Page 8 of Hell Breaks Loose

“You’re such a drama-king.”

Staggering forward, I feel her gun at my back, her fingers spearing into my hair and yanking back savagely.

“Too rough, big boy?”

“Play your part, I’ll play mine,” I grit out through the sharp flare of pain in my scalp.

I scuffle along, making a lot of noise, cussing, and putting up a wounded fight. Right at the bottom of the ramp, she kicks out my knees from behind, dropping me hard.

“GOT ‘IM, BOSS!” Her junkie voice sounds nothing like her.

I’m almost back to my feet when she kicks me out into the open, sending me stumbling. Catching myself shy of falling, I growl, low and agonizing, putting out as much of a threatening air as I can. Which of course gets a dozen guns trained on me in a heartbeat.

“Good work. What was your name again, honey?” Sly asks, puffing his chest and looming over me.

“Sid,” she mewls, shaking and biting her lip with anticipation.

“You’ve earned yourself an extra dose tonight for being a good girl. Now, walk our soon-to-be friend over here.”

“Fuck you, asshole.” I spit some of the blood running into my mouth at him, and he skips back, cackling.

“Fantastic! I love your spirit. But you’d better get in line before I have to start breaking things.”

“Then why not just get it over with and kill me?” I taunt.

“No, no, no. I want you alive. Even if it’s chock full of lead and infected with gangrene. You’re going to pay for ruining my hand. For killing my guys.”

“All this devastation and all you can think about is revenge?”

“Fuck yes! People gotta pay for the shit they do to others. And word on the street before everything went to shit is that your bitch girlfriend was responsible for bringing that maniac Vice to our town, for ruining everything. So consider this comeuppance for that, too!”

“We both know Vice didn’t blow the dam. That was your bestie, Devonde.”

“Doesn’t matter, now, huh? We’re gonna beat that sick son of a bitch if he ever shows his face in Ghost Town again.”

I lean into the laugh that bursts out of me in response.

“Y–you’ve got to be joking, right? Ghost Town?! That’s the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard!” Blood spatters to the concrete beneath me.

The kick to my chest is expected. Even so, it hurts like hell.

But I need him raving mad. Distracted.

“Better than those bike riding aunts in the Block taking over! Except where are they? They seem to have vanished!”

I can hear him grinning behind that white-streaked mask, gloating.

“Actually, one of ’em is right here.” Alaya straightens, her whole façade falling.

Right as we both launch a knife right into two junkies’ eyes.

We’re both in motion before they can react. I snag the sleeve of one, the throat of another, spinning and off-balancing the one with the gun while I drive the other into the ground with brain-liquifying force.

The first guy’s gun goes off, hitting another unlucky fool.

Then his gun is in my hand, his hand shattered, then his face from Alaya’s flying roundhouse kick.

She’s already got two guns, unloading into a group of five thugs trying to flank us. Most go down in a heap. The others writhe in pain.

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