Page 40 of Broken
I was panting as I pressed myself against the wall. “Walter might’veseen us.”
“Then we have to hurry. Come on.” Theo headed for the door, which was locked but didn’t look too sturdy, so he kicked it in. I wondered if the noise would attract the Spiders’ attention or if they were already coming our way. We slowly entered a dim hallway. Theo was in front of me, and I kept glancing behind us to make sure no one came at us from behind.
The hallway seemedto be empty, and Theo stopped in front of one of the doors. He tried the knob and the door slid open. We found ourselves in a spacious empty room and there was another door across from us. As we started toward it, multiple footsteps echoed from somewhere behind us. The Spiders were already inside the building, so we quickened our steps.
At least we didn’t have to worry about this place collapsing,although it was still possible to trip over a loose floorboard. We passed through the door and ended up in yet another hallway, almost bumping into the Spider who had to be guarding this place. The rest of his gang clearly hadn’t notified him about potential intruders, because his eyes went wide when he saw us, but before he could reach for his weapon, Theo lunged at him and caught him intoa tight grip.
“Find a room that looks into that courtyard,” Theo whispered, and I tore my gaze away from him and the guy and raced toward the first of the multiple open doors that were in this hallway. I peered into one of the rooms, but the windows had bars. Shit. If they were all like that, then we’d have a problem getting out of here.
The second room didn’t even have any windows,or maybe they were covered with planks or something similar. I didn’t have time to check, so I went for the next door. This room was full of light, and the windows didn’t have any bars. Perfect. I waved at Theo, who was just lowering the Spider’s limp body to the floor. I didn’t wait for him, just entered the room and ran to the window, which was huge and low enough so we could easily climb throughit. As I pushed it open, I glanced through it, but there weren’t any Spiders in sight.
“Go!” Theo hissed as he came behind me, and I pushed myself up and jumped through the window. He was right behind me, and I hoped the Spiders would be busy checking the whole building and wouldn’t immediately realize where we’d gone. We crouched behind a few barrels that were lined up near the wall.
Two Spiders had stayed to watch the truck, while the rest were probably looking for us. They couldn’t know how many of us were here or who we were, so they’d have to search the whole area if they wanted to make sure no one was here to ambush them or mess up their plans.
“We can’t stay here too long,” I whispered. “And I don’t know how we’re going to get out of here.” The only way out of thecourtyard was through the gate, which wasn’t good since more Spiders would be waiting there. We’d have to sneak into another one of the buildings, but then we’d probably run into our enemy.
Theo’s gaze was focused on the car that was parked on the other side, right behind the truck. We hadn’t been able to see it when we’d been in that old building because it had been hidden from view. Butif we got to it, maybe we could use it as our way out.
“I know what we’re going to do.” A smile built up on Theo’s lips.
Chapter 23
“ARE YOU SURE THAT CAR will start?” I asked Theo after he finished whispering his plan into my ear. “I mean, it looks kinda old and we don’t know why it’s parked all the way there, and...”
“We’ll find out. If it can’t, then use it as a shield.”
“Right.” I wasn’t too fond of our plan, but I supposed we didn’t havemany options left, and I certainly couldn’t come up with a better one. “But can’t we go together? I’m not sure if I can break into that car or start it. I mean, it’s been a long time since I tried something like that.” My ex-boyfriend had tried to teach me how to do it, and I’d been successful only once, but then again, I hadn’t had to steal any cars.
“Trust me. Everything will work out.”Theo gave me an encouraging look. His confidence seemed to be infectious, and I took a deep breath and nodded.
“Okay. Let’s do this.” I glanced at the building behind us and hoped none of the Spiders would decide to poke their heads through one of the windows and shoot at us. Shouts were coming from inside, and I knew it was only a matter of time until they realized the building was emptyor until they decided to come out here to check.
When we were sure no one was looking our way, I raced across the yard toward the car, and Theo headed in the direction of the truck. His plan was to sneak up on the guards and incapacitate them before they even saw him, and even though there were only two guards at the moment and Theo was more than capable of taking them out, I still couldn’tstop myself from worrying.
I dove behind the car, and as I moved toward the door, I spotted one of the Spiders looking out from one of the windows of the building across from me. Lowering myself to the ground so he wouldn’t see me, I risked taking a peek around the car because I thought the Spider would probably be able to see Theo. But instead of shouting or pointing his weapon through thewindow, the Spider pulled back inside. Theo must’ve found a hiding place just in time. If one of the guards had spotted him, they would’ve alerted the rest of the Spiders, so I knew he was safe for now.
My blood was racing as I tried the car door. There were a few big rocks lying around, so it shouldn’t be too hard to break the window to unlock the door, but then everyone would hear me. IfTheo’s plan worked, soon it wouldn’t matter. I nearly fell on my ass when the door unexpectedly opened, and I wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad thing because I didn’t know why they’d left the car unlocked.
Maybe it was broken after all. There was only one way to find out, so I ducked inside and tried to remember what my ex had taught me. Unfortunately, the Spiders hadn’t left a key.Maybe they were using this car for a getaway, so they wanted to be able to get inside quickly. Besides, it was parked in the middle of their hideout, so it wasn’t likely someone was going to steal it. Well, they hadn’t counted on Theo and me showing up.
I glanced up, but all I could see was the front of the truck. A wall and a few barrels were obstructing my view. Theo would be fine. I hadto believe that. As I fiddled with the wires, glad that the Spiders didn’t have a better car—they certainly wouldn’t miss this one if something happened to it—I wondered where they were staying since the buildings around here were empty, and there had been only one guard when we were inside.
They had probably set something up underground. I managed to connect the right wires and the car cameto life. Theo had better finished with his part of the plan because everyone was going to hear the engine, and they were going to come here. I settled in the driver’s seat, slammed the door, and stepped on the gas pedal. There was just enough space for the car to pass between the truck and the building.
Once I was past the truck, I couldn’t see anyone, and my heart skipped a beat. But whenI came to a stop and looked back, I spotted Theo inside the truck, and the bodies of the guards lay at his feet. He jumped out and raced toward me just as gunshots rang out. The Spiders definitely knew where we were, and I held my breath as Theo dodged the bullets. But before he hopped into the passenger seat, he threw something that he’d been holding in his hand at the truck. One of the bulletshit the roof of the car, and the back window burst into pieces.
“Go!” Theo yelled as he got in, and I kept my head down, gripping the steering wheel tightly as the car lurched forward. Someone appeared at the gate and fired toward us, but I didn’t slow down or stop. The man jumped out of the way before I could mow him down. I took a sharp turn left, and a loud blast shook the ground.
In the rearview mirror, I could see fire and smoke, and I glanced at Theo, who only gave me a small smile. That truck had been full of weapons and explosives, so he must’ve found something to make it all explode. The Spiders were still shooting at us, and they were rushing for their cars. But just as we were about to reach the end of the street, a car appeared out of nowhere in the middle of it,trying to block our path.
Men rushed out of the car and opened fire. Theo and I ducked, and the bullets hit the windshield until it burst. Glass was everywhere, and the wind was blowing in my face, but we couldn’t stop now. The car wasn’t big enough to block the whole street, and I knew it’d be possible to pass right next to it, but it wasn’t going to be easy. Theo had his gun ready, andwhen his gaze met mine, he smiled, his free hand closing over mine on the gearshift.
“You can do this,” he said, and I nodded, pressing down on the gas pedal. Yeah, I could do this, provided no one hit one of our tires or me. My knuckles were white as I held onto the steering wheel. Bullets whizzed everywhere around us, and something warm brushed my shoulder, but I didn’t have time to thinkabout it.
As we were getting closer to the car and the men, Theo opened fire, and I squinted my teary eyes. I swerved and the car lurched to the side, and we flew right next to the men and their car. For a moment, everything seemed to be in slow motion, and I could see Theo dodging one of the bullets aimed at his head. The car was starting to make strange noises, and I had a feeling its bumperhad fallen off, but we were speeding away from there, leaving the men behind.
I took a right turn, my hands shaking slightly. We’d done it! Theo looked behind us and swore. This was far from over, and I realized two black cars were coming after us. I weaved between the cars, crossing into the opposite lane, and I hoped no one would crash because of me, but if Theo and I wanted to escape theSpiders and live another day, we had to lose them somehow.