Cole
We could see our targets now. We spotted them by the muzzle flare as they shot back at us. From what I could tell, there were two of them—Fang and one of his goons. They’d ducked behind the car, using it as cover while they shot at us at intervals.
“Alright, guys,” I shouted at my men over the gunfire, “surround the car. We’ve got to take them down. Leave Fang for me if you can. Someone find Sasha. She may still be in the car.”
I didn’t check to see if anyone nodded, flipped me off, or otherwise acknowledged what I was saying to them. I started walking to the car with my gun in front of me. I saw Fang duck around the front of it, and I didn’t care what else happened, I was going to shoot his ass. Before everything was said and done, I was going to eliminate him. The other guys were more than able to handle the other shooter and get Sasha to safety.
We’d started shooting again when we saw a phone screen light up. The night had been silent and almost pitch black for some time after Fang’s car had come to rest on the side of the highway, but we heard voices from inside the car.
Then, there had been a light from within the car, as one of them had probably turned on a flashlight or a light app on their phones. We stood back even then and waited. We wanted to see how many people, if any, came out of the car.
Only two emerged, which meant that we’d definitely taken out the other goon. It also meant that Sasha was likely still inside the car. I’d still told the guys to hold their fire and stand down while we watched what the two men were up to.
One of them tapped his phone screen, and I could see Fang’s face illuminated perfectly from underneath. I could see his dark eyes staring down the phone, and I watched his mouth move as he was saying something to the man standing next to him.
I cocked my gun and waited. I couldn’t tell what they were doing. It looked like Fang was about to call for backup or for someone to come pick him up, but I wasn’t about to allow that. I took a shot, but he quickly moved out of the way.
The man had quick reflexes. Watching him in action, it was easy to see why so many people on the street compared him to a snake. The way he moved seemed almost unnatural, as did his dark eyes. They were quite possibly contacts, but I didn’t know anyone who’d spent enough time around him to know. I certainly wasn’t going to ask Sasha about it.
That was when everyone else began unloading on the two men. They fired a few rounds back at us, but for the most part we had them cornered behind the car. We advanced on the car. The gunfire calmed as Fang and his goon seemed to be regrouping and my guys were circling the car. They were so cornered and so screwed. I was surprised they hadn’t given up yet. It occurred to me as well that they could have just texted someone to come for backup, and that would have been a good reason for them to hold out as long as they could.
That wasn’t going to fly with me. We were going to end this now.
“Fang,” I called out. “I know it was you behind the thefts, man. Your girl told me everything.”
I stood with my back to the underside of the front end of the car. I could still feel the heat from the engine. It hadn’t cooled off completely yet, reminding me of how quickly everything was happening even though time felt like it was almost standing still for us. The night certainly felt still enough. The gunshots cracked through the darkness, echoing in the woods along the side of the road.
The interstate was dead, adding to the timeless feeling of the scene in front of us. The moon didn’t even seem to be moving in the sky above. Everything was still. Even we became still as we stood and waited for someone to make the first move.
I had seen Fang duck around the front of the car, so I crept slowly around, expecting to find him, but he wasn’t there.
I heard him shouting at the other gunman, and I stood back to watch what they were doing. I heard a gunshot from inside the car, alerting us to Sasha’s presence. Then, I saw the other gunman scrambling atop the car before rolling off.
“Fang!” My voice rang out in the night like a gunshot.
In the near perfect darkness, I saw his face snap in my direction. I saw those dark eyes focus on me. He raised his gun, but he didn’t shoot. Instead, he ducked around behind the car, leaving his man on the ground holding his arm. I couldn’t tell if he’d been shot or if something else had happened to him.
“Dammit,” I cursed under my breath. “Where the hell is everybody?”
It suddenly felt like the world had come down to just myself and Fang. Everyone else, everything else, had faded into the darkness of the night surrounding us.