Page 49 of King of Cruelty

I yanked Edwin’s hands to the left, veering away at the last second.

Thump!

The car popped off a human speed bump and kept rolling, speeding through the shouting, fleeing parade of brothers.

“Where is the bomb!”

Running for the porch, the brothers finally got some sense in their heads. Taking their positions against the porch railing, they aimed—right at their blessed warden’s head.

“Nooo!”

“Where’s the bomb!?”

Bullets rained on the car—shattering the windshield, blowing away the rearview mirror, punching holes in the hood.

Edwin was franticly jerking and jumping in his seat, desperately trying to drive away from certain death. “Stop! Please!”

“Tell me where the fucking bomb is, Eddy!”

“It’s— It’s in the—” A bullet shot his middle finger off. It went flying as blood sprayed the dash, soaring over the seat and landing beside my boot. “Ahhh!”

His scream shook the heavens.

“Oven!” he sobbed, thrashing side to side like he could create a wind to blow the bullets away. “IT’S IN THE OVEN!”

“Who has the trigger?” I ducked, cursing when a shot took out the headrest—taking a piece of Edwin’s ear. I wasn’t sure whether to call these guys good shots, or bad shots. “Trigger, Eddy? Now!”

“You fucking ran him over!” he screeched. “Help me! Stop shooting and help me! Get me away from this bitch!”

“You don’t need them to help you.” Leaping forward, I grabbed the wheel and jerked sharply away from the porch, the brothers, and the bullets.

We raced through the gunfire raining down on us, speeding fast for the tree line and the scant cover it’d grant us.

Edwin sobbed the whole way. “I’ll k-kill you, you filthy Merchant... cunt. I’ll kill you for this!”

I laughed. “Save it. Your threats would go down a lot better if I couldn’t smell your urine-soaked pants from here. So much for dying before you ever helped a Merchant. You—”

The car heaved.

Insults lodging in my throat, I choked on them as the car leaped off the back wheels, ejecting me through the windshield. It crossed my mind as my head banged across the hood that the brothers weren’t as empty-headed as I assumed. They finally got smart, and blew out the tires.

I crashed onto the ground, pain jarring my bones and making every nerve in my body sing with agony.

“FGH?” voices reached me from far away. “FGH?!

Noise, sound, light, stars, thudding stomps, and piercing bullets twisted and spun in the air, chasing me into dizzying darkness.

“Get me out... stupid fucks... Help me!”

I strained to sit up. To figure out which way was ground and where was sky, so I could get my hands on the right one.

“FG— Argh!” Shifting shapes scrambled in my vision. “Get off me!”

A thud rumbled the ground. Something, or someone, fell down beside me.

“—find my finger! I need to get to the hospital,” Edwin bleated. “Take me to the hospital!”

“What do we do with them?”