"Episode 53 - That's why I'm still alive." 

I grabbed onto the back of the passenger seat, making sure to hold on to the bag filled with objects that was mandatory for our survival against our enemies.

"AHH!" She scrammed right before I heard a gunshot and then our van smashed against something hard but kept moving with a force slowing us down. My head banged against the back of the head rest, body lurched back with such force, I nearly let go. 

When the van steadied, I took out a grenade and threw it at the car that crashed into building. People from the car behind started to climb over it and I couldn't let them get past.

Closing the gate, I stumbled in a crouched position. The van shook when the bomb exploded, sending debris hurtling towards the car. It sounded like oversized hails clattering against every inch of the steel leaving dents all over the back of the car. 

When the screaming stopped, I peeking my head between the seats, to find a man crushed between our van and a Sedan.

"Motherfucker tried to shoot me." Elena's scrunched face said it all, she was pissed as hell. Taking advantage of the steadiness of the van, I took everything from the back and climbed out to the front. The glowing fire behind us illuminated the black sedan and the dying man squished to the front of the van curtesy to my girl.

The driver got out from the other side of the car, choking and coughing.

"Hurry, push your foot on the gas, the car will knock him out."

She did exactly as I instructed, spinning the wheels, the car thrashed forward, knocking the guy off his feet. My ears perked up when I finally heard the police sirens from miles away. 

We needed to get out of the damn place and get a new car that didn't have bullet holes anywhere. The van came loose, finally free from his confined. We were finally out of the thin alleyway.

"Keep going but I think we have to switch cars because I can hear the cops." I told her. Keeping a look out we kept driving until we neared the main road. Every turn went made, it felt like we were in a dystopian post-apocalypse movie. I had seen places like this before, abandoned ghost towns but usually in different countries. "I don't think anyone is following us."

"Okay what do we do?" She finally parked the car next to another abandoned warehouse. There was a single street light near the front of the road, the light struggled to reach inside the car. 

I desperately wanted to take her into my arms, hold her for just one second. Finally relish the fact that she's alive but I knew we had to keep moving.

"We need to abandoned this car, find a new one and get the hell out of this place." I huffed out.

"But this car is evidence." She reminded me. I immediately looked around, trying to find a hiding around but instead my eyes landed on a barrel with burning fire inside. There were a couple of homeless people around it but all I needed was just some fire to light the engine up and the whole thing would take care of itself. "Okay, take everything and get out. Wait for me around the corner."

She didn't hesitate for a single moment. I quickly put all the filled magazines in my bag and rounded the van to get some card board laying around. Elena and I separated and it felt like she took a piece of me with her. Running to the small group of people I, dunked the card in the fire and when it caught fire, I ran back to the car.

When I lifted the hood of the car, a broken pipe hissed. It probably ruptured when Elena crashed into the car. Shoving the burning card into the one if the slots between pipes, I closed it quickly.

Without wasting a moment, I ran to her. The heat was overbearing but once the car blew, caught itself on a blazing fire that provided some light to illuminate the dark. The brown brick walls appeared red under yellow light.

Elena's face glowed golden under the. The anticipation on her face tugged at me heart as I neared her. Her black dress was now ripped in places, her boobs almost spilling, cuts and bruises on her knees and shin. The front of the dress was wet, sticking to her body. Taking the jacket that hid my utilities, I wrapped it around her.

"Thank you." She whispered, keeping an extra keep eye at the end of the road. "We should keep moving." I took my belt off, the gun and stuffed in my bag while she zipped up.

Placing a hand on her back, we kept moving towards the bright lights. I could smell the sea from where were. "There must be a parking lot around somewhere." I concurred.

Breathing heavily, holding on to the side of her stomach, she hunched forward. Worry enveloped me.

"Are you okay?" I wrapped an arm around her shoulder, brought her closer to me. I took my shoes off, black socks protected me from the harsh surface and slid it under her feet. She suddenly looked mortified with a hint of gratitude.

"Gabriel." The way she said my name, punched me in the gut. A soft whisper of disbelief, like someone would do even such a miniscule thing for her. "I'm fine."

"Just put it on." I wasn't brave enough to lift her feet to assess the extent of the damage. If I did, I knew I'd break right there and then when we didn't have the luxury for a break. After she slid the boots on, I tightened the laces as she watched. When she straightened, she hissed out a curse

"I think I bruised the area around rib cage when I rammed into the car." She sighed, trying to take short breaths.

"Okay, why don't we walk a couple of blocks and then I'll find us a car." The lights around us was absolutely blinding. We passed a bustling Chinese restaurant with glowing neon signs, next to a tattoo parlour with even more of those. The bright pink, green, blue red and yellow lights hurt my eyes.

My stomach growled at the smell of Indian food when we passed the restaurant. I'm sure she was starved too. The bright yellow taxies beeped, swerving and alongside BMWs, Mercedes and busted Volkswagens and Volvos. People that passed us turned their heads to see my girl with my shoes. I could only imagine what they were thinking of me.

"I think we should hail a taxi, get us to a car dealer ship and rent the car and get the hell out of the city." She stopped, eyes the cabs that kept honking past us. It was a good idea considering if we stole a car, police would be notified of that and it would become a separate case where we'd be criminals.

However, the people we just killed or the ones who lived, wouldn't reveal anything to the cops in the risk of incriminating themselves.

"Okay." I lifted my arm and a Romanian guy stopped his cab for us. Hopefully it was a gypsy cab, lowered our risk. Elena slid in, holding her side, I followed quickly asking the guy to drop us at a rental place. Looking out form my side, I spotted a group of men wearing similar black clothes run out of the road we came from, past the Chinese restaurant.

Ducking, I turned my head, hopefully they didn't see us stroll past right by them. Elena let out a long sigh of relief, I brushed a hand down my face at the sheer emotions of disbelief. I couldn't stop looking her at her. Even though she was covered in filth and grime, she was still the most beautiful girl in the world.

I scooted over, grabbed her by her face and turned her towards me. The lights behind me danced on her face as we kept moving. Her eyes, so full of trust, finally relaxed.

"Is it over." She breathed. Hearing her voice pushed my heart to my throat. My chest tightened and eyes burned.

"For this instance, yes." I confirmed. I couldn't see any cars following us or if they even knew we were in the car.

"Oh!" She sagged against me, rested her head on my shoulder. "Thank you." Her small cries broke my heart.

"I'd always come for you. What made you think I wouldn't?" She shattered me at the moment, at the conviction of me not coming to her rescue. Did she have such little faith in me?

"Nobody ever came for me before. Not even my own father." She choked, heaving against my shirt. Shocked, I tightened my grip around her.

"Your father?" My stomach churned, concerned for her mental health. "He's dead, baby."

"No, no isn't" She wiped her eyes before moving back. "He's alive Gabriel." She sighed. "That's why they kept me alive." 

-----------

Thank you so much for reading.  As you now know why she's alive, what do you think will happen next?