Chapter 47 Run, Rabbit
Run, Rabbit
RIPLEY
“Get out there, now!” Adonis roars, doing his best to stir his men out of their dazed stupor “I don’t give a shit who it is, no one comes at us on our own turf! I want their fuckin’ heads!”
There’s a brief moment of confused silence before the chaos erupts, Adonis’s men scattering like leaves— well, more like stumbling, the effects of the drugs and booze finally hitting them.
Some of them head to previously assigned posts, some follow behind him toward the front entrance with their weapons at the ready, and others just panic, dashing here and there without thought to what they’re actually trying to accomplish in their heads.
Wren, in sharp contrast, isn’t wasting any time, grabbing my wrist and yanking me so hard it feels like she might pull my arm right out of its socket.
“Stay down,” she hisses. “It’s an ambush, no telling how long before the bullets start flying.”
“Do you think it’s—”
“I don’t know,” she whispers. “But we don’t really have time to think about it. If it’s them, or a rival gang, or even if it’s the fucking army, it doesn’t matter. We’re sitting ducks if we stay here.”
She’s right. Even if they’re here for us, there’s a damn good chance we get caught in the crossfire, and I’m not about to take a bullet for being a fucking moron.
“Okay, then what the fuck do we do? The only two ways to go are straight toward all that chaos or back down into our cell.”
As if on cue, the sound of an electric snap cuts through the air and the entire room goes pitch black. Someone hit the breakers.
“Come on, it won’t get any better than this!”
I can’t see anything more than a foot in front of my face, but Wren seems confident enough as she leads me by the arm, the two of us darting out from behind the bar and heading straight for a wall.
I try to stay low, my heart in my throat as we follow the wall toward what I have to hope is the right door.
All we need to do is get out of this fucking room; we get out of the crossfire, and we can lay low, just hold out until it’s all over, or maybe make a break for it outside if we get lucky enough.
Or maybe, just maybe, I can pick a gun off a fresh corpse and head back in there to put Adonis down for good. The idea invades my mind like a virus, quickly taking over every other thought. I bet I could do it. Wouldn’t even be that difficult… not in the dark like this. He’d never expect it.
“There, found the fucking door, now come on!”
We rush out of the room as quickly as we can, pushing past the panicked voices of Adonis’s men, but just as we turn the corner my foot catches on something, or I guess it’s someone, lying outside the doorway.
I pause, barely able to see more than a vague outline of a man lying slumped over on the ground.
Maybe one of Adonis’ boys? But why is he—
Gunfire explodes just down one of the side hallways, and Wren yanks hard on my arm.
“Ripley, come on!”
“Wait, wait, we can probably…”
I crouch down and start searching the body. There’s got to be a knife or a gun or something on this fucker. I’d even take a taser at this point. Anything to help us get out of here.
“We don’t have time for this shit,” Wren growls.
Just as she’s about to yank me upright, the lights begin to flicker, weakly at first, followed quickly by the hum of a backup generator. In moments the hallway is illuminated, dimmer than before of course, but at least enough for me to quickly spot the two pistols he has jammed in his waistband.
That, and his cold, dead eyes.
I snatch them up, handing one to Wren before taking off down the hall.
“See? Have I ever steered you wrong?”
Every careful step down the hallway feels like an eternity as the sound of gunfire grows louder and louder, until we finally hit the lobby. I take a quick look around the corner and catch sight of at least three of Adonis’s men, and a slew of others I don’t recognize.
Before I get the chance to put any names to faces, a bullet sails by, just barely missing my arm as it buries itself in the wall behind us. My heart’s pounding, and I can’t stop shaking, completely unsure if it’s fear, adrenaline, anticipation, or all three of them fighting for control of my body.
“The door’s about twenty feet ahead,” Wren hisses. “That was just a stray, wasn’t meant for us. Stay low to the ground, and follow me.”
“Jesus Christ, how many fucking gun fights have you been in?”
She smiles and cocks her pistol.
“Remember when I told you I never killed anyone? Didn’t say anything about severe maimings.”
I almost laugh, but the loud popping and snapping of gunfire thrusts me back into panic mode.
I follow her lead, watching intently as she silently shows me how to take the safety off, and the two of us creep out slowly from behind the desk.
Bullets keep flying, but nobody seems to take any notice of us.
They’re all too busy shooting at each other, and at this point I can’t even tell who’s who.
I guess it doesn’t matter; everyone’s just trying to save their own ass.
The two of us are moving as fast as we can, but there’s only so much you can do when you’re hunched over like a senior citizen, and that’s before the bullets start to fly in our direction.
We’re forced to ditch the plan and head for cover again, my heart pounding, sweat pouring down my face as we hide in a nearby office.
“We’ll wait for another break and run for it. It’s gotta be just a few feet away now.”
But at this point, I’m barely listening, because that’s when I spot Adonis, crouched down and hiding behind the doorframe in another office across the hall. He’s completely still, with a deep crease on his brow, like he’s… listening for something?
Suddenly, the wood just above his head bursts into splinters and he retreats backward, giving me the clearest shot I can possibly imagine, straight through the office window.
“Come on!” Wren hisses. “What the hell are you doing?”
He hasn’t even seen me. Not yet. He’s too busy with whoever else is trying to blow his fucking head off. There’s no way I’m giving up on this.
“He’s right fucking there, Wren,” I mutter, giving my head a quick shake toward the office as I line up my shot.
She goes silent as she catches sight of him, giving me space as I level the gun, and take a deep, soothing breath.
The sound is excruciating, but that’s nothing compared to the feeling in my wrists as the recoil nearly knocks me to the ground.
And I miss.
Because of course I fucking miss, what was I thinking?
“Let’s go!” Wren bellows, snatching my arm and pulling me to my feet as I come to my senses. “He might not have noticed with all the fucking shooting going on, but if we just sit here…”
“I know, I know, I just— fuck, why did I have to miss?!”
My legs feel like they’re made of concrete, and my heart is beating so fast I think it might actually explode this time, but as we make our way past the offices and through the lobby, with all the bullets whizzing by, I just keep pushing. Keep dodging.
And then I can see the door.
Don’t look back, just keep fucking running.
“We’re almost—”
Wren’s body crumples.
I stumble to a halt, spinning around and dropping to my knees.
Her shoulder is a mess of oozing red.
I don’t even know if she was hit anywhere else, but she’s barely moving.
“Wren… Oh shit, Wren. Just hang on I’ll get you out of here—”
“You really thought I’d let you go that easily?”
My skin bristles at the raspy, whiskey-soaked voice that floats through the air behind me. My first instinct is to grab my sister. My second is to blow his fucking head off.
“Well, look at her,” Adonis chuckles. “Little Wren, ain’t she cute?”
With my back to him, I don’t think he even realizes…
“Get the fuck back!” I bark.
I whip around to meet his gaze, raising the pistol as I do.
He looks… shocked, more than anything. His hair’s disheveled, and there’s a deep gash in his face, but the idea of me fighting back is the thing that’s giving him pause, his gun only halfway drawn. The problem is he brought one of his men along with him, and it looks like he wasn’t quite as slow.
“Aww, princess… you think we’re afraid of you? Now be a good girl and put that down.”
Breathe slow.
Smile sweetly.
And twist.
My shot’s not perfect, hitting his goon right below his eye.
I was aiming for the forehead, but it does the job well enough, blood spurting out like a geyser as the man drops to the ground.
Adonis is taken completely by surprise, reaching for his gun before faltering, his face turning pale as his eyes flick to something behind me and back again.
And just like that, he’s sprinting down the hallway, barely giving me the opportunity to empty the rest of the magazine before he’s around the corner, just as another hail of gunfire erupts from behind me.
“Fuck this.”
I whirl around, intent on protecting my sister in one final blaze of glory, but instead, there they are:
Preacher and Raph.
Armed to the teeth.
They rush up to us, Preacher scooping me into his arms while Raph crouches down beside Wren, tearing off part of his t-shirt to help staunch the bleeding.
“You came for us.”
“Of course.”
“I… I can’t tell you how much—”
“I hate to cut this reunion short, but we gotta get the fuck out of here now. Wren’s bleeding out.”
Raphael grunts as he lifts her off the ground.
“How many men are left?” I ask.
“We took care of about 10 outside, plus some distinguished guests that decided to stay behind and fight,” Preacher replies. “We’ve got people cleaning up the rest of them, come on—”
“No.”
My rage has been coiling inside me like a spring, just waiting for the first opportunity to be unleashed, but if I wait any longer this might end up being the last.
“Ripley—”
“I’m not leaving until he’s dead.”
I take a step toward my sister. Still conscious, but barely, her eyelids fluttering as Raphael cradles her in his arms. She looks helpless, just like that little girl I left behind when I was 17.
“I love you,” I whisper.
The brothers look at each other, as if they’re silently deciding on a course of action, before Raph finally gives in, giving the two of us a curt nod before taking off toward the exit.
“There’s another exit, the same one we came through. He probably headed out that way to avoid getting swept up by everyone swarming the front.”
“I can catch up to him.”
I’m filled with adrenaline and pure anger. This isn’t over until I watch the light leave Adonis’s eyes. But thankfully, the greatest hunter I’ve ever known seems to agree.
“He’s got a minute on you, tops. The way I trained you? I’d be offended if you didn’t have him gutted in the next 5.”
Preacher places his knife carefully in my hand, closing my fingers around it as he holds me tight.
“And I’ll be right behind you. Now hunt, little rabbit.”