Brooke
Knox’s eyes dart between us, panic finally breaking through whatever confidence he has left.
I tilt my head slightly. “Hey, Knox,” I say calmly. “I’ll give you a ten second head start.”
For a second he just stares at me, like his brain can’t decide if I’m serious.
Then survival takes over.
He bolts, feet pounding down the hallway, shoulders slamming into the wall as he tries to find traction on the tile. The sound of his breathing echoes, ragged and desperate as he runs.
I watch him go.
Then I glance at Seth.
I said ten seconds, I meant two.
My hand slides to my gun.
I draw the gun smoothly and raise it, lining up the sight with the center of Knox’s back as he sprints down the corridor.
“Round one.”
The first shot tears into the middle of his back.
The impact snaps him forward hard. His scream rips out of him as his knees slam into the floor. The towel around his waist twists loose as his body lurches, barely hanging on as he hits the tile. Blood spreads fast across the skin of his back, running down his sides.
His palms scrape uselessly against the floor, leaving smeared red streaks as his body folds in on itself.
He drags himself with one arm, choking and crying, making broken animal sounds while his legs refuse to cooperate. Blood pools beneath his chest and spreads across the hallway in slow, thick waves.
I don’t rush him.
I follow slowly.
He keeps pulling himself forward, nails skidding on tile, shoulder jerking with each weak drag. He doesn’t look back. He already knows I’m there.
I smile anyway.
“Round two.”
The second shot hits lower this time.
His scream collapses into a wet gurgle as his body slams flat. His legs kick once, then twitch. His head lifts off the floor in a confused jerk, like his nervous system is still trying to figure out why nothing works anymore.
I step over his useless legs and come up behind him.
He is still breathing, but barely. Each inhale rattles through blood.
I raise the gun and aim at the back of his head.
“Final round… Game over.”
The shot blows through his skull.
Blood and bone explode forward across the wall. His head snaps violently to the side before his body goes completely still. Brain matter splatters across the tile. The hallway fills with the smell of gunpowder, copper, and burned flesh.
I lower the gun.
