Niall had won two awards like it was nothing. He held affectionate speeches and even mentioned me in his first one, telling the world how he couldn't have done it without me. With that, a camera was shoved right up my face. I had been slightly shocked, but I managed to push out a sheepish grin and blow him a kiss. I could already picture how Mark was laughing his ass off backstage, where he was waiting for Niall.
I really wanted the ground to swallow me whole when the camera finally moved away from me. I was so not good at this. When Niall walked back, he received many congratulations from his fellow musicians and other important music industry figures. He finally dropped in his seat next to mine, where he looked at me with his sparkling eyes. " Don't you ever do that again," I muttered through my clenched teeth, so softly only he could hear it. Niall couldn't help but bark out a laugh.
The show passed extremely quick, and I had enjoyed every single bit of it. It was something I wouldn't experience ever again in my life but would remember forever. Just being here, seeing everything happen in such close proximity was a miracle itself.
I had noticed recently, especially after today, that this job had changed me in a positive way. The old Mercer would've thought this was commercial nonsense and would've protested with all her might not to get sent down here. But, now I started to get to know Niall better, the more I started to like him. He wasn't how I expected him to be, while nine out of ten times, my gut feeling about someone was right.
Niall and I had joined a group who were also on their way to the MTV after party. I recognized them from tv, but I wasn't sure what their names were. Mark had gone ahead to pick up the car.
I was wearing my in-ear again and had turned the brooch microphone back on, while Niall and I walked out, hand-in-hand.
I heard a familiar sound. Pop, pop, pop. Half a second later, I pushed Niall on the floor and pushed myself on him. The bullets drilled in the cardboard EMA walls behind us. People started screaming, and I could hear Niall repeat my name over and over again. I could smell the familiar scent of gunpowder lingering in the air.
" Get down, get down!" I shouted as I grabbed the loaded Glock out of my purse. I swung the cord of the purse around my neck so I wouldn't lose it.
" Uniform five, Fulton is under fire. I repeat, Fulton under fire!"
I looked at the cardboard EMA walls. The way they had pierced through, I could tell the bullets had come from somewhere up high. I followed the radius it must've come from, and noticed the spot where our sharpshooter, Uniform five, was supposed to be. I swallowed.
" Uniform five, do you copy?" I didn't get any response. I swore. He had to be dead, otherwise, he would've responded. I dragged Niall towards the covered crush barriers. I grabbed one of the telephoto lenses a photographer had dropped and pointed it towards the spot Uniform five had to be as well as I could.
" This is uniform One, speaking on behalf of all Uniforms. We're stuck in the panicking crowd. They're all running back inside," Uniform one spoke through my earpiece. " You best make sure you'll get through, or you won't have a job to return to tomorrow, you worthless pieces of shit!" I shouted angrily.
" The suspect has been spotted in the tower, Uniform Five may have been terminated. Put that motherfucker down, I swear to god, kill him if you must. I am going to get Niall to safety, over and out." I took out my earpiece and ripped the brooch off my dress. That piece of shit could be wearing Uniform Five's earpiece for all I knew. I wasn't going to take any risks.
I had seen the sniper, but not the sharpshooter behind it. The person started firing again, but aimed without precision all sharpshooters possessed, which made me believe he wasn't a sharpshooter after all.
I took Niall by his arm. All life seemed to have drained his face, his blue eyes big like does. " We have to run. He's not a professional, so the chances of him actually hitting us will be slim. I will protect your side, while we run towards the car." Niall just nodded. He was in shock, my alert brains registered. Poor kid.
" Repeat what I just told you," I demanded.
" Run- run towards the car," He stammered. I nodded. " As fast as you can. And if I get hit, you'll continue, alright? Don't wait for me, I'll be fine." Niall nodded slowly, so slow I wanted to rattle him. I managed to keep my cool, and instead, I helped him get up in a crouch. I took the position on the outside, where I would be the first person to get hit. " I'll count down, alright? We move at three," Niall nodded absent-mindedly. Fuck.
" One... Two... Three!" We both started sprinting. I had to hold back not to run past him, but at his pace. I could hear the automatic firearm shoot again, it's bullets piercing through the cardboard walls behind us. I tried to shoot at the spot, but this gun wasn't made for shooting long distances and the bullet missed the target.
A sharp pain shot through my arm. I let out an exasperated scream. I had been hit, fuck! I noticed how the white fabric started to turn red. Shit, shit, shit. I moved my gun in my injured arm and clamped the wound. I held back a whine. Shit, that hurt. My hand quickly turned sticky and wet with blood.
We reached the end of the red carpet, and the car wasn't here. Where the hell was Mark? Why didn't he respond back there?! I couldn't wait for him, it was too dangerous. I scanned the surroundings and heard a possible way out. " Follow me!" I shouted to Niall, who followed me like a loyal Labrador retriever. The look in his eyes made me want to cry. He wasn't here, not mentally at least. I could hope he'd just keep running, and follow my orders.
I cursed that goddamn stylist who insisted on me wearing heels. I could feel the pain shooting through my legs with every step I took.
We ran in the opposite direction, towards the big parking lot.
I spotted a motorcycle, of which I thought I had heard it. Someone was leaning against it, not aware of what had just happened. Perhaps he was just stoned. In the meantime, the bullets hit the pavement, shooting debris towards our feet.
" MI6! I need to borrow your motorcycle. This is an emergency!" I shouted towards the man. He looked at my arm, and I saw how he recognized Niall. " You'll get it back, I promise," I said.
The man didn't hesitate as he handed me the keys. I threw one leg over the motorcycle and ordered Niall to do the same. I handed him the only helmet. I would manage without one. With my weapon clasped between my legs, I started the bike and drove off. Niall's hands were wrapped around my waist so tightly, I could barely breathe.
The motorcycle was thriving beneath me, as it shot us forward on to the A102. I zigzagged through the cars on the A102, breaking about twenty rules that'd get me in jail, but I didn't care. My injured arm started to hurt now, the adrenaline slowly wearing off and revealing the pain it hid. I gritted my teeth in an attempt to push back the pain and pushed the pedal even further down.
I heard the sound before I noticed the bullets scattering around us like hail. Niall quaked behind me. I shot a quick glance in my rearview mirror and saw how a motorcycle pulled up behind us. They were following us. They were fucking following us!
" Are you alright?" I yelled over my shoulder.
" Y- Yes," his trembling voice said close by my ear. His hot breath shot a shiver down my spine.
I zigzagged even more now, which people did not seem to appreciate by the sound of their horns. I normally didn't care, but now I even cared less.
" Grab my gun," I shouted over the roaring sound of our motorcycle and the wind to Niall. " What?" He stammered.
" My fucking weapon! It's in front of me. Take it, aim at the guy following us and shoot!" I shouted. I would get in a lot of trouble if he'd hit an innocent bystander. But, with my injured arm and being in the front of the motorcycle, I simply couldn't do it. Not without risking both our life's even more.
I noticed how he dropped one of his trembling hands and searched blindly for it. He found it, eventually and took it. I released the pressure between my legs where I had kept my gun, which was so much more comfortable.
" It's not working!" He called. I gritted my teeth, " You have to release the safety pin, the one that sticks out! Pull the black thing towards you to load it, aim and shoot like they do in movies!"
OF course, he had never fired a gun. I bit my lip as I shot a quick glance at my wound. It would require stitches, that one.
" It's not working!" He wailed. " Give it to me," I said, and released one hand off the handlebar to take it from him. With a quick motion, I took off the safety pin and loaded the gun with one hand while I clasped it between my leg and the bike.
" Stay seated, and don't fucking move, or we'll both be dead!" I shouted at him across my shoulder. " Okay," He responded quietly.
Keeping a motorcycle balanced was a task itself by just sitting on it. Having to fire a gun, while carrying someone else with you on that motorcycle ànd keep it in balance, was a whole different level.
I took in a breath, and with a solid and swift motion, I stood up and twisted my upper body. I saw him immediately, fully clad in black with a matching motorcycle. I noticed the automatic firearm on his bike and didn't hesitate as I fired two shots at him. He managed to dodge both shots. I cursed. People honked fiercely around us. I hadn't hit any of them, thankfully. I turned back around and threw my hands back on the handlebar, my gun still in my not-injured hand. It was a close call; I had to throw all my skills in to keep the motorbike from tipping over. I groaned, as I finally managed to steady the bike.
" Holy fuck," Niall muttered behind me, gasping for breath.
I saw how the exit to the A2 was approaching fast, which would take us to London Central.
The time it had taken me to get here, felt like hours. But I knew that I'd never got from the O2 to here this fast.
I acted as if we would remain on the A102, but shot right onto the exit to the A2 before it passed us. I shot a glance at my rearview mirror and saw he was still following us. I cursed. What was this kind of shit? It was like we were in the middle of a film, for heaven's sake.
" Are you still alive?"I yelled at Niall as I zigzagged between the car's, switching lanes so quick I had barely time to keep up.
" Barely! Since when can you ride a motorcycle?" He shouted in my ear.
" Ever since I got my license, of course!" I responded. I could hear him laugh, despite the situation.
I was awfully aware of Niall now. Of how close he was, and how his arms were still tightly wrapped around my waist.
Fuck, Focus, Mercer, you idiot. You have to get him to safety.
The person following us started shooting again. One bullet ceased my hand which shocked me. The split second it took me to lose my focus, made the motorcycle sway dangerously. " Hold on!" I shouted at Niall.
" Shit, shit, shit!" Niall shouted, utterly scared again. I clenched my teeth and managed to balance the bike again. Thankfully, the bullet only ceased my hand - the one on my non-injured arm. Despite it being just a scratch, it was blooding excessively.
" Shit, Mercer, you're bleeding!" Niall gulped. " I have been, for a little while. I won't bleed out." I wasn't sure he had heard me, because he didn't respond.
I drove off the cloverleaf interchange and drove towards the Tower Bridge, the heart of the center. Hopefully, there'd be metro police there, considering they had built an EMA stage there.
I quickly noticed the roadblocks the police had put there.
" Brace yourself," I shouted at Niall, whose arms wrapped around my waist even tighter. I felt like I would throw up my own organs if he'd keep up that grip.
I steered the bike on the sidewalk and drove past the roadblock. The Metro Police noticed a fraction too late, that I had gone past, and started shouting.
" MI6, Emergency!" I shouted back, and shot with full speed past the Tower, on to the Lower Thames Street. The agent stared at me in disbelief.
The motorcycle was still behind us. " Why doesn't he want to die?" I hissed. Behind us, sirens started to get off, an indication that the Metro Police were closing in on us, or at least tried to. I knew I had broken hundreds of rules by now, and I couldn't care less.
I had loaded my gun again and balanced the motorcycle between my legs. With a motion quicker than the last time, I turned around and shot. One, at his hand. He started to sway.
I turned back around, the bike still balanced and pushed down the gas pedal even more. We shot forward. I took a turn, towards St. Paul's Cathedral, and noticed we were losing him slowly. When I had taken three unexpected turns, I noticed we had lost him. I drove into the first alley I saw and turned off the engine.
The alley was an entrance to an office building, I said as I scanned the alley. " Stay quiet," I said to Niall, listening to see if I could hear his motorcycle. After five, quiet minutes, I slid off the motorcycle and leaned against the graffiti daubed wall.
" Shit," I muttered and turned away from Niall. I took my phone out of my damaged bag and saw I had thirty-three missed calls from Kellan. I hadn't heard it- the wind and the loud roaring of the motorcycle had made sure of that. I called him back. It only took two rings, when he picked up the phone.
" Mercer, where the fuck are you? Are you alright? Are you still alive?" I swallowed, trying to lubricate my raw throat. The adrenaline slowly wore off, which made me feel really light-headed. I slid down the wall, on the floor and tried to cool my hot face on the dirty, but very cool walls.
" Yeah," I managed to say. I looked at my arm and let out a hiss. I dropped the phone out of my hands. Niall had turned to me, his face pale and drawn with fear. " Are you alright?" He asked as he crouched down beside me. He now saw my bloodied arm and cursed.
" Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. That's not good. That's not good at all."
I noticed how my eyes suddenly got very heavy. No, not now, I thought as I fought back. " Kellan..." I managed to say, as I pointed at the phone I dropped. Niall grabbed it and started talking.
" Lost a lot of blood... She got hit in her arm and hand... Losing her.. Mercer, stay with me, please. Mercer? ... I'm trying to, you son of a bitch! Send a fucking ambulance!" And with those last words, I lost conscience.