Cole keeps swerving the car, making it impossible to get a shot off. I don’t want to waste bullets if I don’t have to. This is damn near impossible.
“Shoot, Lexi.” Cole jerks the wheel right, bashing our car into the guard’s door. I don’t think I’m even breathing as I take a few more shots. My ears are ringing, and my body’s on overdrive.
The cars are locked together in a mass of spraying bullets. All around me, glass is exploding. I feel it slice across my face in a million little pieces, and I blink furiously as pain jabs my eyes like miniature needles. My hands fiddle for another magazine, and as I slam it in, I focus through the watery film of my eyes and meet the gaze of the guard. His neck’s corded. He’s screaming something at me. But I can’t focus on his mouth. And I can’t hear anything he’s saying to me. All that matters is putting him away.
He raises his gun at the same time. And as we’re staring down one another’s barrels, he flinches, and without hesitation, I squeeze a shot off.
Blood gushes from his face as his body slumps over the wheel. Abruptly, his car banks right and slows down. A cloud of dust rises as it rolls off the road into an embankment. I watch as it rebounds over the sand dunes and smashes to a stop.
Cole brings our beater back onto the road. His chest’s heaving up and down, and he glances over at me.
“You were unbelievable.”
Just as I start to respond, the other vehicle rams us from the back. Crash! Crunching metal and more shots split the air as I slam into the dashboard. I throw my elbows up to block my head. Beside me, I see Cole’s head snap back into his headrest.
“What the hell!” he’s shouting.
I grip the dashboard and try getting up, but my hands are slick with sweat. Cole floors it again, and this time, there’s nothing. My head feels like someone took a mallet to it. I crawl halfway onto my seat, looking in the rear windshield before I realize what’s about to happen. A black Charger has backed off, but suddenly, it zooms onto our bumper.
“Brace yourself for another hit, Lexi.”
It rams us from behind again. A horrific crunching reaches my ears as I slam forward into the dashboard and slither onto the floor. For a moment, I’m disoriented. Warm liquid drips down my face. Blood. All I hear is the groaning, straining engine of our car. I’m wiggling my fingers in front of me, trying to focus, when I hear a thump.
“Lexi, are you all right? Come on, get up. Please.” Cole’s panicked voice rips through my fog.
I grip my head as splitting pain pulses through every nerve ending in my body. I’ve got to pull myself together. Dropping my hands, I move slowly up and onto the seat, looking for my gun. Oh crap, where the hell is it? I panic when the guard leaps onto the trunk of our car, threatening to get inside.
Cole fishtails, trying to throw the guard off, but instead of getting rid of the guard, it shakes me up even more. My blood burns in my veins, and fear builds in my chest. Where is my damn gun? I’m almost on my knees, shaking and frantically searching for my weapon.
Bingo.
I pick it up just as a shadow falls over the backseat.
I lift my eyes.
The guard’s right hand pulls inside the frame of the blown-out back window. I notice his bulging muscles through his sweaty uniform shirt and know we don’t stand a chance if he gets all the way inside. He looks like he could swallow me up. I raise my gun, trying to hold it steady, its metal parts rattling as I point it in his general direction.
But he’s too quick.
He slides in and manages to grab Cole’s neck. Cole grips the wheel with his left hand as he gasps for air. He’s making gurgling noises, and I know I’ve got to act. With his right hand, he feels along the seat for his gun. I’m frozen in place, watching this nightmare unfold. It’s really over this time.
Suddenly, I hear Cole wheeze. “Do some … thing.”
A flash of silver catches my eye, and as the guard pulls out a knife, everything clicks into place.
“Get off him!”
The guard’s maniacal gaze turns to me, but I’m faster this time. I press my gun to his head, and without hesitation, I fire at point-blank range.
Bang.
Everything’s amplified in the car, and I drop my gun to the floor and grab my ears. My head’s ringing. The splatter of blood and brains makes me scream. He’s dead. I must remember to breathe. Everything’s tinged crimson, and my throat’s dry like I’ve gargled with rocks.
Cole grunts and gasps for air. We’re covered in blood and brain bits when he reaches out, cups my face in his hand, and whispers my name. But the body’s strewn across the backseat, and the smell of blood makes me want to vomit.
“There’s more!” Cole says in a hoarse voice. But I barely register his words.
I glance back and catch a flash of another vehicle. Don’t they ever give up? Almost as if in answer to my question, another sleek Charger pulls up beside us. I see the driver’s body tighten when his eyes meet mine. He must know what happened.
The black car drops back, and I brace myself for the worst.