Page 14 of Kings & Carnage

Relief swelled in my chest when I saw the sign for the first floor. I flung the door open and held it for Oscar and Rock. Neo burst through the doorway a second later, then stopped running.

"Get her to the parking lot," he said to Oscar and Rock. "Find a car."

It hit me that he was telling us he wasn't coming. That he was going to stay behind.

I clutched his arm. "No! We're not leaving you!"

"You better not fucking leave me," he said, kissing me hard and fast on the lips. He shoved me toward Oscar and Rock and held on to the levered handle of the door leading to the stairwell. "I'm just going to slow these guys down long enough for you to find a car. I'll be right behind you."

I wanted to argue. There was safety in numbers and I had never felt safer than with the Kings. Even more than that, I didn't want to leave Neo to face Roberto's men alone.

But arguing would be a too stupid to live moment.

There was no time.

“If you don’t come I’ll kill you myself,” I said, turning to run.

“Have that fucking car ready when I get out there,” Neo shouted at us.

I heard the men banging on the door as we ran through the hospital lobby, then the sound of more gunshots coming from the stairwell as Roberto’s men tried to shoot their way out.

The people milling in the lobby screamed — some ducking and hiding, others running — as the gunfire rang through the hospital. The scene devolved into chaos in less than five seconds, security hurrying toward the sound, people running every which way in a panic, which had probably been Neo’s idea.

Once he let go of the door, he could run with the crowd. It would be harder to identify him.

Harder to shoot him.

He might make it to the car in time.

“Wait,” I said, breathless as we pushed through the doors into a clear frigid night, “how are we going to get a car?”

“Don’t worry about that, tiger,” Oscar said, pulling me toward the parking lot, seemingly oblivious to the cold pavement under his bare feet. “Just help us find an older car. Something that needs a key.”

I glanced back as we raced past the first few rows of cars. People were streaming from the hospital with panicked expressions on their faces. Some of them put distance between themselves and the building and then turned to watch the commotion. Others headed straight for the parking lot, clearly wanting to GTFO.

“We need to hurry,” I said.

I didn’t think anyone was going to take the time to file a police report if they caught us stealing a car, but I didn’t want the owner of our eventual ride to catch us red-handed either.

“There,” Rock said, pointing at a sea-green sedan parked under a tree.

Upside: it was parked under a tree in the shadows, away from the streetlamps that illuminated the parking lot.

Downside: it looked like it had been driven off the factory line before my mother was born.

Also, it was huge. Not exactly the fast getaway car we needed.

“This will work,” Oscar said. I noticed he was limping and bit my tongue. They’d been right to insist we leave the hospital when we did. If they hadn’t, we might all be dead, and that eventuality still wasn’t off the table.

Oscar’s limp was something to worry about later.

He checked the driver’s side door, found it unlocked, and breathed a sigh of relief. “Fuck yes. Get in.”

Rock eased into the backseat while I climbed into the front. Neo would need a quick getaway — Rock could open the door for him while Oscar drove.

The car was huge, so big I didn’t even have to pull my knees in while he dug around in the glove box emblazoned with the wordImpala.

“This baby has a V8,” Oscar said. “Not a fast pickup, but a lot of power. We could have done worse.” He rummaged for a few more seconds until he found a screwdriver. “Yes!”

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