Page 10 of Bad Blood

I dove for it, snatching it up and taking a few steps back while aiming it at him.

He focused his rifle on me, pulled the trigger?—

Click.

Nothing happened.

Click click.

“Fuck!” he shouted, throwing the rifle down and raking a hand through his greasy hair. “Fuck. Okay.” His nervous laugh and his hands raised in surrender had a twisted satisfaction curling through me.

I put my finger over the trigger.

“Okay, let’s not do anything rash. Let’s talk this out. I’ll take the muzzle off. Is that what you want? I can do that. I can do whatever you want, Three. Give you whatever you want. Just don’t?—”

Hayes lunged at me and the gun went off as I stumbled back, my heel bumping into one of the bodies behind me. The loudpoprippled through my entire body, the butt of the gun smashing into my shoulder so hard it sent me falling backward.

When I looked up at Hayes again, he was stumbling around, clutching his neck as blood spurted from it. He staggered to the left, then coughed, blood spraying from his mouth. He collapsed to the ground a moment later, making wet gurgling and choking sounds. He twitched a few times, then lay still, eyes open and staring into nothing.

He was dead.

Hayes was dead.

A laugh bubbled in my chest, then got caught in my throat when a shout from the left rang out. I staggered to my feet, my hand slipping in the blood of one of the bodies beneath me. I pushed the barrel of the gun into the ground and used it to help me stand. I breathed hard and stared out into the darkness.

I had a clear shot to the fence now.

I was about to drop the gun and run when the door burst open—and Hunter limped out.

He headed my way, his face contorting into an ugly sneer. He glanced at all the bodies around me, but when his eyes fell on his brother, he froze.

“Hayes?” His voice broke as he limped toward his brother’s body.

Frantic shouting erupted from somewhere nearby, and then Four flew around the side of the building.

He was running toward the fence at a dead sprint while a group of men in black chased after him. They shouted for him to stop, and one shot at him.

“Alive! We need themalive, you fucking moron! Doc is gonna have your ass if you fuck this up again.”

“We don’t need all of them alive,” another one said.

Hunter pointed his gun in Four’s direction and pulled the trigger. Four fell limp to the ground, and the intruders seemed to finally notice us.

But Hunter didn’t give a shit about them. Those cold, dead eyes were fixed solely on me.

“Did you do this? Did you kill him? You killed him. You killed him, didn’t you, you worthless little fuck, youkilled him!”

He raised his gun, and I ran.

My vision faded around the edges as I shot toward the fence, pumping my arms and running as fast as I could.

I knew if I didn’t make it to that fence, I wouldn’t be leaving this place. Dead or alive, I’d be here for eternity.

Pop pop pop pop pop pop

I leaped onto the fence, pulling myself up the chainlink.

Pop!