Page 107 of Burn Like An Angel

“Xan! Please!”

“No, goddammit!”

Bucking wildly to throw him off, I freeze dead when another shot rings out. The resultant howl sets my teeth on edge as hot tears prickle my eyes. All I can picture is the blood pooling around my friend.

“No! Rae!”

She’s screaming in agony… because of me. All I’ve ever done is put her through hell. She’s going to bleed out on the side of a fucking road because I’m too weak to save the people I care about.

“Who should get the next bullet?” Harrison calls out.

I want to face the son of a bitch who hurt my friend head-on. But Harrison’s next threat causes sense to win out.

“Your little blind friend?” he cackles. “Or one of his two guard dogs?”

“Screw that.” Lennox pulls Xander off me. “Let’s fucking move!”

My breath escapes me when I’m plucked from the ground and shoved forward. The paralysing numbness that’s seeped in prevents me from fighting them. I can’t watch Raine or the others get hurt.

“There!” someone screeches. “They’re running, sir!”

Xander snatches my hand. “Go!”

Lennox is half-dragging Raine, the pair hot on our heels. We’re straying deeper into the field, slick grass quickly turning into tall, ripe maize stalks.

As shouts pursue us, the world narrows into rapid snapshots. Crops whipping our arms and faces. Flashing lights carried on the breeze. Pain pulsing from my still-sore thigh, matching the stitch forming in my stomach.

Tears blur my vision as an arctic defeat settles in my heart, turning my entire body to ice. We’re running into literal blackness with a futile hope of escape.

“There they are! Fire!”

Voices overlap more gunshots. Bullets sizzle past us in a fast stream as we all duck low to avoid being hit. Lennox hisses a curse, pulling Raine with him, the pair taking cover amidst swaying crops.

“Stop! We need her alive!”

During a brief pause in firing, we throw ourselves forward. Evil is snapping at our heels. Fleeing for your life is a horrifying pressure like none other. I can almost feel death breathing down my neck.

“Argh!” Raine howls.

Tripping over, he flies onto the dirt ground. Lennox is pulled down with him, the pair landing in a tangle. I tug Xander to a halt, my pounding heart on the verge of spewing from my throat.

Yelping in pain, Raine grabs fistfuls of dirt. “Shit!”

“What is it?” Lennox picks himself up.

“My ankle.” He tries to stand and immediately falls. “Fuck it. Leave me!”

“Never!”

Scooping him up, Lennox throws Raine’s arm around his shoulders to carry him onwards. We’ve lost precious seconds. The pounding footsteps sound closer than ever as light swings above us.

I shriek Lennox’s name when a red beam slices through the crops, marking a target in the dead centre of his chest. Noise is exploding all around us, creating a dizzying effect. I’ve lost track of direction completely.

“Lennox!”

He skids to a halt, looking down at the red glow. “Oh, fuck.”

“Move another muscle and the big guy gets it.” A balaclava-clad figure emerges through the stalks, carrying an assault rifle. “You’re done.”

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