Page 37 of Wandering in Darkness
“Turn right at this road instead of the one they turned on,” I say.
Grayson doesn’t even bother to ask why or say a damn thing about how risky it is. I know how risky it is. He trusts me… and I’m unsure why that means so much to me.
It’s hard to tell how close the roads are on a GPS screen, but simply driving after them in a slower vehicle is getting usnowhere. We have to take this chance… I only hope it turns out well or I’ll have lost one of my only friends… again.
Quickly, I climb into the back seat and roll down the window.
“Cal, we’re coming up on the narrowest part in about a quarter of a mile,” Grayson says, obviously understanding what I’m trying to do. “We’re going to be extremely far from them and when moving at this speed with the wind the way it is…”
“I won’t fuck up,” I whisper, well aware I only have a handgun to aid me. I aim it at the other SUV while I try to decide whether I want to go for the front tire or the back. If I go for the front and I misjudge, the round could possibly strike the back tire… or it could go through the door of the SUV and strike Antonio in the leg.
No… I have to risk it on the back tire.
I steady the gun, waiting for the moment when we are closest. I don’t have much time to take this shot. If I miss the first time, I’m not even sure if I’ll have a second to make another before the distance between us widens.
“You can do it,” Grayson says. “You’re the best damn shot I know.”
“Don’t try to butter me up.”
“I know you love compliments, and I only compliment someone when they deserve it.”
“Hm.”
“You know that’s true.”
“Are you focused on the road?”
“Have I driven off it yet?” he asks.
“If you could hit fewer bumps in the road, it’d be fantastic.”
“I will call the city right now and see if they can get them to asphalt it.”
“Get them to block traffic on that other road while you’re at it, then.”
“I called and they told me to fuck myself. Weirdly enough, that’s the same thing you do when I call you.”
“Yeah? You like it, though, don’t you? If you didn’t, you wouldn’t keep calling.”
“Maybe I just like hearing your voice.”
“That’s questionable,” I mutter as I take a deep breath, hoping to steady myself to get into the perfect mindset. Because I can’t fuck up. I really can’t fuck up.
“You ready?”
I don’t answer him; I just focus on the shot I have to make. I do my best to judge their speed compared to ours as well as the wind. Every single thing plays a role in this single shot and I can’t get it wrong. I can’t fuck up.
Focus. I can do this. I can do this.
I pull the trigger, begging that the shot is perfect because the instant the trigger has been pulled, the roads shift away from each other and trees fill the spot in between, drawing the vehicles away from each other.
“Did you hit it?”
“I… don’t know,” I admit. “It’s so far away. Without my scope or binoculars, I couldn’t see very well. I think I missed.” The trees blur between us and I know we won’t see the other SUV again until Grayson turns. And that’s only if I didn’t miss. If I did… how far ahead of us could they have gotten?
“You’ve never missed,” he says.
“That’s not always a good thing,” I whisper, knowing very well that there’s at least one time that I wish I’d missed.
