Chapter
23
“You’re
never going to get away with this,” one of the cops said angrily.
“Probably
not. But I’m bringing as many people down with me as I can.” As he spoke, the
cashier, still by the other wall, couldn’t take it anymore. With a terrified
shriek, she bolted to her feet and made a run for the exit. One of the
remaining cops leaped for her, but it was in vain.
Thief
number two choked Brian tighter with his arm as he aimed the gun and fired.
A.J. moaned as the back of her head appeared to cave in as the bullet impacted.
Her scream was short lived, and she was dead before she hit the floor.
Brian
gagged for breath, the grip his captor had on him had closed off his windpipe.
He began to struggle for a breath.
At
the same instant, one of the officers fired back at him. He had moved just
enough to be able to get around Brian to shoot that he offered a target, and
the opportunity was not lost.
For
the third time in just a few hours, someone else’s blood poured over Brian.
With a frantic yelp he pushed the wounded man away from him, and reached for
Lila.
“Get
out of here!” A.J. hollered. “Get out of here!”
His
assailant began cursing and swearing, but did not let go of his hostage. It was
all he had. He was losing, and he knew it.
Brian
stumbled to his feet holding Lila in his arms. He did not know if she was still
breathing, nor did he have time to find out. He headed blindly for the door.
Furious
that it was going to end like this, thief number one stretched for his gun that
lay close to his head. A.J. felt him move, and immediately realized what he was
trying to do.
“Bastard!”
A.J. yelled. He shoved his own body harder against him, hoping to prevent him
from acquiring his goal. To his dismay, instead of deterring him, his movement
actually allowed him to grab on to the weapon he sought. He did little to aim
it, he just trusted to luck.
The
scream was already loosed from A.J. when the first bullet left the gun. Almost
in slow motion, he witnessed Brian look back over his shoulder, a look of doom
permeating his eyes. Like a moment out of a nightmare, Brian fell forward as
one of the bullets found its target in his upper arm. It spun him halfway around,
and he went down hard.
“No!”
A.J. screeched. “No!”
Brian
scooted backwards frantically, tightening his hold on Lila with his good arm,
dragging her with him, as his injured one dangled by his side. His blue eyes
were wide with terror, but he kept his mind on his goal: getting to the door.
He had to get to the door.
A.J.
fought like a mad thing, having managed to knock the knife away from his
throat. He would not let him get another shot of. He would not. The next bullet
would have to go through him. Deep down he knew that it very well might.
Kevin
and the others were brought to what was deemed a safe distance from the
backdoors of the building. Cops stood all around it, guns ready, but had been
told to back off a safe distance thanks to the fiasco that had taken place
inside. One of the men inside had his radio on, and sounds from inside filtered
over the speaker.
Kevin
listened in pure horror as he heard the sounds of a struggle. It simply
couldn’t be true. It couldn’t be happening. He reached out for something to
support him, and found Nick at his side, steadying him. Nick was staring
straight ahead, his jaw set. His face was void of emotion, he just focused on
the double doors. It was almost as if he concentrated hard enough, he could
make them open, and make Brian and A.J. walk out of them.
Howie
choked out a sob as the sound of A.J. yelling to Brian cut through the static
of the speaker.
“We
have to do something, for the love of God,” he whimpered.
“There’s
nothing we can do,” Kevin said grimly.
“Marie?”
Ellie said, her voice rising anxiously. “Marie?”
Marie
was breathing in and out, rapid and shallow.
“Put
your head between your knees,” Julie ordered, shoving her head down. A cop came
up and tried to lead her away.
“No!”
she gasped out. “I’m all right. I’m all right!”
“Get
them out of there, oh please get them out of there,” Becca said desperately.
“Look!”
Howie shouted.
Before
anyone could stop him, Kevin broke into a run.
***
