I coughed as I rolled on the floor, the air was acrid and thick with toxic smoke.  Broken material crunched beneath my body, remnants of the events that just took place. Only seconds ago a deafening outpour of bullets had filled the space that we crossed. The debris had begun to settle and there was an uncomfortable silence that surrounded me. I flexed my right hand a little, it was stiff from holding my gun so tight. I started to raise myself up with my left arm and found myself looking at the barrel of a revolver. The man who stood in front didn’t look in good shape. His injuries were visible as they saturated his pale fabric shirt. His hand shook as he tried to hold his gun steady. He was wearing a mask and I couldn’t make out his features.  

His breath was rapid as he struggled to speak, “drop the gun or I will shoot.”

I stared at him, wondering if I could disarm him in his unsteady and injured state. Before I could try, I saw a glint of metal and a red haze momentarily filled my vision. The body slid to the floor as a mass amount of blood poured from the wound, a sign that death was fast and he didn’t suffer much.  I felt something warm run down my face, and reached up to wipe it away. I looked back up to where the man had been standing, swallowing uncomfortably at the sight. If I didn’t know who stood there I might have been afraid. Jackie stood in front of me, his blue hair twisted like a serpent around his neck, a wide grin and large bright eyes stared at me. His skin was covered in blood and I had a feeling the majority was not his. He moved the knife that he had just used across his body and wiped the blood on his left jacket sleeve before resheathing it on his leg. 

He walked closer to me, and said, “sorry about that”

I looked at him confused and said, “what?” 

He pointed at my hand and I looked down, it was covered in blood. Realizing now that I must be covered in the man’s blood. 

I sighed and said, “I need a drink when this is all over with.” 

Jackie laughed and said, “are you buying?”

I laughed and said, “are you even old enough to drink?”

He pushed past me looking offended and said, “it’s all clear. Let’s go!” 

I stared at Jackie as he walked away, sadly he and Jax were a lot alike. Both had been forced to grow up too fast in this world that they had unwillingly been forced into, surviving by any means necessary.

I wiped my face and hands off again trying to remove the blood as best I could. I called out to Jackie, “wait a minute.” We needed to check and see if Fuchsia and Sina were still in the same location. I pulled my phone out and gasped as I said, “they are headed towards us and fast.” 

Jackie froze and turned around just in time for me to grab him and get out of the way of gunfire. I checked my gun and the ammo pouch on my leg. I whispered, “I’m all out of ammo.” 

Jackie clicked his tongue and said, “I am too, that's why I was using my knife.”

“Dammit”, I said under my breath.

All we could do was wait for them to get close enough for us to try to attack. I heard another loud explosion and the sound of glass breaking. I peeked out from where we were hiding and I could clearly see Fuchsia and Sina. Fuchsia was facing our direction and Sina had her back to us and appeared to be holding someone out the window. I couldn’t make out what they were saying but they were arguing about something. I heard Fuchsia say loudly, “just drop the bastard.” 

I started to laugh at the two of them until I heard Sina say, “Jax, why the hell are you down there?” 

Jax? Why and how was he back at the building. I scanned the area to see if I saw anyone before heading there way. 

I could feel a hand grab at my arm but I pulled away and headed down the hall towards Fuchsia and Sina. 

Sina pulled the man back inside and slammed him into the floor. I cringed as I heard what sounded like bones breaking from the impact. 

A shower of gunfire erupted near us and Jackie and I ran into the corner where Fuchsia and Sina were. 

In retrospect, this was probably not the best decision considering two of us were out of ammo, but here we are. I screamed, “no ammo as we dove behind Fuchsia.” 

Fuschia grabbed a smoke bomb off of her leg and threw it into the hall. Fuschia turned around and yelled, “Where the hell is your mask Bren?” I ignored her as I tried to make my way towards the window where Jax had been seen. 

Sina grabbed my shoulder and said, “he is gone. He and Lyra must have run.”

I sat down on the floor and placed my hands on my head. What the hell is he doing? He was safe! Why would he run back into danger?

Jackie was furiously typing into his phone. Sweat was pouring from his face and he looked as worried as I felt. 

I called his name, and he looked up at me. 

I said, “and?”

He swallowed hard before saying, “they were attacked and Jax took off running back to the building. Lyra tried to stop him but he is insisting on getting some doctor who helped him.”

“Bloody hell, when I get a hold of him...” I said as I hit the floor. 

I started to cough again, the smoke was thick and filling the alcove that we had claimed. Fuchsia pulled her mask off and forced it onto my face. 

She looked at me with concern as she said, “how long have you been maskless?” 

I shook my head at Fuchsia and she said, “ dammit Bren. Don’t just shake your head at me. You are going to have pulmonary edema.”

Jackie looked at his phone again and said, “Lyra said they are looking for an entrance to the basement. If they can’t find one soon she will make him leave.“

I stood up quickly and said, “let's get to the outside of the building! If I have to drag him away I will.”

We headed to the closest exit, without any problems. Luckily, the smoke bombs and whatever else Fuschia and Sina had done had slowed Creso’s men enough for us to escape. 

We ran down the steps and I pulled the mask off and sucked in the fresh air. I said, “don’t separate, we have to stay together. Let’s find Jax and Lyra and get out of here.”