The men in front of us are clearly waiting for backup. And so is the group hiding out in the room behind us.
Fuck. Me.Backup.
The significance of that erupts in my brain. The men in the warehouse right now represent only a few members of the Moretti and Coltello groups. We went through all this trouble to kill what probably amounts to a tiny portion of the threat to Piper.
We’re too fucking early.
I can feel Josh silently decomposing beside me. But my mind is sharp. I thrive on danger. It helps me think.
The men in front of us don’t want to shoot. They’ve spotted the bomb, and their minds are clearly working hard. If they fire theirguns, it will alert their enemies to their presence. And they’ve probably received strict orders.
Breach the warehouse. Wait for backup.
Surprise is on my side. Surprise, and a much deeper resolve. Because they’re doing this for the pay. I’m doing this for my wife.
Before they’ve even had time to register my intention, I kick Josh hard in the shins. He topples over, and I whip down the AK-47, then let it explode on them, wiping the entire group out in a matter of moments. One of them manages to shoot at my leg, but it’s nothing. Nothing that would prevent me from murdering them all in cold blood.
The group behind me doesn’t even have time to react before I barge in and wipe out that faction too. At least Logan left me an AK-47. It’s much more potent than their one-shot guns. Though they do manage to lodge another bullet in the same fucking leg. That’s their one pathetic attempt to save themselves. I hobble to each of them, shooting them individually for good measure. I don’t stop until I’m sure that every single one of the pieces of shit are dead.
When I stop at last, I notice Josh in the corner, retching his guts out. The pain in my leg goes from being a pinprick, forgotten in the adrenaline of the moment, to a crushing burn that brings me to my knees.
“Fuck,” I groan. “Fuck.”
My pain seems to initially calm Josh down from his freak-out. He stares at me, then at the bomb, then back at me.
“Fuck!” he cries out, echoing my word. “It’s gonna explode! Five fucking minutes! You’ve got to turn it off, man!”
“You’re the genius,” I grunt, the overwhelming pain making me hiss. “Youfucking turn it off.”
“I don’t know how. I don’t know how!”
The poor kid looks like he’s about to pass out from fear. Meanwhile, I’m about to pass out too, from the mangled state ofmy leg.
“Get the fuck out of here,” I growl. “Fuck off, Josh. Now.”
He shakes his head furiously and runs over to me, dodging the dead bodies that litter the room. Then he grabs me by the shoulder, pulling me up with difficulty. This is stupid. This is useless. Josh is nowhere near as heavy as me. I’m over six feet tall, made of solid muscle. He can’t be bigger than 5’7, and he’s a skinny kid with baby fat on his cheeks.
Somehow, though, adrenaline allows him to half carry me through the passages and rooms that border the large, empty space of the main part of the warehouse. It’s slow, though. So fucking slow. There’s just no way we’re getting out in time.
“We don’t have to get out,” he gasps, as though reading my thoughts. “We just need to get far enough from the bomb. You told me it wasn’t powerful enough for the whole building, didn’t you?”
I groan with the difficulty of speaking. “I don’t think… I don’t think we’re out of its range yet. But you… you can… you can save yourself, Josh…”
I’m losing consciousness fast, my mind dizzy. But I don’t think I’ve lost that much blood yet. When I look down, I feel sick to my stomach at seeing bone peek out of my wound. It’s the pain, not the bleeding, that makes me feel like I’m going to pass out. I can’t even power through it for Piper.
I’m fucking weak.
By the time we spot the door in the distance, I know it’s too late. Five minutes have passed.
I just have time to register the very surprising sight, through the open door, of what can only be described as a… battlefield, before I feel myself being propelled in the air by a powerful explosion.
Chapter 36
Piper
I’m so fucking pissed.
Ever since I woke up, my wrists and ankles tied, a gag in my mouth, in the back of what feels like the back of a van, I’ve been running through a full gamut of emotions.