Treacherous

Coward

Blaise was crouched down in front of me, his knife gripped tightly in his hand while a gun was tucked safely in the waistband of his jeans. Across the road, Alex and an older man, Jordan, were hiding in the doorway of an old shoe store. Our target was the abandoned hospital up the street. It had already been looted, according to Blaise, but there was a rumor that all of the medical supplies hadn't been taken. We were about to find out if that was true or not.

Luciano had received word that the Ivory Tears were also after medical supplies from the same hospital. They were the main threat of this mission, apparently. A few drunks were supposed to be living in there, but they were supposed to be minor in comparison to the rival gang of the Roses.

Blaise grabbed my arm and pulled me up the street with him. Apparently he had motioned for me to move with him. I'd obviously missed it. I managed to get my feet under me and keep up with Blaise fairly easy as we ran towards the hospital. He pulled me into the parking garage. We flattened ourselves against the wall, waiting for Blaise and Jordan to catch up.

When they did, we crept forward, trying to stick to the walls in case the Tears really were there and had lookouts in place. Lilah and Becca were our own lookouts, hidden in two separate buildings that were situated close to the hospital.

Blaise pried the side door open and we slipped into the emergency stairwell. We moved towards the basement, where some of the supplies were supposed to be situated. The door down there was already open. Blaise pressed himself up against the wall, his arm shooting out and shoving me against it as well.

Inside the room, there was someone moving around. A tall, muscular frame had its back to us. Blaise gripped his knife tighter and slowly moved his arm off of me. I gripped my own knife tight, my breath catching in my throat. Apparently Luciano's informant had been correct.

Blaise crept forward slowly and disappeared in the room. He was gone for a few moments before his hand appeared, holding up three fingers. Three more people were in there. Alex moved around me and I followed him into the room, sticking close to his side. So much for not being directly involved in the fight.

Alex moved forward, hiding behind the shelves in the supply room. I caught a glimpse of a female leaned over a box of what appeared to be medical records, a flashlight dangling from her mouth. The third person was another male, standing at a shelf and shoving materials into a backpack.

Before I knew what was happening, Blaise launched himself out of the shadows and at the man at the shelf. Alex charged out at the other male. The woman spun around, moving to attack Blaise. I had to get out there. I had to do something. I was supposed to, right? That was why I was there, after all. That was what all of that training was supposed to be for.

I took a deep breath and charged out from behind the shelf towards the woman. I could do this. I didn't have to kill her. I just had to protect Blaise and Alex.

She cried out as I collided into her. It wasn't much different from tackling someone on the playground. Until she tried to choke me.

I elbowed her in the face. I swallowed back a cry as pain ran through my arm on contact. She screamed. Her knee thrust up into my stomach. The air rushed out of my lungs, forcing a strangled moan out of my mouth. I stumbled back, gasping for air. She jumped to her feet and shoved me into a shelf, fighting to get my knife out of my hand.

My knife. Somehow I had kept ahold of it the entire time, yet I'd forgotten that I even had it. My grip on it tightened. The girl kept clawing at my hand to free it.

I thrust my knee into her stomach. She faltered, but only for a second. Pain spread through my face. I could taste blood. She'd split my lip open. My grip on my knife loosened. My free hand went to my mouth.