michael ;
i took marcel around the shoulders and turned him around so that he faced the front again. the masks on the men's faces were starting to freak me out so i couldn't imagine how he felt as a fifteen year old boy.
ashton was starting to get frantic as he pushed on the pedal, leaning forward slightly as if this was going to speed him up. i couldn't blame him though, i'm sure we all just wanted to get away.
the new guy, luke i believe, was tapping his leg frantically beside me and it was starting to bug me. he looked like he was in his early twenties and didn't seem like he was the type of person who had ever dealt with tough things in his life.
lucky him.
ashton broke my analysis as he spoke out, also breaking the silence.
"we need to shoot." his right hand came off the steering wheel, reaching to his lap and revealing a pistol that he thrust into the girl's direction. "roll down your window, do not lean out fully but shoot behind."
"we're going to loose a lot of bullets -"
"she can't do that!" luke shouted out, cutting off my small protest about how wildly she'd be shooting. ashton, however, didn't even spare us a glance.
"try to keep your hand steady clem," so that was her name "i know you can do it." she was nodding along, staring at the gun in her hands. luke tried to reach forward to take it away from her, shouting protests with a look of horror on his face.
"luke!" clem snapped, shutting everything up in the car but the sound of the engine. "i can do it."
ashton nodded, happy with his choice as he flicked his eyes up at the rear view mirror, catching my eyes. i raised an eyebrow, wondering if he was going to hand me a gun but i watched his view move from me to my son.
"no." i growled, tightening my grip around marcel. i could feel my eyebrows furrowing as i guessed what ashton was going to say next.
"marcel, listen to me. there's a machine gun in that bag, i need you to grab it." his voice was firm and, knowing my son, he was going to want to listen to him "to do what was right". i now regretted teaching him that mindset. he was wiggling as i protested.
"i don't want my son handling a gun!"
"dad, you said you didn't want to see me with a gun unless i was fighting for my life. i think this would be fighting for all of our lives!" i stared at him, not breaking eye contact as i studied his face, hoping to a god i didn't believe in that i'd know whether this was the right thing to do.
my arms loosened, maybe it was unconciously realising he wanted to step up, something i rarely let him do. but he must have seen some sort of acceptance as he half-smiled before getting to work by pulling the bag half up so he could unzip it.
i sighed, running a hand through my hair as luke patted my back awkwardly. i glanced at him, raising my eyebrow which made him pull away quickly and blush. i smiled, reminding myself he was a good man and turned back to ashton. "so, what's your plan?"
ashton ;
i watched michael let his son go who rushed to do as i asked. a swell of guilt raised in my stomach but i tried to push it down.
i realised how horrible it was of me to choose those two people to put themselves in danger due to them being the weakest link. i wasn't that kind of person but i came out tonight for one reason and one reason only, to raise awareness against the purge.
i didn't ask for people tagging along.
"so, what's your plan?" i concentrated on the road's turns as i considered michael's question, hearing the rushing wind fly past the now open windows.
"soon, we aren't going to have any petrol left. we have no where to go that's sheltered and away from snipers. we have people chasing us who don't look like they're giving up soon and we need somewhere to go." i sighed, knowing this was obvious that i had no plan. at least, no plan i was going to tell any of them.
"the underground." clem had her tongue sticking out of her mouth as she held the gun backwards, shooting the gun. i could hear marcel moving around behind me as if he was setting himself up.
i nodded, agreeing with her as i worked out where the nearest enterence is. judging by the vehicles that the people chasing us had, they were unlikely to follow us down a load of steps. the problem would be getting from the car to safety.
"so, do you have a plan?" michael sounded worried and i realised why when a machiene gun started to shoot. the swell of guilt started to grow again but i forced it away so i could explain my plan to them.
