Wanted

by Ho, Jo

  “On three… ready?” Sully asked. We all nodded. “One… two… three!” On three, Gideon ripped open the door and the three of us bolted outside.

  CHAPTER 105

  CHASE

  Bright sunlight blinded me for a moment, my eyes having gotten used to the dimness of the barn. I must’ve stopped, as someone kicked my ankle.

  “Get moving!” came Gideon’s voice.

  I snapped to it, sprinting into the house as fast as my legs would carry me. Sully and Gideon came next, carrying Bandit between them. Zeb took up the rear, his wheelchair slow on the dirt path. I watched, gesturing crazily. “Hurry up Zeb!”

  He was moving as fast as he could when a wheel got caught in the gap between planks. Zeb tugged on the wheels, but the chair wasn’t shifting.

  Sully didn’t think twice. He raced out into the open, reaching Zeb in seconds. Grabbing the handlebars, he shoved hard until the wheel came free. Pushing Zeb, Sully was running the last few feet to safety when shots blasted through the air. Sully hesitated only a second as the flowerbeds around him exploded, before charging into the house with Zeb.

  I slammed the door shut and bolted it, then turned to find Sully sliding down the wall to the ground. His face was pale. A dark red stain blossomed on his pant leg.

  “You’ve been shot!” I gasped.

  Zeb spun around, shocked, not having realized Sully had been hit. Sully examined his own leg, grimacing through the pain.

  “I’ll be fine, there’s an exit wound,” he said. His voice was relieved.

  Gideon raced into the next room. I was so shell-shocked by Sully’s injury, I didn’t react. All I could think was that he was running away, and I couldn’t really blame him. But seconds later, Gideon returned, the two handguns tucked into his belt and a shotgun in either hand. He gave me the semi, then handed a shotgun to Zeb. Seeing the gun in my shaking hands and my less than confidence stance, Sully shook his head in protest.

  “She can’t use that.”

  “She can, and she will,” came Gideon’s terse response.

  Gideon raced to a window and drew the curtains across it. Zeb wheeled to the remaining window and did the same. I grabbed a tea towel from the counter and pressed it against Sully’s leg.

  “Press tight,” I said. Sully grunted, but did as instructed. Sweat beaded across his brow. It was horrible to think how much pain he must be in. By now, Bandit was on his feet. He must have gotten the lay of the land, as he moved over to Sully and kept licking the hand that wasn’t pressed against his leg.

  Zeb peeked out from his window, immediately ducking back. “Here they come.”

  I knocked a table over and shoved it in front of us. It wasn’t much, but it would give some cover so we weren’t just sitting ducks.

  And suddenly the door blew inward, splintering into a thousand pieces.

  Gideon and Zeb opened fire.

  CHAPTER 106

  CHASE

  Shots rang out, ringing my ears.

  I was expecting the horde of men to swarm inside, but there was only a robotic mechanism with a metal battering ram for a face. It had smashed the door with enough force that the entire thing imploded. Now it retreated as the black-clad men advanced.

  Bandit whined, terrified, as Gideon and Zeb let off more shots. Bullets rocketed towards them but ricocheted harmlessly off their vests. Even Gideon, who I knew had great aim, wasn’t making much of a dent against them. Having played enough The Last of Us at a friend’s house, I screamed at them from behind the table.

  “Shoot their legs!” They adjusted their aim and let off another round. Suddenly, screams filled the air as the men started falling, one by one. Reacting on pure instinct, they started firing back. Zeb wheeled out of the way as Gideon dived behind the fridge, opening it so the door could give more cover. Outside, the guy in charge yelled at his men.

  “Cease fire! Cease fire!” But they were trained killers and our guys had shot at them. No longer holding back, they let rip with the full force of their arsenal.

  I watched as Gideon and Zeb fought back. Sully was still bleeding, his color fading with every second. And I realized something then. These men, they would all die fighting for us. For Bandit and I. Unless I did something.

  And just like that the answer came to me.

  I leaned in close to Sully and whispered in his ear. “I’m so sorry. I’ll make this right.”

  He looked at me, confused.

  “What’re you talking about?”

  I didn’t answer, instead placing a hand on Bandit’s neck. “Can you run?” I asked him.

  Bandit’s woof was drowned out by the gunfire, but I saw his jaws moving.

  “Come. Heel boy!”

  And with that, we took off through the house as I tried to drown out Sully, calling out after me.

  CHAPTER 107

  CHASE

  We ran, ducking and weaving beneath the windows, keeping out of sight. Bandit was still a little wobbly on his feet, but he was doing better than I was. I had a plan. It filled me with terror, but it was the only one I could think of that would stop the others from getting killed, and it would give Bandit the best chance of survival.

  We ran to the far side of the house, but even here, there were a few men blocking our escape. I felt the world spin as my breath caught in my throat and panic started setting in. How would we get out of here without them seeing? Suddenly, Bandit barked. And just like the first time we met, he ran off a few feet in front, stopped, then turned back to look at me.

  So of course I followed.

  Bandit ran through the ranch, towards the west wing. Reaching a door, he jumped up, grasping the handle with his teeth, turning his head until I heard an audible click and the door opened to reveal a flight of steps leading into darkness.

  “A basement! How did you know this was here?!” I asked.

  Bandit woofed then pawed his nose. I got his drift immediately. He had smelled it. Didn’t I say what amazing senses they had?

  With Bandit leading the way, I followed him down the stairs. Light shone through several small egress windows. I zeroed in on one in particular, where a cabinet and chairs were already stacked in front of it.

  “Over here,” I called to Bandit. We hurried to the window, where I scrambled onto the chair, then the cabinet. I had to keep my head down so I wouldn’t hit it on the ceiling. With Bandit watching from the ground, I quietly opened the window. At a gesture from me, Bandit climbed up beside me and we both crawled outside. A wall of ground greeted us, but it was only a few feet high, and there were staggered inset foot holdings in place — I’m guessing this was in case of fire. I climbed the steps quickly and took a 180-degree review of our surroundings where, as I’d hoped, it was clear. All the action was taking place by the kitchen. They weren’t paying attention to this section. Bandit ran up beside me, and together we stole across the grass, thankful it hadn’t been cut in quite some time. The helicopter sat ahead of us. Aside from the pilot, there was only one other man guarding it. I gestured for Bandit to be quiet now. We would only get one chance at this.

  Hunkered down, we crept towards the guard. When I got close to him, I didn’t stop to think about what I was doing, just swung the gun on the guard’s head, but a branch snapped underfoot, and he spun around to face me at the last moment. Startled, I flinched and only managed to hit him lightly. It wasn’t enough to knock him out as I was intending, but he lost his balance, tumbling backwards where he smacked his head hard against the helicopter. He dropped to the ground, out cold with barely a sound.

  Well, that works too, I thought to myself.

  Creeping to the back of the helicopter, I opened the door and had the gun touching the pilot’s head before he even saw me.

  “Don’t do anything stupid. The gun’s loaded.” I hoped I sounded confident because I sure as heck didn’t feel it.

  “Don’t shoot. I’m just a hired pilot. I’m not a soldier,” came his fast reply.

  “So don’t do anything stup
id, and I won’t have to.” That was actually a line from a movie I saw once, and if we ever get out of this alive, remind me to thank the screenwriter.

  I checked out the interior of the aircraft, but the weapons were stored on the passenger side. The pilot had nothing on him; he was unarmed. Hopefully he was telling the truth, but I wasn’t taking any chances. Bandit and I climbed on board. I kept the gun trained on him the entire time.

  “What do you want?” he asked.

  I gestured at the controls with the gun. “What you’re paid to do. Start flying.”

  “Where to?” he said.

  I took a deep breath before answering.

  “Platinum Industries. We’re going to pay your boss a visit.”

  CHAPTER 108

  SULLY

  It was a warzone.

  Shots rang out in every direction. I was painfully aware that I was injured, that Chase had probably gone off to do something stupid, and that we would all die if I didn’t think of something quick. We were fast running out of ammo and options.

  Gideon popped out from cover and fired at Military Man. With unnervingly good aim, he caught the jerk on the shoulder. I took immense pleasure watching the guy stagger back, blood pouring from a wound, but that feeling was short-lived, as three men came within fifteen yards of the house.

  The two fell back as I scanned the kitchen, frantic for ideas, trying to blot out the screaming in my mind that I had to go after Chase when my eyes fell on Zeb’s prized moonshine rack. Suddenly, inspiration hit. I half crawled, half dragged my way to the kitchen counter, calling out to Gideon, “Gideon! The moonshine!”

  Gideon glanced over, confused, “What?” he said, as he fired another shot.

  I pointed. “The moonshine rack! Get me the rack!” I yelled.

  Seeing me fumbling in a drawer for a lighter, Gideon suddenly got it. Keeping low, he darted for the rack, carrying it back, where he plopped it down with a thud in front of me. Quickly, Gideon found a corkscrew and started unscrewing the bottle, but I frowned.

  “That’ll take all day! We don’t have time!” I yelled. Snatching a bottle from him, I smashed the head of the bottle against the counter. It came away, raining glass onto the ground. Some of the clear white moonshine spilled out, filling my nostrils with its strong alcoholic scent. I set the opened bottle onto the ground, as Gideon hurriedly copied my messy, but fast technique. Grabbing a dish towel from the cabinet handle it was slung across, I used a knife from the drawer to slash the fabric, tearing it into strips as Zeb called over from his position by the door.

  “The two of you need to hurry that up! I’m almost out!”

  Nodding, I stuffed the end of a fabric strip into the first bottle of moonshine. Gideon and I worked frantically, adding more strips to more bottles until a row of the bottles sat waiting. Glancing outside, Zeb saw that the men were just three yards away now. I pushed myself onto my feet and in complete agony, hopped over to the flank the other side of the door.

  Gideon snatched two bottles and ran to my side as I sparked up the lighter. Gideon dangled a bottle over the flame.

  “Come on, come on,” I said impatiently, waiting for the flame to catch on the strip of fabric as Zeb continued shooting at our attackers.

  Suddenly, with a fizzle, the strip caught fire. I grabbed the bottle from Gideon and HURLED the Molotov cocktail into the crowd of fast-approaching men. The bottle hit the ground, showering the men in crimson liquid. A wall of flame ignited, engulfing the men in fire. Their anguished screams pealed out. I didn’t wait to listen.

  As Gideon handed a second lit bottle to me, I threw it at another group. More flames danced along the ground, followed by more cries. By now, Gideon had fetched two more lit bottles and was passing them to me, wordlessly. I threw missile after missile, until the grounds were a cauldron of fire. What men survived were now running for their lives as their vests melted into their skin. Only Military Man stood firm, a black shadow in the distance, just beyond the reach of the flames.

  He would not run.

  CHAPTER 109

  THE MERCENARY

  The Mercenary was filled with an icy fury.

  His cowardly men had taken off, running blindly through the flames in a mad panic and ignoring his command. The Mercenary glowered at their retreating backs, his eyes narrowing into thin slits. Imbeciles. If any of them survived this, they’d have him to contend with, and he was far more lethal than any fire.

  Through the orange wall of flame, The Mercenary could make out Sullivan watching him from the door. He’d stopped throwing Molotovs. The Mercenary assumed they must be out. The two faced each other in a two man stand-off. Then the boy started raising his handgun at The Mercenary. The Mercenary ducked, but the shot never came. Sullivan had stopped him.

  What was this?

  The Mercenary had his own weapon aimed on them and wasn’t concerned that they would hit him first. He’d trained with the best and hadn’t missed a headshot in over a decade. He watched as Sullivan took the handgun from the boy and gestured for him to take cover, before he faced The Mercenary head on. His injured leg was giving him trouble. Even from here, The Mercenary could see Sullivan favored his left leg. He smiled to himself. This fool thought he would outshoot him? Well, he was game.

  The Mercenary pulled on the trigger of his semi.

  It clicked, but nothing happened. It was out of bullets. Sullivan must have realized this, as he suddenly looked confident, while The Mercenary himself was filled with an awful apprehension. A million possible escape notions ran through his mind, but The Mercenary was rooted to the spot. He would not run. It was while he was thinking this that Sullivan took aim and fired.

  The shot flew from the barrel and flew into his body. Pain exploded in his chest. The Mercenary staggered back, stunned, as he touched a hand to his now bloody chest. He looked across at Sullivan with unblinking, unbelievable eyes, then suddenly, the ground came rushing up to meet him.

  And all was silent.

  CHAPTER 110

  CHASE

  The helicopter lifted into the air.

  As soon as we took off, Bandit darted between my legs. Poor guy. I had tried to explain to him what was about to happen, but I guess I didn’t do a good job of it. He sat there, huddled against me, nose shoved under my armpit. If we weren’t about to do the most insane, most dangerous, there’s-no-turning-back-from-here thing we’d ever done in our lives, I’d probably find that funny. As it was, I wished I had someone’s armpit to stick my own face into.

  Scratch that. That didn’t sound right at all.

  As the helicopter rose and the ranch came into full view, I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach at the devastation before me. The barn was now punctured with so many holes, it was a miracle the entire thing didn’t collapse in on itself. As I had experienced more times in the last half an hour than in my whole life, another wave of fear shot through me. Sully and the others were in danger, yet here I was running away. What if they couldn’t defend themselves? What if it was all too late?

  I shook my head to clear away the doubts. Only fools play the what-if game. I’d learned that the hard way when I was just a kid, wondering what if she wasn’t my real mom? What if, somewhere out there, my real mom was a wonderful woman who loved to bake cookies and was desperately searching for me, her darling baby who was snatched from her during Christmas Mass? See? Even as a kid, I had a vivid imagination.

  I stuck my face to the window, craning my neck to see below. The black-clad figures were advancing, but just when it seemed all was lost, a burst of flame engulfed the men! Sully was tossing some kind of homemade fireball at the attackers and it was stopping them dead! Go Sully!

  I watched as more and more rows of flame appeared on the ground. The men started running away. It was hard to make out everything from up here, but it seemed Sully had won the fight. I sagged back against my seat as the relief poured through me. They were safe. Now it was just me and Bandit.

  I kept my eyes and gun trained
on the pilot. Every now and then, he’d peer at me through a strategically placed-mirror, but I met his gaze each time. If he even stared at me a little too long, I waved the gun at him. I think he got the message.

  Fields of green passed below us as we hurtled towards Forbes and the place Bandit had originally called home. I stroked Bandit continuously, blocking out the negative thoughts that flittered at the edge of my mind. The ones that devilishly whispered things like keep stroking after all, you may not get to do that for much longer. You know, unhelpful stuff like that. They must be related to the what-if’s.

  Bandit trembled in my arms and I found myself making soothing sounds of comfort. “It’ll be OK,” I told him. “We’ll find a way to heal you. Nothing will happen to you.”

  I was really hoping it wasn’t a lie.

  CHAPTER 111

  THE CEO

  His head was pounding.

  Forbes rubbed at his temple and swallowed some aspirin. The headaches were getting worse. Last night, he could barely sleep due to the throbbing in his head, and the stress of Alpha’s escape certainly wasn’t helping matters. He looked away from the computer screen in his office. The numbers he so loved watching rise blurred into each other today. Well, it was time for a break; The Mercenary was due to check in any moment now. In anticipation of good news, Forbes pressed the intercom.

  “Yes sir?” came the voice of his assistant over the line.

  “I’d like a tea,” he instructed.

  “I’ll bring your usual, sir,” she responded. Moments later, his assistant entered carrying a delicate jade teapot and a matching cup. A pair of dragons were engraved onto the jade, swimming through the air, talons engaged. The powerful fabled creatures were something Forbes had taken a liking to as a young child. His assistant, a neat brunette who wore the same uniform of shirt and skirt every day, picked up the pot and poured. Dark oolong tea swilled into the cup. Forbes breathed in the exotic aroma, feeling the tension leave his body.