Every moment on the road is agonizing, every second feels like an hour as my head plays out possibilities for what I’m going to return to. It takes my usual business cool to get my head back on track, to prevent all the worries of a man’s infatuation from messing up my driving.
I zip between cars and lanes, take a few sharp turns and finally… I can see it.
There, at the motel, cars and motorcycles are strewn about the parking lot as a few people lie bleeding on the ground, and gunshots ring out in the air.
I keep focused, pop open my door, and get my gun in hand. One breath, then I dive out of the car, plow the vehicle into one of the black sedans and subsequently one of the thugs inside, as well as another standing at the back.
The large crash kicks up enough of a distraction that as I roll along the ground and come to a halt, I have enough time to raise my gun and take out one of the attackers. Another goes down as I rise up then rush behind cover.
It’s never been hard for me to snuff out a life. I’ve dealt with high-stress situations, risky hits before. It’s like water off a duck’s back.
But never have I let myself feel anything during a hit. Not anger, not pain, not fear. Especially not fear.
But now, it grips my heart, knowing Alicia is in there, and that she needs me. She needs me to be me. She needs me to be at my best, but my heart and mind are clouded with something else, all the emotions that I’ve forgotten I even knew how to feel.
It’s going to make me careless if I don’t push them aside. I have to, for her.
Get my head back in the game. Focus. Concentrate.
She needs me, damn it, and I’m not going to let my girl down.
I rise up and fire a couple shots in the direction of the shooters up on the higher level before making a dash to the stairs. They weren’t shots intended to hit, just distract, as I made my way in. The cover fire from the gang members that are here to help also aids me as I move, avoiding taking any bullets myself.
The stairs are tricky, because I know some of these guys are waiting for me at the top, ready to blow my head off the moment it peeks above the railing as I climb the stairs. So I have to do something else. I can’t wait.
I could go through one of the rooms here, come out the other side, climb through the window and up onto the next level, taking them by surprise. But that would take a whole lot of time I don’t have if I’m going to get to Alicia.
A quick study of my surroundings shows I don’t have many options, but I take what I have.
There’s a pole directly above me, pointing out horizontally. Looks like it once sported signage for the motel, but the sign itself must’ve been removed by vandals long ago. It’s metal, but there’s no way of telling if it could support my weight.
All the same I jump for it with one hand, grasp hold of that pole and dangle there. Exposed. It’s a foolish move, and I only hope that their surprise is enough to save my ass. I can support myself with one arm easily enough, I’ve been keeping myself in peak condition for so long. The real weakness is in the sign pole, and on whether I can lift my gun up and take aim fast enough.
I see the two thugs immediately through the railing above. One doesn’t see me right away, but the other in back does.
I’m not motionless, so it takes a moment longer than usual to raise my gun and aim it right. In that time the pale dirt bag gets a chance to whip his own gun toward me. He fires first, but my bullet’s just a fraction of a second behind.
Fate’s sealed either way.
I’m hit, and I feel the bullet tear through my arm, the only thing holding me up. It’s like molten fire, but I don’t lose my grasp, it’s iron solid. I know it’s a grazing hit. I won’t let it take me down, not with her on the line.
The other guy, however? With a bullet straight through his left eye, he goes down and I’m able to take my second shot. Adrenaline courses through me, and I know I’ll get the girl. This is what I was born to do, what I was meant to do.
I’m a killing machine, and now that my head’s in the game, not even a bullet can take me back out of it.
I fire at the other guy as I let myself drop to the ground. He fires too, but he aims where I was, not where I am now. A moment later, I hit the pavement as I hear something move above. I can’t tell what happened to the guy, but I trust in my aim and sprint up the stairs on foot. Blood splatters from my arm onto the steps and as I turn, gun ready, I see the two men are both down. My aim was true.
As I rush toward Alicia’s broken door and see the shattered glass, my heart ices over. I leap through the glass and prepare myself to take on her assailants, but when I see a woman’s body on the floor and blood, my own vision turns red.