How It All Ended

Chapter 27

Tommy and I walked in front while the rest of his crew walked behind us.

"You're not gonna turn around, say goodbye to your buddies?" Tommy asked me.

I shook my head. "No. Never liked saying goodbye. I've done that enough in my life."

"Ooh, how deep and dark."

"Not really. I just never cared for it."

"I can't believe you're giving up Amber and yourself like this."

"What's so hard to believe?" I asked. I was stalling, trying to think of a good excuse.

"You're selling out Amber and giving yourself up. It's fuckin' stupid."

I took a deep breath and exhaled. "I'm tired of all this horseshit, Tommy. Just...tired. I don't want to do this anymore."

Tommy was quiet for a moment, then he nodded. "I can see that."

"And I wanna save Shauna."

"Oh, you have the hots for her? Dude, she's way out of your league."

"Most women are."

Tommy and his group all laughed and chuckled. But my answers seemed to get Tommy to back off in his interrogation. The last thing I needed was for him to suspect that something was up.

"So, where'd you stash Amber?" Tommy wondered.

"I took her to a house that's near to where I used to work," I answered.

"Work?"

"That pharmacy."

"Oh yeah. That's the place where I killed that fuckhead in the middle of the road," Tommy said. He and his men started laughing.

I wanted to ask Tommy what that huge brawl that took place outside was all about, but that would tip him off that I had been nearby, watching that fight take place. That also meant I couldn't ask Tommy how his group got so damn big.

"There's a house not too far from there. I know that the garage is almost always open. I told Amber to try and hide out there," I told Tommy.

Heading in that direction meant Tommy, his group, and I would have to get onto the main road. I walked the crew towards the intersection that would lead all of us to the road. We stopped when we saw that three cars were sitting there, crashed into one another. Smack dab in the middle of the intersection were two sedans that had crashed into the driver's side of a large pickup truck.

Laying beside the wrecked cars was a dead body that looked like it had been rotting away for quite some time. We couldn't tell if it was a male or female lying on the ground. The group and I smelled it before we saw it.

When the body came into our view, Tommy had everyone stop. He pointed to the corpse, "Borland, go over there and see if there's anything useful."

Borland, a younger-looking member of Tommy's crew, shook his head. "Why?"

"Because I fucking said so. That's why. There might be something we can use. Now get your stupid ass over there."

Borland sighed, "Fine." Borland then jogged away from the group and towards the intersection. He approached the three vehicles and dead body cautiously, his weapon at the ready. Borland looked around and tried to peer into the wrecked cars.

"Anything?" Tommy called out to his crew member.

Borland turned around and shrugged. "There's noth-"

A loud cracking sound echoed all around us, and the left side of Borland's head erupted in a fountain of blood. Borland then collapsed to the ground beside the dead body.