After The Awakening | ONC 2023

Chapter Nine

Ray kept the car 2 miles below the speed limit as they crawled through the suburban area. She found it hard not to look suspicious given the stolen car she was driving. They'd ditched the Bureau car in a multi-storey and Xavier had broken into their current wheels, choosing it for its nondescript appearance.

'Park here,' Xavier said. His olive skin had turned ashen and his lips were white, but he continued to refuse Ray's suggestions to go to the hospital.

She parked up and switched off the engine. The street lights kept the darkness away, but the layby wasn't the most well lit area. It was just enough to watch the road behind them in case someone was following.

'We go on foot from here. Leave the keys in the ignition,' Xavier said. He gripped the doorframe as his legs shook beneath him.

Ray put his arm around her shoulders and took some of his weight as they made their way down a slope and through a broken fence to a housing estate. Xavier was breathing hard by the time he nodded to a house near the end of the row. A big hedge obscured the front garden, and a high black fence blocked out the neighbour.

'Driveway is empty. And yet the lights are on. Probably a timer. No one's emptied that post box in a while either,' he said as he pushed open the gate.

'So whoever owns this house hasn't been here in a while?'

'Exactly.' He looked around the garden and up towards the house but didn't note any cameras or alarms, not surprising given the neighbourhood. 'Did Mari teach you to pick a lock?'

'She did, but my stuff is back at the-' She cut off as he fished a small case out of his pocket. 'Sneaky,' she commended, taking it and kneeling by the door.

Within a few clicks, she stood and opened the door, looking pleased with herself.

Xavier stumbled over the threshold, and Ray caught him. She pressed her hand against his blazer, where she knew his wound was. Her stomach rolled at the squelched.

'I'll find a first aid kit,' she said as she lowered him to a dining room chair.

'And a bottle of something strong,' he whispered.

She looked through the kitchen cabinet and pulled out an unopened bottle of vodka and a glass. She took it back to Xavier and placed it on the table as he shrugged off his jacket.

Ignoring the glass, he cracked open the seal and took a deep swig as she went back to rifling through the drawers.

He popped the buttons on his shirt and poured a little of the vodka on his wound.

'Jesus,' Ray cursed as she saw the bloody hole in his abdomen. 'We should have gone to a hospital.'

'Too many questions,' he huffed.

'There'll be a lot more if you bleed to death,' she muttered as she slammed drawers shut on useless items.

Finally she spotted an ice cream tub filled with medical supplies and dashed back to the table.

'Is there a tweezers?'

She turned the tub upside down and looked between the packages. A long two prong object glinted under the overhead lights and she held it up triumphantly.

'You're going to have to pull the bullet out.'

Ray paled. 'I can't.'

'You have to. I'm about five minutes away from passing out. Use my lighter and sanitize it. Then you're going to use the butterfly stitches to close it.' He blinked as black spots danced in his eyes.