Kill Contract

Rogue | 4

Chrissie watched helplessly as Austin skidded on the gravel; she watched as his face morphed from surprise and alarm to cold, deadly calm.

The same look he had when he confronted the guards and the soldiers.

The same look he had when he'd killed a man.

In a flash; Austin pulled out a gun and stepped forwards.
The muggers dragged Chrissie deeper into the alley.

"Let her go. Now."

He cocked the gun at the one on the left. A red faced, burly man with a broken nose who was holding the knife with white knuckles.

The one on the right yelled with an accent. Another click echoed eerily against the dark concrete walls as he brought out a gun of his own.

Chrissie's fear level went up a dozen notches. Her heart began drumming uncontrollably again. She breathed in short sharp breaths; trying not to move as the threat of a silver blade hovered closer.

It was a triangle of death.

Austin narrowed his eyes to the left; the man gripped the knife dangerously close to Chrissie's skin; his ugly breaths in her ear.

The leader on the left closed in on her; maybe hoping Austin would fear missing and hitting Chrissie instead.

And the second gun's line of sight went back to Austin; closing the loop.

"Lower gun or we kill her."

The leader snarled in a choppy English.

Chrissie almost cried out in despair, her eyes panicky and terrified.

"Lower your gun or I blow both your heads off." Austin returned. His eyes flicked from right to left, a barely contained fury behind those blue contact lenses.

For two dozen seconds no one moved; but it felt like two thousand. Icicles dripped in the silence; an irregular pattern of barely audible drops.

Drip

...

dRip-

drip

The man with the gun jerked forward in a feint, his boots scraping against the ice.

The knife lurched closer. Chrissie screamed. Austin's finger twitched on the trigger, but he kept his eyes locked on the gunman.

Drip.

....

DRip

drip.                  

Somewhere in the town, a car rumbled-

BANG!

The man fired and ducked behind Chrissie; Austin lunged forwards and returned the shot.

The second man roared as a bullet split his knuckles, inches away from Chrissie's face. He dropped the knife with a scream and Chrissie desperately pried herself out of his grip.

The gunman yanked her back and threw her against the wall, the second man fumbled for the knife with his other hand only to look up and see Austin kick him in the face. He buckled onto the floor, bleeding from his fingers.

"S-stop!" The gunman stammered, pointing his gun at Austin's chest.

Austin flung himself to the side as another shot went off and smashed the man's head against the wall. The mugger struggled wildly against him, but Austin pinned his gun arm with all his weight. He jabbed his own gun into the man's back.

"Freeze." He snarled, then turned to Chrissie. "Go."

She staggered to her feet and rushed past him. At that moment the gunman knocked his head back to collide with Austin's with an audible crack.

Chrissie had almost reached the exit of the tunnel; she was gasping for breath and slipping on the ice and bruises and cold crept under her skin.

Another shot echoed in the tunnel and she risked a look back, feeling her stomach turn.

Austin was grappling with the main mugger, both had guns in their grip. The second one was cradling his hand, trembling in rage and pain as he struggled to stand from the blood-stained ice.

And then Austin turned for a split second; his eyes widened as he urged her to go but Chrissie remained rooted to her spot because the mugger was bringing up his gun to Austin's head and no-

BANG!

Austin collapsed almost in slow motion.

Chrissie screamed but didn't hear it; she only heard the sickening thud of his head against the ice; the gun clattering out of reach; the mugger yelling something at her, now with his pal back on his feet again.

No.

Instincts took over her catatonic state and she ran for her life.