took him a few seconds to realize the gunfire wasn’taimed at them.
He steered around the side of the mainbuilding and around to the front. There, he saw a large group ofguards gathered before the main gate. They were firing on the groupof Savages bearing down on them.
Some of the Savages smoldered from the sun,while others had flames devouring their flesh, but a couple of theothers were fine. Had they spent so much time away from killingthat they were no longer Savage?
If that was true, they were about to resortto their old ways, and Kyle didn’t blame them. Bearing down on thegas, he gunned the vehicle toward the gate. Trying to crash throughanother section of the fence wouldn’t work. The poles were allcloser together in those areas, making the fence more secure. Healso wasn’t sure the space between those poles was wide enough forthe vehicles to pass through.
He couldn’t risk getting caught up on one ofthose poles and being trapped here or having them damage thevehicle too much.
However, that left only the front gate andthe crowd gathered there.
Savages fell beneath the onslaught ofbullets, but the guards weren’t enough to keep them held back, andsome of them broke through. The screams of the guards and theSavages mingled into a hideous cacophony of death until it filledthe air like some demented birdsong.
He could honestly say he was glad to seethose guards go down, and if they didn’t get out of his way, he wasgoing to run them all over. They were only twenty feet away fromthe crowd when someone finally noticed the vehicle barreling towardthem.
Bullets sprayed the side of the SUV, and thepassenger side window shattered. Shouts and more gunfire drownedout the muffled cry from the back seat.
The stench of blood and gunpowder hungheavily on the air as the vehicle rocketed toward the gates. Ashout of warning sounded as the fighters realized he planned toplow them all over.
The Savages and guards scattered to get outof his way, but some weren’t fast enough. A man bounced off thedriver’s side fender and tumbled away from the vehicle. A Savagewasn’t fast enough to get out of the way, and Kyle crashed intoit.
The creature rolled over the top of the hood,smashed off the windshield, and flew over the roof. The impactdented the glass and created a spiderweb in the center, but theglass held firm.
Gripping the steering wheel, Kyle had thespeedometer up to seventy when he hit the gate. The impact jarredhis hands on the wheel and shot up his arms before the airbagbashed into his face and arms. The punching force left him achingand bruised, but he didn’t ease up on the gas.
Metal screeched as it bent and twisted, buthe wasn’t sure if it was the gate giving way or the vehicle as theairbag still blocked his view. He kept his foot to the floor as thetires spun. Taking one hand off the wheel, he tore the airbag outof his way to reveal the gate coming over the top of thewindshield.
Keeping his foot down, he instinctivelyducked when the gate finally gave way and flew over the roof with awrenching screech. The metal dented the back window as it came downthe backside.
The SUV shot onto the road and away from thefacility. It went airborne over a hill before crashing to theground with a jarring impact that sent more fissures across thewindshield.
He glanced at the rearview mirror as theSavages and guards continued to destroy each other. Then, theyvanished from view.
His shoulders slumped, but he didn’t slowdown. He was about to tell them they were free when Melanie’sfrantic words cut him off.
“Lucy? Lucy? Oh no, Lucy! Lucy,wakeup!”
Kyle tore his eyes from the road to glanceinto the back seat. Now that they were away from the facility, herealized the scent of blood hadn’t just been coming from theSavages and guards. A dark, red stain seeped across the floor.
“Shit,” he hissed.
“She’s been shot!” Melanie cried.
Tears burned her throat and clogged her eyesas her friend’s blood coated her hands. Lucy was so pale, and herskin was already cool to the touch.
