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“I’m fine,” he growls, before I can finish. “We need to get you two out of here!”
“There they are!”
The pursuing shouts come from behind us. Angel whips around again and immediately starts firing. This time, I don’t wait for his orders. I know what to do.
Run.
Luckily, there’s a tight corner up ahead. I lunge for the safety it provides, but when I turn onto the new street, I’m greeted by a horrific sight.
A new wall of enemy soldiers waits for me.
My escape route is entirely blocked off. I don’t have time to think, I just turn around and head back the way I came.
Before I can turn the corner again, though, I’m stopped in my tracks by a flurry of bullets. They block off the only other way out. Blood drains from my heart as I desperately search for another escape route, but there’s nothing. No secret alley, no hidden door, no fire escape ladder. I’m trapped.
“Grab her!” Someone orders from behind me.
No. No. No.
I whip around like a cornered animal, ready to tear the skin of anyone who dares test me, but then Oscar wails in my arms and all the fight flees from my soul. He can’t get hurt.
My mind threatens to shatter as a wall of armored men approach me and my baby with their guns drawn. My only hope is to turn back around to where I left Angel and hope he’s still there to fight for us. The bullets seem to have stopped...
The second I turn back around, though, an explosion rips through the alleyway.
“No!” I scream as everything on the other side of the wall is immediately evaporated. “Angel!”
My knees buckle and an anguished wail escapes my failing lungs. Dust billows up around me and I shout into the flames... then, a cold, gloved-hand grasps me around the shoulder.
I spin around and bite at it, but I don’t connect. Oscar squirms in my arms and the whole world seems like it’s about to implode.
The hand retreats, but it’s instantly replaced by the barrel of a gun.
My knees scrape against the hard pavement as I try to scramble away, but scorching flames nip at my back, and soon enough, four more soldiers surround me.
“Grab the baby!” one of them orders, and they all step forward.
There’s no feeling in my legs, but, somehow, I’m able to jump up. A new gun is immediately pointed at my face.
Whatever, I don’t care. I’ll die protecting my son if I have to...
But then, one of the soldiers points his gun directly at Oscar, and the wind is immediately vanquished from my sails.
“No, please...” before I can beg any more, two pairs of frigid hands have wrapped around my elbows and pulled down. Another pair of foreign hands grab Oscar around the waist. I’m helpless to do anything as my baby is ripped from me. “No! Please!” I wail, but a foot connects with the back of my leg and I’m dropped to my knees again.
A shockwave of pain erupts up from the hard ground, but it’s nothing compared to the anguish in my heart. The solider who has Oscar is immediately surrounded by four more heavily armed men. He backs away as they step forward, guns pointed directly at me.
My heart ruptures as I scream after my baby boy, completely helpless...
... Then, all of a sudden, one of the soldier’s heads explodes. He drops to the ground in an eruption of blood, and every gun that was pointed at me immediately pulls away.
Before they can find their culprit, another head explodes, and then another. For a moment, all I can do is watch, but then my senses return with a heaving desperation.
Oscar.
I scramble over the nearest corpse as the remaining soldiers run for cover. Up ahead, I see the man who took Oscar getting into the back of an armoured truck.
“Oscar!” I shout, reaching out for my baby boy.