Brian doesn’t respond to either of us. Instead he grabs the bullet and begin to pull it out. I nearly gnaw off my bottom lip as I try to hold back my scream. The blessed sound of the bullet clanking on the floor feels me with a bitter kind of happiness. I’m happy that the bullet is out of me. But now he has to sew me up.
“Let’s change spots, Bri. I can sew better than you,” Derrick states.
“I don’t disagree with you. I’m sure everyone can sew up flesh better than I can.”
They change positions and so now I have Brian’s knees in my face. He focuses the flashlight on my wound and then he focuses his eyes on me. With his other hand, he wipes away the sweat that’s beading on my forehead and proceeds to stroke my cheek. I close my eyes, trying to focus on the soothing feeling of his hands on me instead of the pinch and pull of Derrick sewing my flesh close.
“Done,” Derrick says. It felt like it took him years to finish, even though I’m sure it was only five or so minutes. He spreads a mixture of the antibiotic ointment and the numbing ointment on my wound and then proceeded to wrap me up. “You don’t have anything stronger in there?” he asks, gesturing towards my kit.
“Yeah, I have some pain pills, but they’ll make me loopy. I can’t afford that right now. I’ll be fine now that I’m not bleeding out anymore,” I respond. I pull myself in a sitting position and gasp out. My side is tight, and it hurts like hell, but I’m good enough to continue. They both help me stand up. Brian looks in the bag and pulls out my water bottle. He holds it to my lips as though my arms were broken. I tried to drink as fast as he was pouring, but some still managed to slip out of my mouth. He takes the water bottle from my mouth and then wipes the water from my chin. I was acutely aware that Derrick was watching this entire exchange less than two feet away. I thought Brian was done with his show of affection, but he surprised me by leaning forward and softly kissing me on my mouth.
“Try not to get shot again, alright?” he whispers with a smirk on his face.
“I’ll try. Can’t make any promises though.”
He pulls away, re-stashing everything in my little bag before putting it on his back. I can tell he wants to say more, but instead he gives me my gun and gives Derrick my flashlight before nudging me to walk.
“I feel like this party has just begun,” I mutter sadly.
Brian pulls the end of my braid while tapping his gun on the top of my head. “Good thing we brought party favors,” he says from behind me.
Yeah, but sadly, they have more.
24
Kiani
Derrick stops at the door that would lead us out of the stairwell and into the first floor. We’re so close to getting out of here, I can almost taste the freedom. I don’t want to alarm my boys, but I’m in dangerous need of a shower and a three-day nap. My hand trembles as I try to keep a firm hold on my gun; it would really suck if I shot at a Bandit and end up hitting Derrick or Brian. Derrick’s quiet curse brought me back from my inner monologue.
“Let me guess,” Brian says from behind me. “It’s another damn note?”
“How did you know?” Derrick asks, voice laced with sarcasm.
“I guess I have a sixth sense or something.”
“Can we see the note, please? Some of us have a bullet wound to nurse and would like to know whether or not she can leave and do just that,” I say, not really in the mood for their strained humor.
Derrick moves over so that we can all see, hopefully, the last and final note.
Welcome to the Boss level.
Alex
“Oh wow. I guess he’s pissed off. Didn’t even say ‘Love’ at the end,” I mutter, trying to convince my heart that it isn’t in a race. I grab the note and fold it up to put with the others. Right now, I’m not feeling too optimistic about us leaving here, but we don’t really have any other choice but to try.
Moments like this I wish that I was this super cool, super badass fighter chick like in all of the books. The one that can hit the Matrix while shooting and killing ten people at once. What I wouldn’t give to be able to run and flip off of the walls while breaking a Bandit’s neck simultaneously. Sadly, I can’t do any otherworldly things like that, but I sure can fight.
I straighten my shoulders, promptly ignoring the pull at my side, and give my boys my best smile. “So, I guess it’s time to play.” I know that they can see through my facade, but they know that it’s either fake it til you make it or die.
“Should we come up with a plan? Or should we go out shooting?” Brian asks.
“We don’t even know what we could be walking into. There could be twenty Bandits standing outside of this door right now ready to light us up like the fourth of July,” I state.
“There aren’t any immediately outside of this door,” Derrick says. “That wouldn’t be any fun for him. He wants us to play for a little longer, so killing us right now would be boring.”
“So, let’s say we stake our lives on the fact that he’s demented and wants to toy with us for a little longer, then what? The door to the utility closet that we entered through is about forty feet to the right. I doubt they know that that is how we got in. If we make a mad dash to it, we should be home free.”
“Or we’ll be dead in two steps,” Brian says flatly. “Think about it; he hears us sprinting somewhere, do you think he’s just going to let us keep running without gunning us down?”
“God! Why does it feel like we’re always stuck on the simplest things when it comes down to escaping? It’s we either take our chances and fight who’s out there or we sit here and let him come and kill us while we try to decide which is the best way to go out!” I didn’t mean to get so cynical, but my patience is worn thin. We needed to get out of here, and we need to get out of here now.
They both stared at me for a moment, and then nodded their heads, faces hardening into determination to get back to our family. Brian takes some bullets out of his pocket and hands me them. I reload my gun, thankful that he thought ahead and grabbed some for me; my main focus had been first aid and water.
“No matter what,” I say. “Don’t let him get inside of your head. He’s probably been here the entire time waiting for us. I can only imagine what he had in store for us if we would have taken his bait earlier. Our main goal is to get out of here as intact as we possibly can.”
I said all of this while staring at Derrick. He knows that he pretty much destroyed all of my faith in him where Sam is concerned. I can’t have him risking us all just because he feels like he’s captain save a hoe. He nods his head at me, accepting what I have to say, but I can tell that he probably was going to do something stupid. His jaw is clenching and unclenching, and I know that if he sees a chance, he’ll grab Sam’s traitorous behind, whether she wants to be saved or not.
“How’s your side?” Brian asks.
“It hurts like a bitch but I’m no longer bleeding out thanks to y’all, so this is the best that it’s going to get.”
We all grow quiet. Not willing to say goodbye but knowing that this might be our last time being alive. I reach out and grab Derrick into a quick hug before turning and giving Brian one as well. That’s all I’ll allow myself. I will not voice my fears before that will only help them manifest themselves. I will not say goodbye, because that’s me giving up before I even got started. There will be no ‘I love you’s’ or “I’m sorry’s’ because those words are only goodbye’s in disguise. No, the only words that should leave our mouth, are words of victory.
“He wants to play?” I ask, mustering up all of the strength and focus I have left. “Then let’s fucking play.”
Derrick opens the door and step out and fires off a shot immediately. I knew they were going to be close, I just didn’t want to believe it. I rush out behind him and I see that he managed to take out one Bandit. He rushes towards the next one, tackling it to the ground. I quickly holster my gun and take out my knife and my screwdriver. I won’t have a lot of time to reload my gun if I run out of bulle
ts, so I need to use them wisely. The Bandits didn’t seem to have any guns on them, or at least I hope they don’t.
There are five Bandits left that I can see. Being outnumbered is never a good feeling. Being outnumbered and already having been shot is an even worse feeling. My movements aren’t as fluid as they could have been, so I run towards one Bandit and slid to the floor to escape his swing and take out his knees at the same time. The contact made me want to scream out, but instead, I jump up as fast as I can and immediately ram my screwdriver into his neck. I take it out and jam it into the other side before hopping up and looking for my next opponent.
Derrick just finished off his Bandit by breaking his neck effortlessly. If I had the upper body strength to do that without pulling a muscle, I’d probably go that route too. Less blood. Before he could regroup, a Bandit started rushing towards him, swinging his knife wildly. I stared in horror as Derrick used his forearms to block the initial blow, only to stagger back from getting his arm sliced into. I hope it’s not a deep wound, because we just don’t have the time to stitch it up and I doubt they’ll give us a time out to tend to our wounds.
My little distraction almost cost me a tooth. While I was busy staring at Derrick, I left myself open to get attacked by the last remaining Bandit. He chose that opening to punch me in my jaw, almost knocking me out cold. I fall to the ground, trying to clear the fog that has settled behind my eyes. The fall pulled at my stitches and I can feel the blood starting to ooze down my side once again. How are we supposed to get out of here if we’re getting our asses kicked right from the start?
I try to roll over so that I could get up, but there’s a heavy presence pressing down on me. It could only be my Bandit. I’m waiting for him to choke me, since that seems like their favorite thing to do, but I was surprised when he backhanded me. Now, I don’t know about you, but I feel like being slapped is way more disrespectful than being punched. He must feel really confident that his friends could take out my boys, because if it were me, I would have killed me immediately.
The way that he’s straddling me, is pressing my arms into sides. I don’t have much room to move, but I do have just the right amount of space to turn my knife and stab him in his hamstring. I make sure to keep a strong hold on the handle of my knife as he falls over and lands on my left. My body is shaking from the effort it takes me to roll after him. I know I only have a few precious moments before he decides that he wants to kill me more than he wants to nurture his wound. Hoping to not get as bloodied as before, I stab him in his heart, using both hands to make sure that I’m accurate. I don’t know how we’ll survive this, but we will never be the same. The blood on my hands will never wash away.
I stand up and slump against the wall until I’m in a sitting position. Brian is helping Derrick finish off his Bandit, which is good because I wouldn’t have been of much help. I needed at least another five minutes for my brain to stop shaking in my head and for my ears to stop ringing. My side hurts like hell, and I’m pretty sure he split my cheek because it’s throbbing, and warm liquid is oozing from the opening. At this rate, I’ll bleed out before we get through.
Derrick and Brian rush over to me once they’re finished. I run my gaze over them, trying to take inventory on their injuries. Brian has a busted lip and his right eyebrow is split too, causing blood to flow into his eye. Other than that, he looks perfectly ok. Derrick on the other hand looks as if he’s been resurrected from the dead. His nose is bleeding, which is soaking into his shirt, and his forearm is bleeding.
“Brian, quick, take out the first aid kit,” I command. We may only have a few minutes to pull ourselves together and we better use it. It would make no sense to walk into a next fight being blinded by your own blood.
Brian quickly did as I said and handed the kit to me. I wish I was smart enough to grab the liquid stitches, but hindsight is always twenty/twenty. I take out the butterfly and ace bandages and motion for Derrick to give me his arm. I can see that he wants to complain and insists he look at me first, but the truth is, he’s more of a weapon than I am. I’m no damsel in distress, but I’m also not a six-foot four grown man. Sometimes you just got to know when you’re not the most needed.
I grab his arm and notice that he wasn’t cut as deep as I first feared. I slap on a few bandages and wrap his arm up. It will at least slow down the bleeding and help a little if they tried to cut him again. I let go of his arm and motion for Brian to lean a little closer to me. I take two of the bandages and place them on his split eyebrow. The bandages bring the edges of the wound together, slowing down and, hopefully, eventually stopping his bleeding.
Derrick reaches out to take a gauze pad and rolls it up before shoving it up his bleeding nostril. I don’t think that’ll really do much, but I applaud him for at least attempting to staunch that flow. From the way that his ridge is bent, I’m sure his nose is at least a little broken.
“Now that we’re all looked after, can you please let us look at you?” Derrick asks quietly.
I nod my head, knowing that they’re going to freak out once they take a look at my side again. I can’t really hide my cheek from them and there’s really no need to. It’s not life threatening, even though it does hurt like a bitch.
Brian takes the butterfly bandages and place two of them on my cheek. I can tell that he tried to be as gentle as possible, but it still hurt when he touched it. After that he leans me over a little bit so that he can look at my gunshot wound. He swears under his breath.
“It’s not fully ripped back open, but it’s open enough to cause me to worry. Should we do a quick stitch?” he directed that question to Derrick.
“No. She’ll just tear it again before the night is over. It’ll hurt her more if we’re constantly stabbing her with a needle. Put some of those bandages on there and let’s wrap her back up. We have to get moving.”
Brian tries to fix me up as well as he can before standing up and extending his hand out to me. He and Derrick help me stand and I shove the kit back into the bag before handing it off to Brian. We’re about thirty feet from the door and I can’t believe we’re actually going to get out of here.
I’m shaking from exhaustion and blood loss, but I know that I have to see this through. Brian reaches around my waist and hold me against him, supporting some of my weight. I wanted to argue that I’m capable of walking on my own, but I know that would have been a lie. The truth is, I’m liable to collapse at any moment. That punch and back hand to the face really took a lot out of me.
We reach the door that leads into the utility closet, and I can’t believe our luck. Maybe they thought that we were going to try and leave through the main entrance. “This is the door,” I say to Derrick, remembering that he doesn’t know where we came in through. He quickly opens the door, stepping inside with his gun drawn and flashlight up. The room is empty. Brian and I follow in behind him, letting the door close shut.
We stand in relative silence for a little bit, just trying to soak in the reprieve from always having to look over our shoulders. Derrick is the first to move as he walks towards the door that will lead us outside. Brian and I follow after him quickly. I step from Brian’s embrace and draw my own gun. I would be a fool to step out into the open without a quick way to defend myself.
Derrick opens the door wide enough for me to see that we had people waiting on us.
“Well, that took longer than I thought,” Alex said.
25
Kiani
Don’t even bother turning back around,” he boomed. “I wouldn’t want to kill you in such a small space. Walk out, all of you. Now!”
I knew it was too easy. Too good to be true. There was no way we could have walked out without having to fight the Boss himself. It was foolish of us to even think that we had bested him at a game he clearly has played a lot of times.
“Don’t do anything or say anything,” muttered Derrick, not bothering to turn around and hide that he was talking to us. The nerve of him. He’s the m
ain one I’m worried about doing or saying something stupid. Especially because if Alex is out there, Sam as to be out there as well. I know he wants to save her, but right now we’re the ones that need saving. I have no choice but to trust him to not get us killed.
Brian reaches up and grabs the back of my neck. His thumb rubs soothing patterns into my skin. My pulse slows down a little bit, but not by much. He kisses me on my forehead one last time, lips lingering on my skin for a second longer than usual.
“Let’s go,” he says to Derrick. “We’re ready.”
We exit the building and I realized how truly fucked we really were. There were at least ten Bandits standing in a semicircle, caging us in next to the building. Alex and Sam stood in the middle with five Bandits on either side of them. The Bandit’s sizes ranged from as big as Derrick to as small as me. That doesn’t even mean anything though, seeing as though they outnumber us twelve to three. I like to think of myself as a badass, but not badass enough to fight four grown men at once.
“Close the door,” Alex demands. Brian lets the door slam shut and with it, any hope of quickly escaping from the onslaught that was most definitely coming our way. I lean against the closed door, despair falling on top of me. I lock eyes with Sam. She’s wearing a hoodie with both of her hands tucked inside the pocket in the front. Her hair is disheveled as she holds my gaze. She has her poker face in place, so I can’t get a read on what she’s really thinking.
“You guys don’t look so good. You have to take better care of yourselves,” Alex tutted, as if we’re just some rowdy kids who like to go on unsafe adventures, as if it wasn’t him who had been trying to kill us. “Did you have fun? Did you enjoy my helpful clues? It was actually really fun for me. I enjoyed watching you struggle with certain decisions. I was also really thrilled when my little fighter got shot.”
Kiani’s Journey- Mayhem Page 18