Page 128 of Walking in Darkness

Could feel Aria itching. Her attention wandering the area, watching for anyone who would notice what was going down.

“Hurry,” Dani said.

We pushed harder; then I felt the shift. The force of Aria’s presence as she came up between us. She placed her left hand on my shoulder, and with the other she reached out and grabbed hold of the rod, too.

A bolt of energy suddenly streaked down the metal, and the lock popped with a small boom.

Timothy chuckled under his breath. “Now, why the hell didn’t we think of that in the first place?”

We didn’t have time to contemplate it, because the second the door burst open, the siren started shouting.

Deafening.

Disorienting.

Lights flashed from the ceiling, doing their best to chase us out, like we hadn’t been expecting their welcome.

“Hurry. We won’t have much time before someone shows,” I growled.

Unless the authorities were too busy dealing with all the alarms that no doubt were going off all over the city.

“We’ve got this,” Timothy said, and he snatched Dani’s hand and made a beeline up the aisle, heading in the direction we’d already planned.

Any weapons we could find were going to be at the back of the store.

Dani and Timothy were assigned to knives and bows.

I grabbed Aria’s hand. The heat of her slashed up my arm the second we connected, a jolt to my heart. A zing reminding me that we had to do whatever was required to see this through.

“This is insane,” she wheezed as we sprinted down the aisle.

“I know, baby. That’s what happens when the world goes crazy.”

I hooked a left at the end of the aisle. Releasing Aria, I snatched two big duffel bags displayed on an endcap and tossed her one.

“You can do this,” I shouted above the blaring, feeling the bleak desperation that poured out of her. The siren was so loud that it thundered our pulses into chaos. Doing its best to drive us out.

“I know. We have to,” she said as we broke apart.

I ran straight for the glass cases that displayed a bunch of handguns. But what I was interested in was the wall of rifles on the other side.

The area was blocked off, only intended for whatever employee worked this section.

I planted my hands on the top of the case and used it to propel myself over, while Aria rushed to a tall display case where a ton of ammo was displayed off to the side. I could feel her frustration when she found it was locked, and she spun around, searching for something she could use to bust it open.

Relief gushed out of her when she saw what she was looking for, and she ran two aisles down to where mallets used to drive in tent posts were set up on an endcap.

She grabbed one and came hurtling back up to the case. She swung it back, then smashed it through the pane.

Glass shattered, crashing onto the floor at her feet.

I could feel her frenzy as she searched for the specific bullets I’d instructed her to get, a full disorder pummeling the air as she frantically stuffed them into the bag.

While my gaze scanned, then pinpointed a bunch of rifles that fit the ammo.

I snagged the wire cutters from my back pocket, and I was quick to cut through the small wire ropes that attached the guns to the wall. I tossed the duffel onto the counter behind me, and I loaded in as many as would fit in the bag.

Then I turned to the case behind me, bashing it in with the butt of a rifle and grabbing as many of the handguns inside that I could.