...

Sax and Trent carry Reid by his arms, his unconscious body sagging between them as we barrel through the fire door.

Blu, the girl Trent tricked me into saving, bursts into the alley and grabs the railing of the accessibility ramp. She gestures at Trent urgently who grimaces when him and Sax grapple to descend.

I bolster the door open, gun in hand as I check over our shoulder, "Fuck is this?" Elias barks, jerking his chin at Trent accusingly, but then he sees the blood all over my arms and face, and his angry features flare into terror.

"Wilkes popped Barra, I put him down but someone must have found his body because they manually triggered the alarms." I rush. The windows pulse red and black, the sirens blaring into the alley.

"Don' gawk, pussy," Trent spits, his neck bent at an awkward angle under Reid's weight.

"Yo fück this," Sax cracks the shīts and shoves Reid off, making Trent jerk forward under the pressure. Elias darts with arms outstretched, trying to save Reid from cracking his skull on the tar.

Smack.

I drop to my knees, Elias spinning on Sax. "You tryna' fückin' kill him?!"

Sax raises a fist but Trent roughs him around the ear then grabs him by the throat, "We don' got time! Remember what I fückin' told you, cünt."

Sax swallows, nodding stiffly before he fixes his glare down on me like they have a secret vendetta.

Reid groans, "He's infected." I tell Elias. "They poisoned him with the compound."

"Like M.A.D?!" Blu lurches back, raising her hands in disgust.

"Fück," Reid grates as he grabs his temple, disoriented. He looks up at me, his bloodshot eyes taking a moment to focus on my face. He grabs my hand, his eyes flaring momentarily but just when I think he's gon' recognise his surroundings he flinches like someone screamed in his ear. "Reid," I utter, hating how weak he is. "We gotta-."

"Vi," He argues, "Vi," he tightens his grip on my hand, not letting me pull him up. "Pain don' hurt like normal," he grits his jaw, ducking out of the way again like someone just swung at him, "Don' let Bloom see-." He swallows, trying to find some sense, "I'm gon' flip my shīt, like Mum." His words are wonky and dark but his voice cracks at the mention of his mother.

Before I can reply Elias wrangles Reid's arm and hoists him to his feet, and his knee buckles but Elias grabs him, hauling his arm over his shoulder.

Blu starts shifting like she's on hot sand, like every flare of the siren is pinching her, "Where we goin'?"

Elias and I hoist Reid, grimacing at the weight, "He's so fücking fat." E cusses, adjusting him callously which earns a chillingly pained groan. "Vi, go ahead! You gotta clear the gate for us."

"E he's dangerous, too much noise and he could flip-."

"Hurry!" Blu shouts a few strides ahead, gesturing. Engines roar in the distance. "They're coming!" The siren heightens.

My heart drops.

"Warrendale, fück off and open the gate." Sax snaps, shoving my back so hard that I nearly pull Reid and Elias to the ground. I'm forced to release Reid, but Sax fills my position quickly.

Saxon's similar height instantly alleviates the awkward bend in Elias's back, and the two of them carry Reid like he's strung out on a cross. We make it down the alley, arriving at the intersection in front of the gate. Outside the giant bars sits a ute, but Teacup and Thai stand, waiting impatiently, practically itching to get through.

The intersection gapes wide, illuminated by two cold streetlights. "Warrendale!" Trent snaps, jerking his chin at the army vehicle storming in our direction. Saxon and Elias grapple with Reid who won't quit struggling.

Blu sprints, bolting over the tar.

"Pussy! What we gon' do, huh? You dock-side scum!" Elias shouts after her, pulling Reid upwards when he struggles for consciousness.

"E, I've got clearance, I gotta go ahead." I breathe myself through it, looking at the truck which storms toward us.

"They'll shoot." Sax grates.

"She can make it, fückwit. It's us they's gon' pop full of lead." Trent snaps, "Unless you drop this cünt and we go-."

"No, she's sweet on him and she knows the driver." Sax snaps, trying to wrangle Reid back who rouses in and out of consciousness, "We's wasting time," he adds in a panicked whine. Reid starts grappling to get free, growing increasingly stronger as he comes to.

"E, if Trent takes him can you cover me?" I start but then Trent loses his patience.

"Gimme your fückin' gun." He orders.

Reid groans, tipping his head back and gritting his teeth. The veins around his eyes are dark purple, like a spider web under his grey skin.

Saxon's eyes widen in terror.

Trent snatches the weapon from my belt, looking at the truck which approaches like lightning.

"Stay still!" Elias shouts at Reid, but his knee gives out, nearly taking them all down.

"Fuck is wrong with him?" Sax repeats, nearly livid with a new terror.

The siren casts the soldiers on the ute in red light every few moments, making them look evil. In the distance, three more cars fly down the tight road; this is going to be too close. Every second counts.

"Wh-."

Pop. The gun jerks backwards against Trent's raised arm. The windscreen webs, the vehicle swerves. Trent shot the driver. The soldiers on the back fly off, and just like that Trent chucks the gun in my palm. "Go!"

"Nah, nah, fück this." Sax bolts, ditching Reid and Elias.

"Oi!" I shout, but to my relief Trent recovers for him.

"Go!" Trent bellows.

We sprint but I quickly advance ahead of them, catching up and holding pace with Saxon before arriving beside Thai within moments. I wince when more bullets dig into the ground. "Vi! Here!"

I ram the phone against the scan pad.

Beep.

Scorpius shouts from the ute. "Hurry! They're right there!" I don't hear any of it, just the dull groaning of the gate as it inches open, barely. Centimetre after centimetre. Blu fights to worm her way through, wiggling between the tiny gap, making an awful rattling sound.

I look between the gate, the soldiers, and Reid. Trent and Elias haul him a few strides away just as the army vehicle skids over the rise, tearing at us. Three soldiers fling themselves off, landing without a hitch. They charge at us; guns raised.

"Stop!" One shouts, "Stop! Or I'll shoot!"

Scor hangs out of the car, aiming his handgun. Pop! The soldier's brains colour the air, and I cringe, expecting an asalt of bullets to follow. But even with a man down, the soldiers only aim at our feet... Like they're under orders not to do any damage.

Sax shoves Thai through the gate, but then he pushes Teacup out of the way and weasels his broad chest through the growing gap.

Teacup lands on the ground with a thud, scrambling to her feet with grazed palms, "Soldiers!" She cries, her terrified eyes on Reid, Elias and Trent.

Blu and Sax jump in the boot of Scorpius's Hillux, Thai pulling Teacup by her shoulders but she scrambles free, "Vi!" She tries.

"Go!" I turn and raise my gun, aiming.

Pop! One of them collapses.

"Teacup, hurry up!" Thai cries, trying to wrestle the kid.

"What about Vi and Elias?!" Teacup shrieks.

"Kid! Get here!" Thai bellows, dragging Teacup back through the rolling gate to the edge of Scorpius's ute. She hoists Teacup's skinny frame in, making her join Sax and Blu who gape like bystanders watching a horror show. I nearly round the gun on them. "Vi, not all of us gon' fit in the back! It's full of kegs and shīt-." I fire again and the shot interrupts Thaila's voice.

Scor hangs out the side, shooting at another soldier who runs away to take cover behind the security shed bolstered onto the compound wall. "Watch out!" Just when they hoist Reid to the gate a soldier fly-tackles him, colliding with his waist mid-air. The impact wrenches Reid out of Trent and Elias's grasp, both flailing. Another soldier charges from their car and I shoot at him, but my gun clicks. "Fuck!"

The soldier tries to choke Reid but he kicks a fuss, sending more dirt and debris into the night. Elias tries to interrupt their brawl but Reid struggles, kicking himself free so he can boot the soldier in the head... the same way Wilkes kicked Ezza.

Shit happens too quickly. Trent steals the machine gun off the soldier's body. I scream at Trent, desperate for the weapon, but he makes a split decision. He smacks Reid with the butt of the gun, throws the weapon for me to catch, then turns to Elias and I with raised hands.

"He was goin' manic, I seen it!" Trent defends.

The gate clicks into the other wall; leaving a clear path for their cars. "Just get him in!" I take aim at the leading vehicle, but I walk backwards as I fire. Skattah, skattah, spurts of bullets dig into the camo ute with each squeeze of the trigger.

"Vi I told you! He's not gon fit! He's-." Thai screams at me, but then a soldier stands on the top of the ute and starts shooting at the ground around me.

Trent makes an aggravated grunt, lunging at the boot and hoisting himself over. He puts himself in the line of fire, ducking when the soldiers shoot at us. Pop. Pop.

Why wouldn't they aim at us? Surely, they want to kill... unless we're too valuable. The babies in us are too important. Clouds of dirt burst into the air, missing the tires by mere inches. They won't even risk hitting the vehicle.

"Vi?!" Scor shouts, "We good?"

"Go! G-." Blu screams, not giving a shīt that Elias, Reid and I aren't clean yet. A stray bullet shatters the back window and Blu shrieks, ducking low while Trent stands above, making himself a target. Trent starts throwing canteens over the edge.

"Bring Myers, fückhead, I said bring Myers!" Trent gestures wildly so I sling the gun around my back and help Elias haul Reid's unconscious corpse. We do, and Trent hoists with all of his might until we get Reid's dead weight over the edge.

Elias bounds over the back with ease, Thai and Trent clawing to hoist me in but just as I wedge my boot on the tail light the world slides on its axis and a brute set of arms barrels into my side.

My back smacks the ground so hard that I choke on air, unable to breathe. The world spins—but then I see a face I never wanted to lay eyes on ever again. Wilkes. He's on top of me. My vision blurs and for a dazed moment, he looks like a gorilla using a rock to smash my skull.

I fling myself to the side, my cheek grating the stones and dirt. Thud! The butt of his machine gun smacks the ground, "Shoot to kill!" He shouts but I pry my knife from my thigh belt and stab him again, making a savage noise as I scramble in the dirt, trying to get away.

But I killed him?!

"Go, we got everyone, g-!" Blu shrieks.

"No, no! She's lying, Vi's not in!" Thai smacks the window frantically when Scor revs the engine.

The stab wounds I left in Wilkes's neck is only halfway healed, still oozing clear plasma where the tendrils of flesh have tried to sew themselves back together. Blood wells under the skin. His brute features are a sickly grey colour and he's covered in sweat like his body is about to give out from fever.

Wilkes tackles my legs as I struggle, using his free hand to trigger his communication device, "Shoot to kill! Orders! Shoot to kill!" Instantly a hail fire of bullets rip into the side of the car, the tinny sound deafening.

I scream when Trent and Elias grab my wrists and haul me up like a rag doll. Wilkes clings to my bottom half, and for a sick moment, they enter a game of tug and pull. Every vertebra of my spine cracks as they pull but then my shoulder pops and I scream, kicking furiously. Then, with a final heave, they hoist me over.

I fall on top of Thai like a sack of potatoes, gripping my shoulder. "Go! Go! Go!" Sax smacks the glass, Scor revving as more bullets rain down on us. I keel over, groaning as the nauseating chill of agony radiates from my arm.

"What happened?" Thai cries, turning away from Gisselle to try and help but I shake my head, trying to tell her it's no use.

Wilkes doesn't let go, fighting to get in the car. He tries to pull me but his meaty hands find purchase on a skinny, pale shoulder. Elias and Trent enter a scrappy war against Wilkes, but two people go overboard.

Wilkes hits the ground with a thud, left in a cloud of dust and bullets, but a small hand grips the back. "Wait!" Teacup screams, hanging on for dear life.

"Stop!" Thai shouts, but it's no use.

Teacup clings to the edge of the truck, trying to grab her way up as the tires spin. Dirt blooms in the night, grit sticking to my eyes, blinding me.

"Ellie!" Elias screams, grabbing at the kid as she hangs over the back, struggling to pull herself up.

I watch in mute horror.

A hail-fire of bullets tear into Teacup's tiny figure, and she makes a high-pitched choking noise, her features going livid with terror. For one terrible moment, she remains just within our reach as the car rolls, spit webbing between her lips as she gapes for air. Tears of shock gather in her eyes, and she turns white.

Elias grips her, fighting to get her in the boot, but it's no use.

"Elias!" I shout, and Trent pries his fingers off her tiny forearm.

Teacup hits the ground just when the acceleration kicks, lurching us over the dirt road that leads to highway B6.

Elias chokes and Thai nearly throws herself over, but I use my good arm to grab her tightly. Scor drives expertly, moving through the gears smoothly as he pushes the engine to its limit. The wind whips my hair as we all gawk at the scene behind us.

Elias gulps.

Wilkes stands, cradling his shoulder like he incurred a bullet or two... but Teacup never rises. Her little rib cage jerks as she gulps for air, but then Wilkes trudges to stand above her, his eyes on us.

A team of medics rush to her, but a terrible, terrible voice inside whispers no. A bullet would be better than getting left behind; I realise, distantly, numbly, that the bastard is laughing.

Four vehicles take chase.

... 

.*✮..•☽.✩.* COMMENT .•*✮.⋆*.*✮

.⋆.*✮.⋆*.•☽. * VOTE . *⋆ .•☽. *✮.⋆

*⋆.*✮.*✮.⋆*. FOLLOW ⋆*✩•.*✮.⋆*

All my love!

CVILYN

CAILYN