AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He turns his gun on me.
I shoot, hitting him in the chest. He falls back. I begin to move when there’s a crashing sound on the stairs, then Rosa screams, “No!”
I start to turn, but something smashes into the side of my head. I slam to the floor, blinded by pain, gasping for air, and inhaling blood.
I cough, try to roll to my feet, but end up basically rocking. I’ve lost track of my gun. I’ve—
There’s shouting and shots are fired.
Vision blurry, head aching, I crack open one eye and see Armand’s dead body. To the left of him, struggling to reach Armand’s gun, just out of her grasp, is Rosa.
There’s scuffling in the basement and cursing. Blinking my one eye—I can’t seem to open the right one––I gasp in confusion. Sean fights with… Geraldo?
Sean lands a blow that slams into Geraldo’s cheekbone. Geraldo’s head knocks back, blood spurting from the wound.
A smile cracks his face. He licks blood off his lips and tries to circle right. His eyes dart to the floor.
A gun? Did Sean knock it from his hand?
“Gotta go through me, mate,” Sean says.
“No problemo, viejo,” Geraldo says, in a voice as free from hesitation as it is clear. He throws a wild right jab.
Sean easily avoids it, then hits Geraldo with a fierce combination.
Geraldo staggers and slips, then dives for the gun.
He grabs it. Gun in hand, he rolls, aims.
I scream.
Sean grabs Geraldo’s hands, lifts so the gun is facing the ceiling. They began fighting, wrestling over the gun.
They fall with the gun clutched between them. They’re too close together for me to see what’s happening.
I roll to my knees but tumble back down. Struggling, I drag myself back up and crawl, searching for my own weapon.
There.
I edge forward––my vision rocking like a boat on a turbulent sea––and grab it just asbam, bam, bamfills the room.
My ears ring as everything goes silent.
Sean.
He wouldn’t shoot. He would be shot instead. With a cry that’s part wounded animal and part avenging demon, I grab my gun and rock onto my feet.
The smell of gunpowder clings to the room. Sean and Geraldo are so still, a mass of unmoving bodies. There’s a groan.
Not Sean. Sean hasn’t moved.
Arms straining, head pounding, feet braced, I raise my weapon, hurt and terrified and ready to finish this madness.
Geraldo throws Sean off of him.
I moan out loud in pain and fury.
Wait. No.
