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“You’re about to be blown to bits and all you want is a milkshake?”
“Well, it’s been a while. I went last time with my old man. You actually remind me a lot of him. You know, old and…cranky.”
That only earned me a punch to the kidneys as the man continued to hold me hostage. The timer on the clock continued to count down, but the man wasn’t moving like Thumper thought he would.
“Shouldn’t we…get out of here?” I asked. “You know, before the bomb goes off?”
“And miss the show?” he whispered in my ear, making me cringe. No man should ever whisper in another man’s ear. It was just wrong.
“You could witness the show from outside.”
“This was always the plan,” he chuckled.
Great, so this was all for nothing. I glared at IRIS, imploring him to do something to get me out of this situation.
“Meow!” I said, remembering that’s what Thumper told me to do if I needed help. But IRIS just crinkled his brow at me. “Meow!” I tried again.
Still nothing. What the fuck was the point in pulling a job if one of the team members didn’t know what the plan was?
“I said MEOW!” My tone was biting as I spoke through gritted teeth. Still, nothing.
“Right,” IRIS nodded. He started to lower his gun, which was the wrong fucking move. What the fuck was he doing?
A shot rang out, and the weight of my body collapsed as pain ricocheted through my leg. A second shot fired as I fell to the ground in a pool of blood that wasn’t my own. Turning, I grimaced at the old man, who was now missing half his head.
Thumper raced into the room, over to IRIS who was already working on the bomb.
“Dude, you should have heard yourself,” Slider laughed. “Meow!”
I glared at him, not appreciating his humor. “Are you fucking kidding me? You couldn’t have told me that IRIS didn’t know the plan?”
“In fairness, it wasn’t really a plan. I just wanted to see if you’d do it.”
“Do what?”
“Say Meow,” Thumper answered, not bothering to look at me.
I shoved to my feet, ignoring the blood seeping from my leg as I hobbled over to IRIS, who was quickly dismantling the bomb around the woman’s chest.
“Why the fuck did you shoot me?” I asked him.
“Because you were in the way.” He cut a wire and the timer stopped. When nothing happened, he stood, wiping at his brow. “Whew, that could have gone differently.”
“Yeah, you could have not shot me!” I argued.
The woman, who was still sitting on the ground, broke into a sob. Tears streamed down her face as we all stared at her, not sure of what to do. I jerked my head at Slider, who motioned me to move forward. I pointed at the blood seeping from my leg. I was the last person who should comfort anyone right now. Rolling his eyes, he walked over to the woman who was now in hysterics. She threw her arms around Slider, clinging to him for dear life as she sobbed into his neck.
IRIS walked over, slapping me on the back. “You were a good sport about the whole thing.”
I turned to Thumper, shaking my head at him. “Why the fuck did you send me in?”
“Well…because you’re not on the team. And I sort of knew it was likely IRIS would do something crazy like shoot someone. To be honest, I’m already missing one leg. You were the better candidate.”
“What about Slider?” I snapped.
“Someone had to console the woman,” he gestured to the floor. “Would you rather it be you?”
I grimaced at the sight of them on the ground and shook my head. “Good call.”