Chapter 30
I watched the bullet hit the back of the bigger man's head and he dropped immediately.
I’d just killed a man .
Nausea rolled through me, even as my arms straightened again, aiming quickly for the other man who was yelling and already turned toward me, infuriated.
“Fuck,” I whispered to myself, eyes filling with tears, as I tried to blink them away. I fired again. Too soon. Not taking the time to aim properly.
“Crazy, psycho, bitch!” the man’s voice yelled. “Fucking killed Chuck!”
Blinking I saw him coming at me still and I knew I’d missed. I took a step back too late as his hand circled my wrist, still holding the other handgun. I wasn’t going out this way.
Reaching behind me, I drew the second gun, thankful Paul had given me lessons in shooting with either hand. I was awkward with my left and quite frankly sucked at aiming. But I had the advantage of surprise in my corner.
Drawing the other gun around, I aimed it at the man in front of me, even if it felt like he was breaking the wrist of my right hand, pointed the gun under his chin, and fired.
Everything exploded around me as he fell. I fell. Blood and other sorts of matter burst all over me. I gagged trying to keep hold of my bearings. I hit the ground on my hands and knees, staring into his wide, unseeing eyes, and felt tears dripping off my face.
Climbing to my feet, I picked up the gun, and sprinted towards the front door, sobbing.
I couldn’t hold back my emotions anymore. I had just taken two men’s lives. Pushing the door open I stumbled into the darkened house and hit a stack of cans, crying out as they fell.
Trevor's voice was screaming my name from the top of the stairs, but I couldn’t answer. I was near hyperventilating. The smell of gasoline was strong and I was covered in something wet. I blinked looking at what I’d knocked over.
Gasoline canisters had been stacked right inside the front door and the fluid was creeping across the floor as I made my way to the basement door where Trevor was cursing. My hair was hanging in my face, my pony tail long gone and I’d lost my glasses after killing the second man. Everything was blurry and I was unsteady on my feet.
Unlocking the door, I swung it open, staring into Trevor’s furious eyes. He was ready to fight.
“Monica?” he looked me up and down. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.” he was up the last stair, his hands all over me searching for injuries. I probably looked like hell, covered in blood and gore.
I heard sirens in the distance, a car door slamming outside.
“WHAT THE FUCK?” a male voice screamed from outside.
Trevor tensed, grabbing my wrist, taking the gun from me.
“Richard,” he whispered, pulling me deeper into the house.
My heart was pounding, my body begging for it to be over, to finally be able to shut down.
“Can you move?” Trevor whispered, backing me into the kitchen, taking me in. “Jesus, did you get shot?” his voice was breaking, his hands searching me again, even as we heard footsteps coming through the front door.
“No, it cuts from the windows.” I whispered back, shakily.
“I heard gunshots.”
“I killed them.”
Trevor’s green eyes shot up to mine, shocked.
“WHERE ARE YOU, CONNOR?” Richard’s voice was moving through the house, coming towards the back, to the kitchen where we were located.
Moving towards a hallway at the back, Trevor shoved me through.
“I think this wraps back around to the living room.” he whispered. “There were two entrances. We can come out from behind him. Get through the front door.”
I nodded, trying to stop crying, trying to calm myself again.
Trevor squeezed my hand.
“It's almost over, just be brave a little longer for me, yeah?” he spoke softly, gently.
I tripped over the flooring going back into the living room. The door was feet from me. Escape. The sirens were louder.
“Not so fast, you dumb bitch.” Richard’s voice came from my left, and Trevor shot, firing the gun as he knocked me to the side out of the way.
Richard cursed and tackled him. I couldn’t even tell if he’d been hit, and I was screaming at Trevor to shoot again. Standing shakily, I moved to the side, panicked, as Trevor got to his feet, Richard following, slower.
Trevor reared back, punching him in the jaw as hard as he could, and the floor where Richard fell gave under him causing some flooring to fall and shift.
“TREVOR!” I screamed, terrified the entire room would cave into the basement.
Trevor stepped back towards me and Richard lunged, grabbing his ankle. I scrambled to pick the gun up from where it had fallen and shot one more time, hitting Richard in the hand as he screamed and rolled to his back.
I watched in slow-motion as the floor gave way under him and he disappeared through it, into the basement, screaming for Trevor as he jumped, lunging to avoid going in after him.
Flames suddenly ignited, trailing all along the floor where the gasoline had spilled and spread. It was still running from the cans that had toppled over, some still stacked and full.
“Fuck!” Trevor said, bracing his hands on my waist. I cried out from the cuts, finally feeling some of the pain from crawling through the window, the gasoline that had poured on me stinging them.
“Go,” Trevor ordered. “We need to get the fuck out of here. This place is going to blow.”
Scrambling with him right after me, we cleared the front door as the rest of the floor caved in. I froze, staring at the gaping hole, as flames shot higher from the gasoline canisters. Trevor tackled me off the front porch and onto the lawn as everything went black.
Right before losing consciousness, all I saw were orange flames engulfing the entire Paxton farmhouse.