Page 108 of The Circle

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

I can’t see shit.

One eye is covered by a veil of blood and the other is very probably gone for good. And I’m starting to question if my premonition of the future was a true look into the unknown or if it was just some kind of fantasy. Wishful thinking.

And then another, more terrifying thought occurs to me: In my vision, dream, or whatever you want to call it, I only saw a future with me and Christine. Alec wasn’t there. What I imagined didn’t appear to have him in it. At least not that I recall.

It doesn’t ultimately matter because what’s happening here and now is the only thing that’s real, but it would be cool if I had some kind of assurance that what’s happening here and now won’t be the end.

Fuck it.

Only one way to turn a dream into reality. And that’s to fucking annihilate everyone and everything who stands between you and the tomorrow you want to see.

Or, in my case I guess, half-see.

Liam points ahead and says, “They were just around here.”

But when we turn the corner to “just around here,” we are not met by a precocious two-year-old and her uncle but by a hail of gunfire.

Two more uniformed guard dudes stand in the middle of the hallway, firing on us the second we poke our heads out. One of the bullets wings Liam, who is in the lead. He falls back into me and Alec and I retreat quickly, pulling Liam with us.

One might think that after realizing they had hit one of their own, they would stop firing so recklessly. One would be wrong.

Liam screams, in my opinion, entirely too loudly for having only been popped in the shoulder. He’s probably more scared than hurt, but I need him to pipe down.

“Shut up, bro!” I yell at him as I wipe blood from my one good eye and hazard a peek to see if I can spy more than just the two.

More gunfire. And just behind the two shooters, Zander releases the third guy he was hauling with him and ducks through a door. I pull my head back. “How many more of you fucks are there? Where does that door lead?”

“What?”

“Liam, focus up, dude! How many more guys? Total?”

“I don’t know. I think that’s it. There were ten of us? How many—?”

I do the quick math. I saw ten before, that much is true. We dropped six back with Christine, Liam and the one Zander ran off with make eight, two more… ten. If Liam’s right and/or not lying, that means that if we can dispatch these remaining two, nothing stands between us and getting Andra back. Except Zander. And whatever other surprises I’m not accounting for. But whatever. Gotta start somewhere.

“And where does the door lead?”

“Which door?” Liam whines.

“The door. The fucking—I just saw Zander run through a door down there. You say you know this place. Where does it lead, man?”

“I’m not… I think that’s where he’s holding the little girl and her uncle.”

He thinks. He doesn’t know. Or, at least, he’s not saying. I’m so annoyed right now.

“I’ll go,” I tell Alec.

“What, bru?”

“I’m going. I’ll handle these two. Sit tight for a sec.”

I start to stand so I can swing around the corner and open fire on the (we hope) only remaining two gunmen, but as I’m rising to my feet…

“No, man. I’ll do it.” Alec pulls me back.

“No. I got it.” I start to stand again.