Page 30 of Beast: Part Two

“We can go through the notebooks back home. And Lucien will have to check the drive,” he says placing everything back in the box and closing it up. He tucks it under his arm and we all head for the exit.

“Time to turn those earpieces on,” Priest directs us as we get on the elevator.

Pulling out my earpiece and turning it on, I place it back in my ear. “Are you there, Lucien?”

“Yeah, I’m here,” he replies.

“Are we still clear?” I ask Lucien as we step off the elevator.

“Yeah. Nothing’s been reported yet,” Lucien replies.

We head for the minivan. Maksim takes over the driving this time. Priest is in the front passenger seat. Hawk and I are on the second row with Many in the back.

We pull away from the curb and into traffic.

“Zel and I are following your route on the traffic cam,” Lucien reports. “Did you guys find anything?”

“The place was trashed when we got there. But Priest found a lock box underneath the floorboards that contains some notebooks and a hard drive,” Hawk explains.

Maksim fights his way through traffic for ten minutes. When we pull up to a red light, Zel’s voice comes over the earpiece.

“At this light, turn left,” he directs.

We all look confused. In order to get home, we need to keep straight.

“You see something?” Priest asks. I immediately scan the street up ahead.

“White work van five cars back. It pulled out the same time you guys left the apartment. It had been sitting there since you pulled in, but no one ever got in or out.”

Turning in my seat, I look out the back window trying to get a view of the suspected van. Unfortunately, I have no luck.

Maksim makes the left turn. We wait to see if the van does the same.

“Yeah, you guys got a tail,” Lucien says.

“Can you tell who's driving?” Priest asks.

“No. I don’t have a clear view.”

Maksim speeds up. The work van does the same before speeding off around us. For a moment we thought that maybe we were paranoid for nothing. That is until the van turns and stops in the middle of the road. The side door opens, and someone points a huge gun at us.

“Fuck,” Maksim shouts. Right as he turns the car at the last minute. Bullets start to ping against the back half of the minivan.

“Get down, Many,” I shout.

Thankfully he was able to get to the ground before being hit. The work van follows behind us. Maksim does his best to lose it in traffic. He plows through red lights and flows in and out of traffic only clipping a few cars as he goes.

“Take the next right,” Zel says through the earpiece.

Maksim follows his lead. Bullets fly through the back window. Looking over my shoulder I notice a familiar face hanging out the passenger window firing an AR- rifle.

“Disciples,” I say.

“I hate those fucking guys,” Hawk says ducking down in his seat.

“I can take the shot,” Priest says glancing out the side mirror. “I need a better angle.”

Maksim speeds around a mail truck blaring his horn. “Get out of the way,” he shouts as bullets continue to ping off the back of the van.