VOLKO

Chapter Twenty-Four

A pounding in my head, followed by a sharp pain and shouting woke me. My seatbelt dug in but was the only thing keeping me from falling onto the roof of the car. Outside came more shouting, followed by loud bangs.

Lazily, my senses began to come back to me. First my hearing, the voices I made out to be Will's, barking orders.

Then my sight, broken glass lay scattered across the roof of the car, waiting for me whenever I decided to drop out of my seat. The smell of something burning caused a sting in the back of my eyes, rapidly I blinked tears away.

The endless throbbing didn't subside, I had no idea what had happened, only that I needed to get out. My hands shook so badly I struggled to undo my seatbelt, or find the strength to press down.

Not until an object flew past my head at such a rate it would have killed me if I'd been leant forward just an inch. Instead I followed it, and to my horror discovered Tony's, lifelessly hanging in his seat. Blood dripped down his face onto the roof below.

The dread I felt gave me the strength to undo my seatbelt. If I weren't so pumped on adrenaline I'd have felt the landing on the glass a lot more than I did. Careful, not to touch or look in Tony's way, I crawled out of my door which had been left slightly ajar.

Immediately I found myself in the line of fire. Men, I don't know how many, fired repeatedly at us.

Next to me stood Will and Mike, they had blood all over their faces from the thousands of cuts covering them. Looking down at myself I noticed how my arms and hands were the same.

"No Miss, stay in-" A bullet to the head cut Mike off. He dropped with a dull thud as his dead body hit the ground.

Without much thought other than getting away, I ran. My legs felt numb, like they didn't quite belong to my body. The first couple of steps I fell, once I heard more gun fire I shot off. My will to escape danger overdriving anything else.

"Where are you going? Get back here now!" I heard Will yell behind me.

I didn't listen, panic made it almost impossible to breathe, yet somehow I ran. I ran like my life depended on it, because it literally did.

The trees would keep me safe I told myself the further I ran into them. If I kept running, sooner or later I'd find a town, or something, someone who would help me. All I knew was that I couldn't stay there.

My lungs burned but I carried on going, what other choice did I have. In the distance, men yelling could be heard. I stopped, hoping beyond hope that somehow someone had come to help.

My worst fears were quickly confirmed by a bullet hitting the tree next to my head. That was the only signal I needed to get running as fast as my feet would carry me. I knew sooner or later they'd catch up, I was counting on being somewhere protected when they did.

I looked for a tree big enough to hide behind, something that would cover me for just enough time so I could call the police. Luckily, if anything could be lucky in a situation like this, I found a bunch of them.

The deeper I got, the larger the tree became.

Slamming my body flat against the tree truck, I pulled my shattered phone out of my back pocket. The magnetic device Dean had given me stuck on the back. Without thinking I yanked the pin, if anyone knew what to do Dean would. He'd keep me safe. I knew it. I stared impatiently at the device, waiting for a sign that it had worked.

I had to stop myself from screaming out loud when nothing happened. Both my hands trembled as I tried to unlock my phone. An impossible task.

Deep breaths Megan, take deep breaths. You need to calm down, I repeated to myself. In. Out. In Out.