Purple | Cole Stewart -VERSION DISCONTINUED

Chapter Thirteen: Car Chase

The bullet cut a path straight through the middle of the van, exiting out the front windshield without hitting any of us, thank god. 
Liam seemed To be in a bit of shock, so I took matters into my own hands, only slightly literally. 
“Lee, come on!” I moved my hand in a forward motion, imagining the gas pedal being pressed down as an x-ray type image of it appeared in my head. The car jerked forward, throwing me against the back of the passenger seat, rendering me useless for a few seconds. “LEE! Do something dammit!”
Liam finally pressed down on the gas pedal himself, and we began to accelerate, but not nearly fast enough.
I scrambled up to crouch on my seat, pushing Zu’s head down as I did so. “Stay down and hold on Zu!” I yelled.
I assumed that the red pickup behind us had to be the car that had shot at us, and the man pointing a rifle at us out the passenger side window only helped solidify my suspicions.
“I told you!” Chubs yelled. “I told you they were skip tracers!”
“Dammit Chubs, swallow some pride and do something!” I yelled, ducking automatically as another bulllet flew by, just missing the van.
“What am I supposed to do?” he yelled back.
I let out an involuntary gasp as a bullet hit Betty’s bumper, throwing us forward.
“I don’t know, but complaining a little less wouldn't be the worst option!” I groaned.
I took a chance and glanced down to make sure Zu was still between the seats where she couldn't be shot at. She was curled up in a ball, hugging her knees to her chest. Her hood hid her face, but it couldn’t hide the way she was shaking.
I heard another bang and whipped my head back up, because this one didn't sound like a gunshot.
“What in the… Are you kidding me?” Liam said.
He was referring to the way the red truck jolted forward before swerving side to side, trying to shake the tan SUV that had rammed into it.
“It is her!” Chubs cried. “I told you! She found us!”
“Then who’s the guy with the gun? Her boyfriend?”
I didn’t reply as I watched the red truck spin out until it stopped on the shoulder of the  highway. I had to admit, it was nice when our enemies took each other out for us.
“That’s one,” Liam  said.
The tan SUV that was now directly behind us also had a gun pointed out the passenger side window, the only difference being that a woman was aiming it.
I reached out towards the van, focusing on trying to jerk it off of the road.
“Please, just let me go,” Ruby pleaded, breaking my concentration. “I’ll go back with them, no one has to get hurt.”
“Shut up,” I growled. I still hadn’t felt the signature tug that told me I had a hold on the car, and it was starting to get frustrating, pulling out more and more of what I called my ‘Red Anger’.
Red Anger was not something I wanted to be dealing with in a tense situation like this. It was hard to control, and it made me do things I usually ended up regretting. 
“Come on Carter, think Blue- please, think Blue,” I muttered. I thought about Jenny, which was my usual way of coming out of a burst of Red Anger. It took a few seconds, but eventually the roaring in my head started to die down, and I was able to refocus on the task at hand.
“Do something!” Chubs was shouting.
“I’m trying! I can’t concentrate!”
“Dammit Lee, drive the car and let me handle it, would you?” I yelled once I realized Liam ws trying to do the same thing I was.
I never heard Liam’s response, but I did hear a car horn from in front of Betty as its headlights washed over me and illuminated singular droplets of rain that had started falling faster again.
We swerved to the side, knocking me off my feet and out of my seat, barely able to stop myself from crushing Zu as I fell.
I was disoriented by the placement of my limbs. Was my foot resting on the back of a seat or the floor? Was I holding onto an armrest or the door? Getting back up was only made harder by the swerving of the van to avoid getting shot.
“Liam,” I heard Ruby begging as I righted myself. “Please, just pull over. I won’t let them do anything to you!”
“What do you want to do here Liam?” I asked. “If we aren’t going to stop I’m gonna need your help back here!”
“Green! Can you drive?”
“No-”
“Can you see better than Chubs?”
“Maybe, but-”
“Great! Come on up to the captains seat.” Ruby didn’t move, so Liam tried to coax her some more. “Come on, it’s just like riding a bike. Right pedal is gas to go, left is brake, steer with the wheel. That’s all you need to know.”
“Wait!”
Liam and I both ignored her protests as he climbed into the back seat to join me. “Okay, I’m gonna try to pull out a tree, grab on as soon as you’ve got it,” Liam said quickly.
“Got it.”
I closed my eyes and allowed the x-ray outline of our surroundings to fill my head. I started by drawing out the things I could see, and then relaxed my mind until the picture would start to expand on its own. The picture dissolved when we jolted forward.
“Brake is on the left!” Liam yelled. “Hit the gas!”
“Why can’t he drive?”
“Because,” Liam replied, “he can barely see five feet in front of him. Trust me, you don’t want him to drive, darlin’. Now- hit the gas!”
“Dammit, I need a better angle,” he muttered to me as he rolled down the window and leaned out of it. “Faster!”
As my mental image began to fill back in, the voices around me began to fade out. Once I sensed movement in the trees I grabbed onto it, closing my fist and pulling it towards the road and the SUV still shooting behind us. Even when the car started spinning, I kept my focus on the tree.
It hit dead on the mark.
I opened my eyes to see the SUV on its side in asmoking heap, the tree still rolling from the impact.
“What did you do?” Ruby yelled from the driver's seat. “I thought-”
Chubs was the one to reply. “Now do you get it? They weren’t going to stop.”
We were all breathing heavily as Liam slid back in the window, his hair wild from the wind. “Okay Green,” he said quietly. “They blew the back tire out, so you’re driving on the rim. Just keep heading straight and start to slow down. Get off on the next ramp.”
“You all right, Zu?” he asked. Zu gave him two thumbs up.
“Well I’m fine, thanks for asking,” Chubs said.
“Oh I’m glad! I don’t know what I would have done without you Chubsie!” I mocked, throwing my arms around him. He ignored me, turning back to Liam.
“And by the way, are you out of your freaking mind? Do you know what happens when a body is thrown from a car at high velocity?”
“Well I’m sure I could guess,” I muttered.
“No, but I imagine it isn't appropriate for an eleven-year-old’s ears.” Liam interrupted.
Ruby looked back at Zu for a moment, her brows furrowed in confusion.
“Oh, so you can throw her in the path of bullets, but she can’t hear a scary story?” Chubs crossed his arms defensively.
I had finally calmed down enough to take a better look at Liam,the only person in the vehicle besides myself who hadn’t voiced that he was okay. For the most part, he looked unscathed. There was a fresh cut above his eye and blood was dripping down his chin. By our standards, he was fine.
I closed my eyes as I leaned back in my seat. Just for a second, then I’ll get up, I told myself. I wouldn’t have followed through on that If not for Liam yelling out in pain.
“That was not like riding a bike, you asshole!”
Zu was the first of us to burst into laughter, and I followed soon after her. Chubs just put his head in his hands and let out a loud groan.
“Oh yeah,” Liam said, popping his door open. “You’re gonna fit in real nice.”

Word count: 1448