Sweet Little Lies

Chapter Ninety

Content Warning: Physical Violence & Gun Violence

Ivy pulled the trigger to her gun, hitting a man in the neck about twenty feet away. It was no help, though, as another man took his place and fired several shots back at them. The bullets dug into the stone walls around them, dust and debris flying everywhere.

Harry ducked low, scanning behind them as more shots rang out. The look on his face told her they were fucked. Tikhon's men were surrounding them. They had unwittingly walked directly into a trap, and it was all Ivy's fault.

The grenade felt heavy on her hip as she dodged a few bullets by flattening against the wall. Someone to her right fell to the floor in a lump, clutching their chest. They weren't dead, but a bullet to a kevlar vest still hurt. They most likely had a cracked sternum or a bruised rib.

Surveying the crowd, she scrambled for a plan. The best thing for them to do would be to push out to the open cavern of the pavilion. This narrow tunnel they were currently stuck in was a death trap. But they couldn't properly fight their way out to the pavilion if they were focusing on fighting from the back.

"Fuck this shit." Ivy muttered, stepping out from behind Harry. She could feel his alarm, but slipped past him and joined Griffin up ahead. Looking back, she shouted at him, "Help them!"

Her brother and his team weren't doing great on the front. More of their soldiers were focused on the onslaught from behind, so they had less firepower. Harry needed to help them, while Ivy took care of this.

What she had planned was dangerous, and could, quite honestly, end with all of them dead. But with bullets flying at them at all directions, they would die anyway. Ivy thought they might as well take the option that only had a fifty to sixty percent chance of death.

"See where the tunnel curves?" Ivy asked Griffin, pointing her gun at it.

He nodded, keeping his eyes forward.

"However many people they have, they're on the other side of the curve. No matter how many we take down, more just come out."

"What's your plan?" Griffin lowered, switching out his empty clip for a fresh one.

"Throw my grenade at it and hope it collapses, leaving them stuck on the other side while we push out to the pavilion." Ivy listed off quickly, covering him while he reloaded.

Griffin gave her one look before clicking the clip into place. "That could get us all killed."

"We'll be dead regardless." She pointed out.

"Fair." He grunted, taking a second to think through it. "We need to get our guys far enough away so they don't get caught up in the blast or debris."

"There's a good chance this entire tunnel will crumble after." Ivy told him, "A ton of the ones around this area already have. Tai thought it was something to do with how they were built ages ago."

"So we'll need to get out of here as soon as possible." Griffin frowned, "The only way out is into the pavilion, which is also currently shooting at us in case you didn't know."

"Yes, but it's safer to be shot at from only one side than all."

Griffin clenched his jaw, but eventually agreed. "Alright."

Ivy took a deep breath, ignoring the sharp pain near her ribs. "Okay, we need to move up front and spread the news."

"Heard." He nodded once.

Slowly, they made their way closer to the front. Thankfully, some of their men had found a way to find cover and a good vantage point to shoot from. The Petrov men weren't able to advance any further until they took down the remaining Malone, Styles and Dvorsky forces.