“How did I do?” she says with a smug smile.
“You did good.”
“Just good?” she says as her eyes narrow on me slightly.
“Well, it could just be beginners’ luck,” I tease.
“Pfft. I did great, and you know it.”
“Never had any doubt,” I say as I stand up and walk over to her, wrapping my arms around her and placing a kiss on the top of her head. But our moment of quiet and happiness is short-lived as a loud explosion sounds from somewhere outside the building.
“What the fuck was that?” she says, and I have no time to tell her about her mouth because the sound of gunshots rings loud in my ears.
I quickly grab her hand and pull her down the walkway at the side of the range, practically dragging her as I aim to get us to the other end and hidden behind the Perspex and targets, giving us some sort of shield at least.
I hear commotion coming from just outside the room and I duck down, pulling her with me until we are concealed by the half-wall partition.
“Baby, I realise you’ve only just had your first gun lesson but fill the fucker up and get ready to use it,” I whisper as I pull some bullets out of my pocket and hand them to her. She was shown how to load the gun before she started firing, and she quickly springs into action. I do the same with the gun I pull from the waistband of my jeans at the back, and I get ready to shoot any fucker that comes within my line of sight.
“Jesus,” she says as she finishes loading the gun and clicks off the safety, having it ready in her hands and trained in front of her as she crouches on the floor, pointing it up the walkway we just came down.
Voices can be heard just outside, and I put my finger to my lips, indicating for her to be quiet as I tap into my senses and keep my ears alert.
Footsteps sound heavy on the hardwood floor as they enter the room, and if my skills are anything to go by, then I count four sets of feet in this room. Fuck. We’re outnumbered, but I know that Kat and I will fight to the fucking death, so bring it on assholes.
The footsteps come to a halt, and it is like time stops.
“They were here,” a voice says, and I immediately recognise it as Alessandro––Jessica’s brother. Of course this is to do with Jessica, that psycho bitch isn’t going to give up anytime soon. I can only hope that she is here somewhere so I can end this shit once and for all.
“They’re hiding somewhere,” another voice says, but this one I don’t recognise.
“No shit,” Alessandro says sarcastically. “Split up.” And then it goes quiet except for the sounds of feet moving around the room. We’re fucking cornered, and there is no way out. If they find us here, then we’re likely to have a serious problem, so the only thing to do is face them head on and take them out.
I allow myself a brief look at Kat, and I expect to see her hands shaking, but they’re not. She has concentration written all over her face, and her finger is on the trigger of her gun. I place my lips by her ear and whisper as quietly as I can. “We need to take them out, so on three, we’re going to slowly move up and shoot them until they’re all dead.”
I hear her breathing deepen, but I don’t give her time to think as I count down.
“One… Two… Three…”
I move to the half-wall and she does the same, and pushing myself up slowly, I peer over, seeing two of the fuckers prowling along where we were stood minutes ago.
I train my gun on one of them, and Kat takes my lead, training her gun on the other.
“Pull the trigger in three… two… one…” I whisper, and then the sound of our guns firing echoes around the room. I hit my mark, the bullet lodging straight in the guy’s head. He drops to the floor like a sack of shit, and I see Kat’s mark double over. She hit him in the stomach, but I take no chances and I fire a bullet into the top of his head as he’s bent over.
Two down.
“You did great, baby,” I tell her as I look for any other signs of life. A movement to the left of the room catches my eye, and I don’t hesitate as I aim and shoot. It hits and they grunt before disappearing. Just because I can’t see them doesn’t mean they are dead yet, so we still need to be wary.
“Wow,” I hear Kat say on a breath. “Never thought I’d get turned on by seeing you with a gun, but damn…”
I chuckle quietly. “Time for that later. Right now, we gotta kill the last fucker in this room and make sure the one I just took out is actually dead.”
She nods and my eyes keep moving around the room, but there is no sign of anyone else. Maybe there were only three after all?
But no sooner have I thought the words than a bullet comes whizzing past me, missing me by fucking millimetres. Kat gasps and I duck her down, needing her out of the firing line. Another bullet fires as I duck down next to her, and I have to wonder who the fuck taught the other person to shoot, because their aim is shit.
I crawl along the floor on my stomach, needing to get out of this goddamn corner. The shots keep coming, but they’re all trained on the direction I just came from. Good, they clearly have a shit aim and the crappy sense to not realise that I can move along this walkway instead of sitting on my ass in the corner and waiting it out. I quickly look behind me, seeing Kat mimicking my movements, and I thank fuck that she has the common sense to not cry like a girl and freak the hell out. She’s fierce and strong, and I know that she will have my back at every turn. I reach the end and peer round, seeing nothing but the guys we already took out lying on the floor. I slowly move my way along, almost sliding on the wooden flooring. We stay out of sight until we come to the other walkway that goes down the other side of the room. This is it. Do or die time.
