Chapter 42
Max
Fuck, I silently swore, shutting my eyes closed as the glass on the windshield cracked from the thuds of each roll. Those bastards pushed our car right over the edge of the hill, and now the car was swirling down to the bottom.
Even with my seatbelt on, the motion swung me around like a rag doll. My head slammed against the door, the steering wheel and the headrest. I was seeing stars long before the car finally came to a shaky stop.
I took the moment to catch my breath. Still high from the adrenaline, I almost didn’t notice the unnatural hang of my left arm.
When they hit the car, the metal bent through on my end and knocked the bone out of its place.
I pretended to ignore it, hoping to stall my brain from comprehending the pain.
“Jayden,” I called. With my good arm, I unstrapped my seat belt. “Jayden!”
I turned my head to peek into the passenger seat. My heart plummeted when I saw Jayden hunched over, face down and too still for my liking.
“Jayden,” I yelled again. Navigating around my bad arm, I pushed the driver’s door open and hopped out. I shouted his name again as I flung the passenger door open.
“Hey,” I said, giving his shoulder a rough shake. “Wake up! Come on, you’ve gotta wake up!”
His body jiggled from the force, but he didn’t move on his own. Not a groan. Not a grunt. Nothing.
“Jayden,” I said, my voice more firm. “Don’t do this to me. Come on.” I slid my hand from his shoulder to his head and gently moved it to the side so I could see his face.
Blood was smeared across his forehead and nose. His eyes were closed, not tight as if by force, but lightly as if he were sleeping.
“No,” I murmured, reluctantly sliding my hand to his neck for his pulse. “You can’t be dead. Please don’t be dead.”
I couldn’t take someone else dying on my watch. Especially not Jayden. Not when I’m supposed to protect him. Not when I should’ve been doing that shit sooner.
A sigh of relief escaped my lips as I felt a soft thudding against my fingertips. It was faint and slow, but at least it was there.
“Hey,” I murmured, reaching over to unbuckle his seatbelt. “We’ve got to go. I’m gonna move you, okay?” I pulled the seatbelt from around him and carefully pulled him out of the car.
He finally groaned from the movement. “Max,” he murmured, his eyes cracking open.
“It’s alright,” I assured him. I put his arm over my shoulder and hooked mine around his torso to hold him up. “I’ve got you.”
He leaned his body on me for balance, his mind likely still spinning from the crash. “Are…are they gone?”
White light flashed above us, catching my eye. I glanced up to see a pair of headlights peeking over the hill, toddling over the edge to check out the damage.
“No,” I said, lowering us to the ground. “But, if we stay still enough for the next few minutes, they might think we’re dead.”
Jayden nodded weakly, leaning his head back against the car. His chest fell up and down in slow, jagged breaths.
“Keep your eyes open,” I scolded as I watched them flutter shut. “You need to stay awake. When I say move, you need to do it. Understand?”
He nodded again.
The headlights cut off, engulfing us in darkness. I couldn’t see three feet in front of me, anymore. Hell, I wouldn’t know Jayden was so close if his arm wasn’t over my shoulder.
I ignored the uneasiness in my stomach from my obscured sight and pulled out my phone. Thankfully, it hadn’t been damaged amidst the crash.
I didn’t want to make too much noise, so I dropped my location with an SOS message to Adrian, Tysir and Wesley. There was no question that one of them would see it. The real question was: would they make it in time?
“Are they going to come for us?” Jayden asked, his voice small.
“Yeah,” I said. “But we can’t wait for them. We’ve got to get you out of here. Are you injured anywhere else besides your head?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Good.” I briefly left Jayden’s side to wedge myself back through the passenger side door. I grabbed my fallen gun from off the floor and dug into the open center dash for another one.
Just as I kneeled back down on the ground, the headlights came back on. More this time.
They shone like a spotlight over the car, searching for any sign of movement.
Jayden pushed himself close to me, and I had half a mind to put my hand over his mouth to make sure he didn’t make a sound. Shoulders trembling, he tried his best to stay still. His eyes were locked on me, waiting for a command or reassurance.
I wished I could give the latter to him. These situations could be unpredictable. I didn’t want to feed him false hope.
We sat frozen for a few moments, holding our breaths and praying they weren’t smart enough to come down here and check for our bodies.
“Shit,” I murmured. I wanted to punch myself in the face for being so stupid. I was so worried about Jayden I’d forgotten to stage the scene.
“What?” Jayden whispered.
“Our seats are empty.”
As if they realized at the same time as I did, a chorus of swears came from high above.
In an instant, a shower of gunshots was pouring from the top of the hill. The bullets shattered the windows and clattered against the metal doors.
I grabbed Jayden’s arm and pulled him up. “Move,” I demanded. “Now!”
He followed me out of the spotlight and into the surrounding darkness.
I couldn’t see three inches ahead of me, but I kept running. Direction didn’t really matter right now. Keeping Jayden safe did.
The roar of an engine echoed through the breeze. I glanced behind us to see the headlights barrelling down the hill. The clicks of doors opening and slamming shut followed.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bullets whizzed through the air, chasing after us.
“Faster!” I yelled at Jayden as I picked up speed.
He kept up with me, staying close on my heels.
I made out a pathway on the right and made a sharp turn to take it. We raced down through the darkness, unsure where it was taking us. Anywhere was better than the way we came.
Jayden flinched as the sound of gunshots followed us.
“It’s alright,” I told him. “Just keep moving!”
Another gunshot rang through the air. This time, Jayden’s gasp accompanied it. Slowing beside me, his free hand went to his side. “Agh,” he grunted.
No, my brain screamed. No. No. No.
Jayden’s pained expression blurred into Jordan’s lifeless one.
For a moment, I felt his blood on my hands. I would not have Jayden’s on them too.
“Go!” I yelled, pushing him in front of him. “Run and don’t stop!” Turning around, I waved my gun, firing in every direction. I heard a few grunts and collisions of bodies against the ground. It wasn’t much, but it had to be enough.
“But, Max,” Jayden said, slowing to stay by my side.
“Goddammit, Jayden, go!”
He grabbed my arm, clutching it like a little kid would their favorite blanket. “No,” he replied firmly. “Not without you.”
I didn’t have time to argue with him, so I let him pull me along. We ran for a few more moments before the gunshots rang out again. I ran close behind Jayden, shielding his body with mine.
We came across a small hill that led down to a small sewer tunnel. We ignored the smell as we descended the hill. The water from the soggy grass and subsequent puddle seeped into our shoes and pants.
Grimacing, I pushed Jayden towards the small opening of the tunnel. “Get in. Stay quiet. I’ll buy you some time.”
The moonlight illuminated his frown as he glanced over his shoulder at me. “What? But we both can fit through here.”
“Guerra,” one of the men’s voices sung through the wind. “Come out, come out wherever you are.”
“Go,” I shoved him inside. “Keep going until you reach the other side. Don’t stop running until you get back to the main road.” I took out my buzzing phone and pushed it into his hands. “Wait until you’re sure they’re off your tail to answer one of the calls. It doesn’t matter who.”
His brows stitched together. “Max.”
“I’m right behind you,” I lied. “I’ll catch up. Don’t worry.”
“You promise?”
“Yes. Now, go.”
Jayden ran his eyes over me one last time, his mouth curled in a mix of fear and disbelief. Finally, he nodded and disappeared in the darkness of the tunnel.
The moment he was out of sight, I ran towards the right of the tunnel. I fired a few shots into the darkness, hoping to put them off of Jayden’s trail.
Slopping footsteps followed me, seemingly disregarding the small tunnel.
I led them in the opposite direction, circling back to my car. At least I hoped that’s where I was going. I still couldn’t see shit.
I hissed as a bullet sliced into the back of my shoulder. I turned around again to send off shots in retaliation.
When I faced the front again, I was met with a harsh fist to the face. The surprise, and force from the impact, sent me to the ground.
I gritted my teeth as the pain in my shoulder roared from the collision with the ground. Looking up, I saw Elias’ smug grin.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” he said, shaking his head. “Such a shame it had to come to this.”
I shot up, ready to slam my gun against this motherfucker’s head.
He put one foot on my chest, pushing me back down, and used the other to kick the gun out of my hands. “All you had to do was send back the fucking kid. But no, you had to play brother of the year.”
I grabbed his leg and yanked it forward.
Elias lost his balance and fell backwards.
Without hesitation, I climbed on top of him and punched him over and over and over again.
“Fuck. You. Fucking. Bastard.” I cursed with every hit.
Hearing his bone crunch underneath my knuckles felt good.
I hoped I broke something. Whatever pain he felt didn’t amount to what he’s put Jayden through.
But, I wasn’t worried. He’d reap everything he sowed soon enough.
Two pairs of arms restrained mine and pulled me off of Elias. They tossed me on the ground like a bag of trash.
My collision with the concrete barely hurt compared to all of the merciless punches and kicks mercilessly that followed.
At least two of them aimed for my ribs, kicking and stomping with such strength that I thought they were trying to break the bones.
The others focused on my head, simultaneously punching my face in and kicking my head back and forth like a goddamn soccer ball.
Within seconds, stars spun behind my eyes, and my vision blurred with black spots.
A yelp of pain escaped my lips as one of the sneakers stomped on my ribs so hard that I felt something crack.
My stomach exploded in a fiery blaze, sending blood up my throat.
In my position on my back, I nearly choked on all of the metal-tasting liquid in my mouth.
I coughed helplessly, trying to catch a breath amidst all the chaos.
At the sound, their hits ceased. Through my blurry vision, I could see the figures move aside, making room for three swirling Elias’s.
He tsked his teeth as he pulled his gun out of his waistband. “Your father will never forgive me for this,” he mused, cocking it. He aimed the gun at my chest. “But, examples must be made. And you, Guerra, will be one of my biggest.”
Bang. Bang. Bang.
The shots echoed through my ears, followed by the deafening noise of silence.
My vision swirled as an agonizing sensation spread around my body like wildfire.
My muscles went numb as ripples of heat licked up every inch of my bones, burning everything in its path.
The fire raging in my bones, once my friend, was now a traitor, devouring me from the inside out its torturous flames.
Gasping, my arms went to my chest, trying to douse the fire with my bare hands.
“Leave the body here,” Elias commanded. “Let them search for this one.”
“And the other boy?” Another man asked, though his voice was miles away.
“We’ll drop him on his mother’s doorstep.”
Rage swirled through me at his words, but my body was paralyzed by pain.
Elias knew it too. His malicious smile stared me down, peeking out through the dark spots consuming my vision, engraving itself as one of the last things I may ever see.