A Flash of Red

Chapter Forty-Three

Harry

"Haz, it's time to get up. We've gotta move."

She spoke quietly and she shook my shoulder. I opened my eyes quickly and sat up. I hadn't even realized I had fallen asleep.

"Right." I said while clearing my throat.

After making sure we didn't leave any trace, the five of us headed out of the apartment building.

"I'm scared." Leila confessed from beside me.

"That's alright."

"You're not scared." It wasn't a question, but a statement.

"Of course I am. But sometimes the acceptance of something makes it easier to comprehend and deal with." She looked at me, confused. "I know what the circumstances and risks are. I've come to terms with them. Being scared won't benefit me at all, so I swallow it."

She nodded, taking a deep breath.

"Right."

"Everybody listen up." We all walked closer to Dimitri. "This is going to be rough. It's the hot spot. It's crawling with Containers. There aren't any alleys for a while so we'll be walking on the street. When I say run, you run. The library is another mile and a half away. We can make it in an hour if we try. Everybody understand?" Nods. "Let's go."

The first twenty minutes went far smoother than expected. We looked in storefronts for supplies, finding two sealed water bottles. We passed them around, each drinking a share of them. Tara had been coughing for the past 14 hours so I took a quick swig before giving her my portion. She denied it but I made her drink it. As she drank, she elbowed me in the side, but thanked me after.

"I'm so excited to see everyone." MaryAnn whispered. "It's been so long."

"They'll be excited to see you, too." I responded.

"How's Jessica? And the baby? Is the baby alright?"

"The baby's alright. It's a boy. His name is Collin. He's a happy one."

"I'd imagine he would be with a mother like Jessica and a great group of people. It's like an episode of Full House down there."

I laughed.

Leila fell.

I ran to her side and saw the blood.

"Leila! What hap-."

Glass shattered above me. Gunshots. I hadn't heard the first one. The others crouched beside me. Tara grabbed and held Leila's hand. MaryAnn looked at the wound. It was deep and in the middle of her abdomen. I watched as Leila's chest rose and fell quickly. She was struggling to breathe.

"Dimitri, run ahead with her and find somewhere to set her down. I need to get the bullet out. We'll follow, just get her out of here and away from all of this."

He nodded, picking her up and running. Leila screamed as her body was being tossed around. He gave me a look and I nodded.

"We're going, too. Let's move. You two go first, I'll run behind you." I ordered. The girls nodded, standing up and following Dimitri.

I stood up quickly and ran after them. Clanging metal sounded as gunshots hit the mailbox we were previously hiding behind. I heard glass once again shatter next to me as a gunshot narrowly missed. I kept my breathing even and my eyes on the girls in front of me.

We ran for three minutes before Dimitri rounded a corner. We all followed suit but didn't see him when we turned.

"Harry! In here." I turned to see his head poking out of the lobby of an apartment building. We jogged in to see him placing Leila's body behind the security desk.