Lennon.
“One dead…”
I stumbled to my feet, the back of my legs felt like they were on the fire. The car blew in seconds, throwing me in the air and across the tarmac road. The blow hit my legs with such power I was knocked off my feet. The denim from my jeans was evidently burnt to the back of my shins, it was almost too painful to stand. But I was alive by a fraction of a second, any later or a foot and a half closer to the car than I was, I would have been burnt to ashes. I didn’t turn around as I jumped from the car, he was still lying on the ground, it would have been looking at death.
“Four survivors. Rick.” Zayn was communicating with who I could only assume was Paul via a phone device attached to his watch. Rick was the one who had died and was still continuing to burn twenty feet away.
“We’re still being attacked.” I heard Zayn inform them, and he was right. We were completely surrounded by at least thirty men all pointing different types of guns and weapons in our direction. No one had fired a shot since the car blew, there was too much smoke around to see anything three feet in front of you.
I stumbled towards Harry, almost dragging my left foot behind me, the pain shooting all the way up through my body. His arms were quickly underneath mine helping me stand up straight. Both of us were struggling to breathe, the smoke sweeping around us and expanding all the time.
“I told you not to get yourself killed.” Harry grunted as he stretched out my limbs and scanned my face for injuries.
“I’m alive.”
“Only just.”
Now wasn’t the time to have an argument. Zayn and the second unknown man, who I heard Zayn call Oli, approached us cautiously, all of us aware we were being watched. I blew the smoke away from my face trying to find some fresh air so I could have at least one breath of clean air. Police sirens could be heard in the distance and no doubt fire engines too but the police would take one look at who’s around and scarper into thin air.
“They’re coming now.” Zayn informed us as we huddled in a small circle, all of us were breathing erratically and heavy, coughing up our lungs almost with every breath. We couldn’t escape the smoke, we’d be walking straight into their arms.
“And what do we do until then? We can’t stay here.” Harry spat back impatiently before having another coughing fit. “We’re gonna die of smoke inhalation if we don’t move soon.” However, he was right, any longer in the smoke cloud and we would be smothered in the black fog.
“Any other injuries?” Zayn gasped breathlessly, looking around at each one of us. The other two shook their heads, Zayn waited for my answer as I looked down towards my legs. Harry looked at me too, he hadn’t noticed the back of my scolded limbs earlier.
“It’s just the back of my shins,” I explained hesitantly as I turned on the spot. Zayn crouched down to get a better view, I almost kicked him in the face when he touched it.
“Bloody fucking hell,” he groaned standing back up, Harry was looking at him for an explanation. “Your jeans have melted into the skin, it’s verging on third degree burns.”
“What the fuck are we supposed to do about that now? We can’t just let her carry on, she can barely walk.”
“Harry, I’m fine.” And truth was, I was feeling almost fine. The adrenaline and near death had created some sort of rush inside, the pain was almost invisible, my legs only feeling slightly numb but the skin felt hot, burning hot.
“Your skin is half missing, you can’t just say you’re fine.”
“My leg could be dangling half of and I’d still do this.”
“I swear to God.”
It wasn’t the wisest of moves and I knew I needed medical treatment immediately but there wasn’t an ambulance or paramedic in sight. The longer I left it the more it would scar and the worse it would become, blisters would appear soon, time was most definitely not on my side. The sirens had grown close but faded away just as quick. The car was still burning lively, the smoke had now rose from the ground leaving us almost uncovered and vulnerable.
I couldn’t run away because any direction I ran in I’d be taken by them, dead or alive. I don’t think they knew I was in the car, something told me Sykes wouldn’t be overly pleased if they had killed me before he’d got what he wanted. And especially because he wasn’t the one who would have killed me. The windows of the car were tinted except the windscreen, they would have seen Harry and Zayn and taken action without a second thought – idiots.
“Guys…” I flicked my head upwards as Zayn’s voice filled my ears, his tone a little shaky and unstable. I gulped before turning to face what he was looking at. I hobbled on the spot and pivoted all the way round. I was clinging onto Harry’s arm for support, the muscles in my legs refused to co-operate fully with me.
“DROP YOUR WEAPONS!” A man with a machine gun pointed straight at us shouted through the residue of the smoke. I looked at Harry sceptically, silently asking what to do. I didn’t want to disarm myself but he wasn’t exactly giving us much choice. I’d seen in all the shows, if any of us tried to fire first he’d already be pulling the trigger before we’d have the chance.
“Do it.” Zayn calmly told us, the sound of his weapon hit the floor. It scraped against the road so it was out of our reach. Harry and Oli followed suit, taking out and dropping their guns across the tarmac. Harry looked at me waiting for me to copy.
“AND THE GIRL, DROP IT!”
“Lennon,” Harry hissed, jerking his head towards the floor. I plucked the weapon from the back of jeans. It clung to my skin, the metal still warm after the flames had hit it. The vest I was wearing protected the majority of my back mercifully. I kicked it across the road along with the others after that.
“What the fuck do we do now?” I hissed but kept my focus on the man in front of us, only twenty or so feet away. The damage the machine gun could do at this distance was unimaginable.
“We can’t do anything, we’re unarmed. We wait for back up.”
“Are you serious Zayn, you just want us to stand here and wait?”
“We’re unarmed, we take one step and they shoot us dead.”
I gritted my teeth, grinding my top and lower jaw together. The pain was beginning to feel more evident, shooting up through my limbs, it was so intense I had to keep taking sharp breaths every time it rifled through my body. I would have done anything for some cold water right then, my legs felt like they were on fire.
“STYLES,” The man yelled after one of the other East siders had rounded up our weapons from the middle of the road. There were no civilians about, not a single person and no one even spying through a window. They had planned this to a T.
“GET DOWN ON YOUR NEEDS AND PUT YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD!” The mans smirk at the end was chilling and alarming. He positioned the gun so it rested comfortable on his shoulder, squinting one eye he lined up is aim looking down the barrel.
“Don’t do it Harry,” I spoke steadily but firmly. I saw him begin to move, his knees bending towards the ground. “Don’t do it Harry.” I repeated only louder. He wasn’t listening.
“SAY YOUR PRAYERS!”
“NO!” I screamed from the back of my throat as loud as humanly possible. I whipped my body in front of Harry’s shielding him with my arms and legs, creating as much surface area as possible so little of him could be seen.
“MOVE!”
“NO!”
“Lennon, move.” Harry whispered from behind of me. I turned my head slightly over my shoulder and snapped back at him. He looked taken back by my growl and fierce tone but if he thought I was just going to let him die so easily and undignified he had another thing coming.
“YOU WANT TO KILL HIM? YOU KILL ME FIRST THEN!” I yelled at the man, I held my breath waiting for his reaction. He didn’t move, his stance didn’t falter, but several long drawn out seconds passed, silence looming over us but he still didn’t fire a single shot. “YOU CAN’T KILL ME, SYKES WILL KILL YOU.”
“Lennon what the fuck are you doing?!” Harry hissed from behind, I could only imagine the scared look upon his face.
“I’m taking us to Sykes and ending this once and for all.” I whispered harshly back, still staring the man dead in the eyes.
I ran my tongue over my front teeth, breathed in deeply and balled my fists up at my sides. I stared the man straight in the eyes, even from a distance I could see the menacing dark blue shade his eyes held. I concentrated solely on his eyes, my eyes becoming wider and more intense with every small step I took towards him. I ignored the shouts of Harry and Zayn from behind me. No one tried to pull me back as I stalked over. My teeth grinded together as my fingernails dug into the palms of my hands.
I was two feet away from the barrel of the gun, if he fired now I’d be blown to dust. I never blinked, my gaze penetrating through his. He almost seemed surprised at my fearless actions, the second I took a step closer I noticed out of the corner of my eye his hands shaking. I tried to fight off the smirk that was threatening to form on my face. He was breaking under my stare almost too easily. One final step and the muzzle of the gun was pressed against my sternum. I leant into it, the weapon became unsteady in his hands. I raised an eyebrow and narrowed my eyes at him. My expression was almost saying; ‘do you dare?’ And he didn’t.
“You’re a monster,” he sneered but his voice trembled under my vision.
“You’re the one holding a gun against my chest.” I replied in a calm manner, a sort of content tone in the situation it made everything more tense.
He looked downwards at the weapon as I pressed even harder against it, his arms retracted slightly so it dropped down. I continued to stalk forwards inching closer and closer until the weapon had dropped to his side under my control. He was six foot and over but my eyes made him feel a lot smaller.
“Take me to Sykes.” I hissed assertively.
“You’re a monster.” He repeated as if I hadn’t heard the first time. I was the monster that The East wanted though, a monster that could apparently help them take over the city.
I rolled my eyes at his repetitiveness before bringing my arms above my head too quick for him to react. I glared him straight in the eyes, I could only presume what my own eyes looked like. Almost completely black and threatening. I pushed my fingers extremely hard against the temples on his forehead and watched him crumble under my touch. He was cold on the floor within seconds, unconscious but still breathing – for now.
I stepped back at looked at the faces of the rest of The East. The weapons in their hands suddenly faltering from their aimed positions. There were men on rooftops, on the ground and in cars. I snatched the machine gun from the man lying on the floor and swung the strap over my body tightly.
“Who’s next then?” I shouted, gazing around at the vast amount of people that were against us. Our back up still hadn’t turned up which made me agitated, they would be here soon, it was only a short drive.
“No one? Okay then. If no one wants to go next, someone take us to Sykes.” I physically demanded as if they were all under my control. They were all fully armed yet a girl with eyes that could turn black made them all shake in their boots. I couldn’t let the power turn me stupid though, that wouldn’t end well, it had to be a thoughtful process.
I stalked over towards a car, it was a black SUV, American model I could only assume. I yanked the back door open, the driver sat completely still and refused to look me in the eye. The car was empty besides him – I checked the trunk and passenger side before I walked back around and flung the drivers door open. As tempting as it was to pull him out, he could be our quick entrance to Sykes.
I snapped his face around to look at me, holding his chin tightly in my grasp. “You’re gonna drive us to Sykes, understand?” I spat viciously making sure he understood how serious I was. He nodded and fought his way from my grasp. I turned to look at Harry and Zayn and jerked my head, ordering them to walk over, which they did but extremely warily. I slammed the front door shut and turned to face them properly. Zayn said nothing as did Oil when they climbed into the back, Harry waited behind however.
“This is too dangerous.”
“I just saved your life, a simple thank you would suffice.”
“Lennon we could be walking straight into a trap.”
“By the looks of it, we already did that.” I retaliated back. He looked over his shoulder at the burning car and whipped his back to the front again.
“Do you have a plan for when we get there? We’re unarmed.” I pulled the machine gun off my body and thrust it in his direction forcefully, he barely had chance to register it in his hands.
“No we’re not. The others will be here soon, they’ll take care off these guys, we take out Sykes now. The sooner the better.”
“And how do you intend on doing that?”
“I’ll think of that when we get there.”
“Lennon.”
“No Harry, what other option do we have? If we stay here they’ll kill you, I can’t hold all of them off. If we go to Sykes we can at least try.”
“Fine. But I’m sitting up front.”
“No if they see you in the front they’ll attack the car again. I’ll go upfront.”
I left him speechless as I stalked around the car and climbed into the passenger seat. I clipped my seatbelt across, fully aware this guy could attempt to crash the car if he really wanted too. I turned to look at him, his hands were gripping the steering wheel so tight they were pale, his veins protruding through his skin.
The atmosphere would have been even more intense if I had a gun pointed against his head but I didn’t have one so I glowered at and spoke lowly; “Drive.”
The engine kicked into life and he pulled away from the curb hesitantly, completed a U-Turn before heading in the direction of the warehouse. I pulled the glove box open and hauled out two handguns – it was predictable there would be weapons hidden inside, I passed one back to Zayn and kept one for myself. In the side of the door was a knife, which I handed behind to Oil, it wasn’t a gun but it was better than nothing.
The warehouse was in sight within minutes, the nerves were bubbling in my stomach and the pain from my legs was still very obvious, but I was going to grin and bare it. The warehouse had full security and fully operational gates at the entrance. The driver, obviously extremely nervous about driving us through, he almost stopped but I sharply pulled out the gun I found and held it against his crotch. I watched his Adams apple bob up and down as he gulped and moved out of first gear. He typed in a code for the gate, which I memorised but Zayn was already ahead of me, he was informing Paul again, on the code and our whereabouts.
The car halted outside the two massive doors, which took up the whole of the front side of the building. There was a small side door next to them, the size of a regular door. He switched the engine off and sat deadly still, waiting for my next demand.
“Don’t move.” I grunted. I swung the door open, the others following. I waited for the others to meet me in front of the car. Zayn scoped the area quickly as we quickly scurried towards the side door trying to avoid being seen. I looked around before placing my hand on the door handle, I was about to pull it down to open it, but someone on the inside beat me to it. I skidded back, thumping against Harry as it swung open with force. The person inside was in mid conversation until he saw us. My eyes widened, the wind was physically knocked out of me and I felt Harry tense up behind. He was fully armed and definitely one of them and I hadn’t seen it coming.
“Dom?”
....