Page 21 of Tempted By Poison

Chapter 9

Poison

Who the hell are you?

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My ears ring, the shardsof pellets flinging in my face. I didn’t realize the man who was holding me unlatched my arm and pulled a gun. The man in front of Anita falls forward. Garbled noises shout out from beside me as my ears go deaf.

Bam, bam, bam.

One of the men who had me confined drops to the floor; then the last one is shot in the head before he can retaliate. The gunshots crack against my ear, and I growl out, pressing my palms to my ear. “We’ve been breached!” I hear through muffles from one of the other men.

“Fuck!” I shout, my ears still ringing from the sound no longer present, but I take the chance to grab for the gun on the floor and take aim at whoever’s standing. I shoot at two of them. Leaving the mystery man who likes to shoot next to people's faces alone. I’ll deal with him after. He quickly knocks off the last three, still aiming at the door without looking at us.

I shake my head to get the pain scorching in my ear to stop. Anita rushes to Mal, cutting through the plastic, then getting to Boone.

There’s no time to figure out what the fuck just transpired. Everything is happening so fast; there is no way to plan the next movements, only that we need to survive. We each grab a gun from a dead man before we have to deal with whoever was called. I glance at Anita quickly, scanning for anything out of place before the door bursts open. At least ten more men barge into the room, guns raised and ready to kill us all.

“Lower your weapons!” the man at front of the group shouts.

“Boss,” Bedford's voice sounds out with distortion. “Duck.” The ringing in my ear subsides slightly, but it peaks at the garbled voice that's saying something I can't comprehend.

Fuck?

“Lower them now!” he demands again.

What the hell is Bedford saying?

“Duck!” It is the clearest thing I hear until my eyes dart to my team. Anita and Mal both run, hiding behind the mini bar and shooting at the door. I aim, shooting at three men, but more seems to tumble in. The men retaliate, shooting back, more glass breaking, bullets flying our way. Boone, me, and the fucker who followed us, fling ourselves behind the desk, hoping to block their bullets.

I look out the window frantically, watching a drone fly overhead. My brows scrunch, bewildered, but there's no time to think as bullets fly in, shattering the glass. I shield myself so the glass doesn’t stab me in the face.

For ten seconds straight, grunting men, the sounds of bullets piercing the air, something like thick glass crashing, liquid pouring around me as more bodies fall, and the hammering of a machine gun fills my surroundings.

Everything finally stops.

“You're welcome,” Bedford chimes before the drone flies away. My ear drum recovers gradually, his voice coming out clearer. “That’s the last of the men. For now. There could be more coming up. You all need to leave now.” His face comes out rushed and perturbed.

“Good work. We’ll see you.”

Boone peeks over the desk, making sure there's no man left standing. He looks at me and nods his head. I return the gesture. My gun still in my hand, I raise. There are bodies of men everywhere, glass shards over the desk and the floor, a destroyed fish tank, and water floods the room.

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