Smells Like Winter

18: Bullets Ricochet

"Get down!" screamed Logan, covering his head to avoid the shards rocketing their way towards him. Another window broke, but, this time, they all heard it for good, the sound of breaking glass. Logan cursed. "Those fucking bastar-"

Maddy never heard the rest; his voice got drowned in the ocean of bullets that were fired next.

Like a swarm of angry bees thirsty to sting anything that gets in their way -only more dangerous-, the metallic bullets flied around the five of them inside the living room, drilling holes into the expensive furniture, ricocheting off the walls and the hardwood floor.

It was almost laughable, how such a tiny piece of metal could cause such a catastrophe in less than seconds.

Maddy opened her mouth to scream, but no sound would come out. She could hear men's voices shouting orders from outside, but couldn't make out what they were saying, the sound of gunfire deafening her.

A silver bullet whished right past her cheek, and the hissing sound was all she needed to finally move.

Her knees bent and she stumbled forward, sliding behind the second sofa of the living room, placed horizontally across the large windows. Her back smacked against the hard material of the tall sofa, chest rising and falling frantically from the panic she could feel twisting her stomach.

Sia and Mia had already dropped to the floor on her right in a crouch, and Logan collapsed next to her right after, his knee jabbing into her thigh. She yelped at the slicing pain, but the sound of bullets thudding into the couch cushions and the stuffing right behind her head made her forget all about the pain in an instant.

"Are you okay?" asked Logan concerned, acutely aware of the hit he had given her.

Maddy nodded yes, swallowing thickly, but then a voice at the back of her mind made her reconsider.

Umm... Excuse me, but which part of this is okay?

She could feel her heart racing, beating fast and extremely loud between her frenzied lungs, but the sound reached her ears slowly and thickly, as if it was muffled behind an airtight chamber.

A sob got ripped out of Sia's throat next to her, making her blink. Maddy snapped her fingers in front of her face to bring herself back to focus. She had to think of a way for them to make an effective, fast, and clean escape.

Think, Maddy, think.

Okay.

So the four of them were safely tucked away behind the sofa for now, but their makeshift fortress wouldn't last for long, so they had to-

Wait.

The four of them?

Maddy snapped her fuzzy head right and left, counting again. Her breath caught in her throat.

Carter. Where's Carter?

She pulled at Logan's sleeve wild-eyed, and when the boy turned to look at her, she saw the same question written all over his face.

Where's Carter?

His bright blue eyes communicated with hers without words. "Carter!" he screamed.

No response.

"Carter!" screamed Logan even louder, his voice gone raspy and on the verge of cracking.

Maddy felt Sia and Mia tense beside her. Sia had covered her trembling lips with her hand to suppress her sobs, and Mia's lips were barely visible, pressed into a thin, straight line.

Then, "I'm here!"

Maddy let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Logan's shoulders slumped from relief next to her, and Sia was shaking on her right.