“EMBER!”
I can’t decide if I’ve blacked out or lost the ability to understand what pain is supposed to feel like. Confusion lays me out, forming a numb haze until sensation sluggishly returns. With it, Hyland’s shouting finally registers.
“Em! Ember!”
My whole body feels like one massive bruise, battered pain receptors wailing louder than I can comprehend. It’s like torture to roll onto my side, giving me a horrifically perfect view of the van speeding past.
Not towards me.
It’s headed straight for Hyland’s position.
“Hy,” I wheeze.
Not even the round of gunfire he unloads into the quickly shattering front window halts the van’s advance. Glass flies, and exhaust fumes billow as reality slows to a petrifying crawl.
“Hyland!”
He tries to jump aside, but the collision hits faster than Hyland can react. I scream like a banshee when the van’s bonnet smashes into him. He flies over the windscreen, toppling down the other side of the vehicle and out of sight.
“HY!”
Metal twists and screeches where it crashes into the abandoned SUV, warping the beast into a tangle of battered machinery. Thick, black smoke spurts from the wreckage, an ear-shattering bang accompanying the destruction.
Flames lick at the misshapen wreckage, hiding Hyland from sight. I bite down hard on the inside of my cheek to hold in a cry, commanding my body to obey. It takes great effort to draw myself back up.
My feet can barely hold my body weight, vibrating violently as I stagger towards the car wreck. I’ve stumbled a few feet when a solid weight smashes into me, the freight truck of muscle and bone sending me straight back down to the ground.
“Should’ve taken it,” the weight crushing into me spits.
“Get the fuck off!”
“You’re coming with me, 768. I want that bounty.”
Mr Friendly himself straddles my waist, attempting to pin my wrists above my head so he can subjugate me. I buck and struggle, pushing against his attack. He’s toned but nowhere near as strong as he seems to think he is.
Wrestling on the hard ground, we both vie to control the other. He wrenches my arms upwards as I use my knee to slam him in the back, attempting to shake the asshole off.
We’re a seething, grappling tangle in the midst of billowing black smoke. Neither comes out on top. It’s an even match. While he’s taller, our muscle tone matches, preventing him from overpowering me.
“Fucking bitch!” His spittle coats my heated face.
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” I shriek back. “Let me go, and I’ll think about sparing your pathetic, cowardly life.”
As he crumples to one side, groaning in pain from my hard kicking, I take the chance to roll us over. Mr Friendly hits the ground, allowing me the chance to boot him right between the legs. Seeing his eyes bulge is a sweet reward.
The victory doesn’t slow me down. My straining muscles lament but comply, letting me manhandle myself on top of him this time. I wrap my hands around his throat then start wringing.
“Who do you work for? Where is Gael?”
His skin mottles and grows even more purple with each second that I control his oxygen. When I briefly release his throat to bark the same questions, there’s no answer so I resume choking the bastard out.
“How did you find me?” I yell in his face.
Still he refuses to cave. Not even when I grant him a breath. My fingers clench and tighten, contorting his windpipe with nothing but barbaric determination. It doesn’t take long for Mr Friendly to pass the fuck out.
Climbing off his limp form awakens the injuries my fall has earned me, but I stuff it all down while staggering over to the car wreck. Behind the wheel of the transit van, a male driver is slumped over, unconscious or dead. I don’t care to check.
Flames lick at the twisted vehicles, the acrid smoke charring my lungs. I cough and splutter, eyes streaming liquid acid. The route around the wreckage blurs, making it nearly impossible to search.
