Page 94 of Guarding Glenda

“Perfect place to hide. Nobody’s probably been out here for a long time.” I ran a finger over the arm of a chair, noting the dust. Running my sleeve over the spot, I told her, “We need to stop touching everything.”

“Right. I’ll get the doorknob. We need to make sure to get the front door on the way out.”

Still looking around the room, I said, “I used my sleeve. We should be good.”

“Smart girl.” She reached out of the door and muttered, “Shit.”

I froze as a man I didn’t recognize walked inside; Allie, terrified, walked backwards at the sight of him. He had on a cut, and his dark hair hung loosely to his jaw. He had a huge scar over his face, like someone cut from his temple downwards without sewing him back up. Or maybe it was a burn? He had light piercing eyes and his mouth was curled into a snarl. As Allie turned slightly, he had a gun aimed right at her chest.

His eyes were on her, so I pulled both guns from my pocket. In a flash, I used one to shoot his hand first, with the other getting him right in the ear. Allie flinched at the pops, but relaxed once he crumpled to the ground.

“I can’t believe I froze,” she said.

“He caught you off guard. You did the right thing. But if anyone else is around, they’re onto us now. Grab his gun. We may need it.”

She grabbed the gun that was next to him on the ground and I grabbed his ankles, pulling him further into the room. Poking my head outside slowly, I looked around and listened. Waving her behind me, I darted from the room.

The further through the building we got, the more bodies we had to step over.

“Wait.” I paused. “Why the fuck are we sneaking around?”

Allie tucked that guy's gun into her pants and pulled out the ones that came from her stash. “That’s what I’m talking about. We need to ambush them.”

More shots rang out down one of the hallways and I was about to run in that direction, then heard muffled shouting. “Fucking kill me and be done with it!” It was Leigh.

Allie’s eyes widened. “That’s him.”

Nodding, I motioned in that direction. We came to a closed door and heard him again, but there was another voice. A woman.

Opening the door without another thought, I braced myself, both guns at the ready.

Two men, again wearing Scorpion cuts, stood up and said, “What the fuck?”

But I just marched forward, firing several shots just as they tried to fix their guns on me. They fell to the ground.

The hall was angling down and there was another corner. “There may be more. Look alive.”

We both stopped at the corner. I put the barrel of one of the guns around it, and sure enough, someone fired.

After pulling my hand back, I got down low, hoping to have a few seconds to figure out my next steps.

Allie leaned down and whispered, “I’ll do that up high again. When they shoot, go low.”

Nodding, I readied myself, then said, “Go,” hoping it was low enough for only her to hear.

She put her gun around the corner up high. I looked up at the wall to the right of me to be sure the shots were coming from up high before poking my head around enough to get a look. I had to be sure Leigh wasn’t in the line of fire. Once I confirmed he wasn’t, I took my shot.

The man grunted but didn’t fall.

“Fuck,” I said before I stood and took a better shot, hoping he was distracted enough for me to get it. He held his gut with one hand, and lifted his gun with the other, so I squeezed both triggers. I was a better shot with my dominant hand, but two was better than one.

As he fell, he got a shot off. There was a pinch in my leg, but I kept moving. “C’mon.”

The hall went on an even further incline, but there was a door at the end, and no other people in the hall.

“He’s gotta be in there,” I said.

“Glenda, you’re bleeding.”