Arcane Sequence: 1994: Never Stop Running... (WLW)

Preface: Miami, Florida, February 22nd, 1994

!!!My novels are completely off-limits to any adaptations and if plagiarized, you will be reported!!!

Squatting with her back to it, Berry Marino reached behind herself and latched onto the door of her unmarked sedan, feeling the sting of a bullet lodging into her calf as a sound of anguish echoed around the brightly lit Miami, Florida street. Making sure to keep herself tucked behind her makeshift shield, Berry peeked as far as she could and lifted her Smith & Wesson Sigma over the hood of her vehicle toward the apartment building from which the firing previously came as it finally died down. She swiveled her head from window to window until she saw the reflection of a rifle scope in the abandoned apartment complex on the other side of her car.

Mustering as much volume as possible to be heard over the constant barrage of gunfire from her other team members, she yelled, "Third window down, two to the left!"

Berry pulled the trigger just after the sound of gunfire soared her way and screamed as a bullet pierced her shoulder, but felt that her gun had fired. The crash of glass breaking echoed around the desolate street only filled with her elite task unit and those attacking. The remaining detectives and police in the area fired an onslaught of bullets at the targeted window and the glass completely shattered as Berry scrambled to get behind her car once more. Amir! Berry looked toward the back of the sedan and spotted her partner still on the ground on the other side of it. Ignoring the pain in her leg and chest, she scooted her way over to her partner, Amir and latched onto his vest. Another hand met with hers and she glanced up to see the rookie Ethan Baker helping her to pull Amir back toward the back passenger side door of the vehicle as well.

"Hurry up and get that man out of there!" Their sergeant yelled from around the SWAT rig as they both worked together to pull her partner's rather large girth the rest of the way around the sedan.

Almost too late, a bullet whizzed by Berry's face and she jolted backward as her cheek stung, but soon realized it wasn't coming from the man in the window as she gazed toward it and saw his corpse lying through the broken glass shards still attached to the wooden frame panels. The officers approaching the minuscule complex were scattering for cover as more shots rang out, another of which nearly getting Berry if Ethan hadn't pulled her away sooner. Her eyes were going murky and her head fuzzy. If she didn't hurry, she might have passed out and she couldn't let that happen. Not when Amir was still in danger.

"Rooftop assailant at center right on northeast building!" One of the SWAT members yelled over the onslaught of cracks rippling throughout the street. "Open fire!"

Hearing the cue, Berry quickly turned her focus to the roof of the building adjacent her trooper and lifted her gun. She could see Ethan doing the same out of the corner of her eye, but remained fixated on the small object protruding just past the ledge of the rooftop. It was only the silencer for a rifle sticking up over the cream collared edge and the reason they hadn't been able to discern the gunfire origin for the second active shooter.

Still it didn't feel right.

As the team now hidden behind their various vehicles fired at the assailant, Berry lowered her gun and rubbed the muck from her eyes with haste. She glanced around the area, focusing on her left just past the other team members. There was nothing there aside from the spectacle of seeing her unit reloading and firing their guns as a small group of only two branched off in a sweep across the street. They would breach the building, then the rooftop and eventually make a full sweep through the abandoned building when they were done. With that seen, Berry refocused her efforts on finding the one thing that stuck out like a sore thumb. These were just goons sent by someone else, but it felt as though they were being watched, spawning a creeping feeling that permeated up and down along Berry's spine. Something always stuck out in those matters and she knew she was missing something. Something just had to be--

There! Berry noticed an SUV parked three blocks down and the echo of the rifle she heard earlier piercing through the air when she was shot.

Swiveling her head to catch the team crossing the street, she yelled, "Pull back!! There's another--"

Bam!! One of the men crossing was shot along his ribcage just past his bulletproof vest as Ethan opened the sedan door, but the other got into the abandoned building. All she could do was hope that he found shelter from the bullets hailing at him and crashing into the street facing wall of the large structure. The SUV started up and the rifle slinked back into the car, but Berry felt determined to know who the hell would be attacking them so boldly. As she spotted a smile on the face of the SUV occupant, she had her answer.

Nadia Costa winked at her as she neared with her SUV and Berry grabbed Amir's left arm as Ethan took his right. They both tried to hoist him up into the back of her trooper, but it was to no avail. As Nadia turned down a street two blocks down, ignoring the guns firing at her, she shot one last bullet from the handgun she extended out of the driver's side window. Just how many guns did the wretch have? Blood splashed up onto Berry's face. Warm. Thick. Her stomach flipped and she nearly vomited as she lifted her head, trying to muster the courage to gaze at her partner. The man whom she considered her family. Amir wasn't breathing and a new hole rested in the center of his upper-left chest, smoking as Ethan fought to keep his hands pressed to it.

Bam! Bam!!

"We got him!! Second assailant down!! I repeat, the second assailant has been eliminated!" Berry heard on her earpiece, but quickly lost the ability to concentrate.

Everything around her was growing dark with splotches of the pitch black that only came in her sleep and she yielded to it. As she lost her grip on Amir's shirt, she fell backward and hit the pavement with a grunt, feeling hands on her shoulder.

"Detective Berry! Stay awake!" The rookie fussed as he leaned over her with wide, tearful eyes. He hurriedly brought his wrist to his mouth and called through his sobs, "We need EMS to our location! Now!! At least three men are down and in need of immediate medical attention!"

"Berry, you stay with us, you hear!" Sergeant Mitchell was somehow above her, as if he was floating there and trying to give her one of his famous pep talks. His face, what she could make out of it, was red and covered in trickles of light cascading down to his scruffy beard. "That's an order, Bear! Keep your eyes open!"

Berry couldn't help it. She was just so tired. Everyone had to understand. Her family was gone, her friend and partner laid dead beside her and now her career would be over. She was exhausted. How could anyone expect anything less? She knew they would all understand. With a lighter heart at the precipice of glorious release from the tethered despair she called life, Berry closed her eyes and let the Miami breeze take her on unknown journeys.