EYES LIKE RAZORS

(147) Assassination night

"It's fucking mental down there," Richard says, peeking out the window down onto the crowds below.

"You know what you're doing?" Madison asks, crouching beside Barney.

"Tommy checks his pocket watch, I count 10 and shoot the fascist." Barney tells her.

"And then..." Madison says.

"And then?" Barney questions confused.

"You run like fuck, as fast as you can. Get out of here." Madison instructs.

"With you?" Barney asks.

"No, not with me. That's more dangerous, you run with him." Madison states, gesturing to Richard.

"Tommy checks his pocket watch, I count 10, I find him and run like fuck." Barney says, and Madison nods, "you got it."

"Rich, you check that side, I'll go this side." Madison orders, checking his gun for bullets before handing it back to him.

-

Tommy was stood on stage beside Mosley, as the man passionately rants about the new future, his vision for the country, of the apparent greatness he could install in it.

Madison was standing still in the corridor she was located in, to get to Barney you'd have to go through the one she was in, or Richard was in.

Her attention was drawn by a murmuring of voices coming towards the door to her corridor.

She didn't even hesitate to flick the hammer of her gun, cocking it and pointing it at the door, waiting for an unfamiliar face to show itself before she pulls the trigger, the man's body dropping to the floor.

There was another set of footsteps, and she resumed her position, aiming at the door waiting for the person to show themselves.

She lowered her arm instantly when she saw Ash running through the door.

"What are you doing here?" Madison questions, when Ashton comes through the conjoining door, stepping over the dead body.

"I saw three guys heading up here." Ashton says.

"So?" Madison asks, "you don't follow three guys up some dingy staircase, Ash."

"I fucking do, if you're at the top of them." Ashton retorts, "where'd the other two go?"

"I only got one... stay here," Madison replies, taking off in a brisk jog, going past Barney, who was getting ready to take the shot, and into the corridor.

"Mads..." Richard wheezes from the floor, "I got them."

Madi crouches beside him, placing her hands on his stomach, where the blood was pooling.

Groaning, Richard lay his head back against the floor, feeling Madisons hands frantically trying to stop the blood seeping out of him.

She glances up at his face when he softly places his hand on top of hers, giving her a brief smile, there and gone all in a moment, but long enough and soft enough to burn in her memory forever as he slowly closes his eyes.

The last thing she hears from him was a short, suffocating breath before he went limp against the floor.

Madi had felt the thumping of hearts cease before, she'd often been the cause of it, but his, she'd remember the feeling of his chest stilling for a lifetime.

She was so entranced by trying to wake him up, that she hadn't even noticed Barney run past her.

Her attention was on Richards body, she wouldn't leave it here. It didn't move from him until she felt Ashton softly pulling her away, tucking her into his chest.