Sing

Chapter 21: S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W

I pressed my head against the window of the car. It was silent inside. We were all on edge. I could tell we were all scared, too. What we were about to do could get us killed so easily that it made my stomach churn.

"Guns," Gerard said suddenly. I looked up as I drew mine. We were approaching a toll booth. Lately, our pictures had been everywhere, begging for people to 'exterminate' us. Anyone would know us, even at a distance.

Two guys ran out of the toll booth with guns in their hands and began shooting. Gerard slammed his foot down on the gas pedal and ran straight through the barrier. In the rearview mirror, he watched as one of them reached up and pressed the alert.

We placed our guns back where they belonged; in our holsters.

We emerged from the tunnel into the bright lights of the city. It was nighttime and raining, but the main city would always be well-lit.

It was kind of a weird priority, light. With food and water pretty important. Must have been a Korse thing.

It took a little while for us to finally arrive at the front of BL/ind headquarters. When we did, my heart dropped into my stomach. I was not ready for this.

We climbed out of the car quietly. We knew what we were going to do, and we were going to do it together.

But that didn't change the fact that I was about to shit myself.

There was a long bridge over to the gigantic building. I didn't know why it was there, really, I just hoped it wasn't hooked up to something somewhere.

As we crossed it, rain soaked us. No one said a word. We were too focused.

"Guns." Gerard said it quietly this time. I could hardly hear the command.

Two of the masked officials guarding the entrance jumped up, and we took them out with no problem.

Great. Now we were inside.

Gerard took down one at the door right away, and we continued walking. We knew that the S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W unit was on the twenty-third floor. Getting there? That may or may not be a problem.

We searched for the elevators, but they weren't hard to find. I pushed the 28, and the elevator lurched into motion.

It was a surprisingly short ride, but I wasn't complaining.

We walked into a room, not expecting Grace to be in there. She looked so happy to see us.

Something else none of us expected was Gerard to fall to his knees and hug her. Ray and Mikey and I all looked around at each other. Today was just full of surprises, wasn't it?

"We have to get out of here," Ray said. Gerard nodded, and we got back into the elevator. Mikey hit the 1, and we started down. We rode quietly, Grace gripping Ray's hand on the way.

The doors opened, and we moved down the clean, white hallway. It reminded me of a hospital, only smaller.

Almost out.

But then a swarm of BL/ind employees came around. I didn't know where they could have come from, but they were everywhere.

We drew our guns again. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Mikey fumble his, and Ray helped him to get a hold of it.

And then I saw him.

Korse.

There, fighting with his men.

He had some balls to be out there.

We all spread out to shoot, trying to shield Grace at the same time. They couldn't kill her, and they weren't going to take her away again.

Then I remembered her helmet. She didn't have it, and she hated gunfire. I glanced at her for a split second. Sure enough, she was covering her ears.

I jumped out from behind my post, shooting blindly and praying I didn't hit my friends.

Mikey was getting a bad recoil on his pistol, and I hoped it wasn't about to give out on him.

Ray was using a technique where he moved constantly, not allowing himself to be touched. He was ducking between employees and shooting at the same time, staying by Grace.

I watched Gerard as he pulled off one guy's mask and shot him. He stared at the mask in his hands, shocked. He was too busy looking for Grace to see Korse running at him.

Korse pinned Gerard against the wall, shoving a white pistol under his chin. Mikey screamed and ran to try to save his brother.

I had to turn around to shoot, but Grace's scream was all I needed. I felt a new-found anger coursing through my veins. I was going to kill Korse. I had to. For Gerard.

"Get out of here!" Ray shouted to Mikey. "No!" Mikey yelled back. "I can't! Not now! No!" Then there was a flash of light. Mikey hit the ground with a thud.

I ran over and grabbed Grace. Ray and I took off towards the doors.

"Take her," I said breathlessly. "Get her out of here."

"You're coming, too," Ray said. I shook my head. "I can't," I gasped. "Just go. Please, go. Keep her safe."

I looked down at Grace. "I'll miss you," I said. I nudged her off with her uncle and closed the door. Ray grabbed her hand and I turned around. I had to take down two. One for my love, and one for his brother.

I fired off for a long time, the rcoil on my gun gradually getting worse and worse. I felt a shot in my shoulder and fell to my knees. An exterminator grabbed me by my collar and leaned down to my ear.

"Keep running," he snarled. "And don't come back."

He yanked me to my feet and shoved me towards the doors. I ran out, followed by him and some others. They continued shooting, and I heard a metallic thud as Ray's body hit the hood of our car.

He almost made it.

I watched from behind a wall as Ricky opened the door to the escape van, gun in hand. He jumped out to shoot and defend Grace. Steve reached out and grabbed Grace, lifting her quickly into the van. Ricky jumped in after her, and the girl drove them away.

The girl who was browsing the white skirts.

Who gave me her money because she could.

The first tears dripped from my eyes as I blacked out.