Killer Santas

Chapter 11

Fumblingly, Elaina thrust the remains of the pizza and cardboard box off her lap and unbuckled her seatbelt. Somehow, she managed to clamber up toward the open door, pulling herself into the night just as shots pierced the air.

Immediately, Elaina ducked back into the car, resisting the urge to scream again. She hadn't seen Victor in her brief glance but heard returning shots, unsure which direction they were going.

Okay...okay...I need to get out of this car.

She heard running footsteps on the pavement and terror seized her. She wanted to curl into a ball, to hide inside the ruined car with the ruined pizza and wait until it was all over.

No! You need to move, you need to act! Now!

"Elaina!" she heard Victor hiss. "Now! While I've got you covered."

Elaina hauled herself up out of the car, swinging her legs out and hopping down onto the pavement, immediately dropping into a crouch. She pulled her gun from her pocket, flicking the safety off and holding it before her, unsure what to do. A glance up showed her the SUV, sitting not far from the wrecked Cadillac, the front and right side damaged. One of the windows had shattered. She couldn't see where Tony or the other Mafia man was. "Victor, where are you?"

"Back here," he hissed and Elaina pivoted, seeing him on the other side of the car. Carefully, she hurried over to him around the car, bent over, and knelt down beside him. She could still smell the pizza.

Bullets whistled over their head and Elaina ducked down even further, hunching over. Victor just cursed and fired back. "We can't stay here," he muttered. "We need to get out of here."

Elaina thought, quite frankly, that that was the biggest "well, duh!" moments she'd witnessed in a while.

"What do you suggest?" she whispered, poking her head over the edge of the car carefully. She ducked down again after not even half a second; the glance too fast to have seen anything. And she didn't feel like looking again; the first time had taken enough nerve. Honestly, she didn't feel like moving again, not until the shooters were long gone. I suppose, though, that they won't leave with us still here. "Where are Tony and the other guy?"

"One's in the car, the other's behind it," Victor filled her in. "I don't know which is which. I think the crash injured them, too; their shooting's been a little off, like they're disoriented."

"What now?" Elaina asked, her head throbbing with pain.

"We retreat," Victor said grimly. "We escape and make our way back to the apartment once we've lost them. And most importantly, we don't die." He looked at her. "You got that? Stay with me, whatever you do. You're safer with me."

Elaina nodded. "Okay. Just...just let me know when it's time to run, okay?"

"Of course," Victor replied, and straightened up to fire a few more shots off at Tony's car. Elaina heard a bullet strike metal, another puncture glass, and the yelp of pain from a man. Bullets struck the Cadillac as Victor ducked back down, panting but grinning. "I got one!" he whispered triumphantly.

"One more," Elaina said, dread in her heart. "One more."

Victor shook his head. "No time." He pointed in the direction they had come. "I bet Tony's called for reinforcements. We'll be dead if we wait to get the other one." He firmly grasped Elaina's hand. "Let's go!"

Yanking her up from behind the car, Victor took off running, darting into the dark shadows cast by the buildings framing the road. Elaina ran after him, her hand still in his, fear racing through her veins as she heard a curse issue up behind them, but no gunshots followed them.

Oh, thank goodness.

"Elaina!" she heard Tony yell. "Elaina, listen!"

Elaina felt her heart turn to ice and didn't reply.

Victor continued to tug her after him, eventually pulling her into an alleyway to catch their breaths. He released her hand and glanced out behind them, breathing hard. Elaina bent over, placing hands on her knees as she sucked in the crisp night air. She glanced sideways, hoping the alleyway would provide a route of escape, but it was a dead end.

"Okay," Victor gasped. "Okay. We just need to make it a bit farther...there's a subway station up ahead. We get on it and get out of here. That's the plan, okay?"

"Okay," Elaina panted. "Got it."

"You ready?"

There was no other answer. "Yes."

The screech of tires filled the resumed quiet as Victor and Elaina continued running, leaving the brief safety of the alleyway behind. Headlights lit up the darkness behind them and Elaina felt terror jolt through her body, tearing through her heart and lungs. The game was up; the Mafia was right behind them.

They were done for.

A gunshot rang out in the night and Victor groaned, falling to the side. He slammed against a building, gripping his arm with pain written all over his face, gleaming with sweat. He looked astonished, horrified.

"Victor!" Elaina cried, immediately halting and turning to him, pressing herself against the building.

"S'okay," he said through gritted teeth. "Just grazed me. Stay with me, okay? We need to keep running."

Elaina nodded, her face pale, and they took off, keeping close to the buildings. More gunshots rang through the night and she felt a scream clawing at her throat, begging to be released, but she hadn't the breath to spare to scream. She just needed to trust Victor and keep running.

But the Mafia reinforcements caught up with them.

Victor grabbed Elaina and pushed her into a doorway, shifting a trashcan in front of them. A glance to the right showed the entrance to the subway station, a warm light glistening to them from the bottom of the concrete steps. Elaina yearned to reach that light, to clatter down the steps and through the turnstiles, and to feel the soothing motion of a subway leave the station, sweeping her off, far away from her worst nightmares and certain death.

No, no, I can't do this. I don't want this anymore. I want to go home, I want anything other than this!

The light continued to beckon.

Gunshots rang out all around them, peppering the trashcan and the building. Elaina covered her head with her arms, still gripping her gun. Victor, using one hand, was firing back at the second SUV and Elaina heard yelps and moans of pain from the other shooters.

The whole thing was so surreal, it was like a dream. And so, although Elaina never fared well when running in dreams, she rose, gun still in hand, and took off for the subway station, hoping she would wake up.

/**/

Happy New Year's Eve! What did you think? Of the shootout and Elaina's mad dash for freedom?

Thank you so much for reading; I hope you enjoyed! Please vote and comment!

Skylar Wittenborn