The Tales of Flesh and Blood

My Absolutely Terrible, Shitty Luck

The next few minutes were absolute chaos.

Five police squad cars skeeted into the parking lot, and at the sight of a bunch of grown men surrounding a tear-stained girl, a few of the cops didn't even wait for their cars to be fully stopped before they jumped out, gun raised, and demanded for everyone to freeze and put their "fucking hands up in the air".

I don't know who shot first, but there was a shot. And then there were more. Somehow, I managed to dive for cover behind one of the vans, and I was about to head over to the other side of the parking lot (because hiding behind the bad guys' van did not strike me as a brilliant plan) when a couple of more men busted out through the back doors to confirm my theory. For a moment, the three of us were frozen, unsure of what to do. They were both wearing dolphin-designed masks, and they briefly glanced at each other before coming to a decision. One went out to help his buddies caught in the gunfight with the police. The other one whipped out a gun and pointed it at me.

"Move," he demanded. Tentatively, I raised my hands. It was hard, with adrenaline and pain snaking through my system. I tried to think past the fuzzy haze shielding my head, and I wondered why this was different from all the other near-death experiences I've had in my life.

Because this is personal, a snaking thought whispered. Because this was a specific targeting, not one that I accidentally stumbled in and got caught in the crossfire.

I was so caught up in staring at the figure with a gun that I didn't think of someone coming up from behind until it was too late. A large body crashed into mine, shoving me forward. Instinctively, I made to grab the arm slung over my shoulder right when a piercing, sharp pain stabbed at my neck.

"Agh!" I exclaimed as the pain turned to an intense throbbing sensation.

"We'll see how far you get with this flooding your system," Scar Man hissed in my ear. I managed to turn my head to see a syringe sticking out from my neck as Scar Man injected a golden liquid into me. My entire body went leaden, as if going into shock, and I tried to open my mouth to say something - anything, really, to clear the cursed fog in my head. I had no telling if I succeeded or not in talking. A strange tingling sensation seeped its way throughout my limbs in seconds - oh, shit, this wasn't good -

And then I learned that people really take their heads for granted. Because Scar Man yanked the syringe out of my neck and shoved me aside, and the next thing I know, Dolphin Face was hitting the ground like a sack of flour. I barely comprehended the brutal bang! before his head jerked back and he was out. Forever. Sure, there was gunfire all over the place, but I felt like I should have heard the one that was nearest to me.

Scar Man swore something beneath his breath. Probably a curse. I was still crouched over myself, the effort of maintaining my balance becoming almost too much for my now trembling body. Holy hell, what did Scar Man put into me? I glanced down at my hands, which were shaking beyond control. It felt like an eternity passed when I managed to raise my eyes to where Dolphin Face laid motionless on the ground with blood pooling around his head. It took another eternity for me to direct my gaze behind him, where a very familiar figure was striding up from the side of the parking lot, furious and cold as . . . well, not hell, that's for sure. He was still holding his gun in both hands, not even paying me much attention as he aimed his weapon at the man next to me. Scar Man.

Another numbing shot fired. And then another, and another. Scar Man had no time to act. His body just kept absorbing the shots. I could see him convulsing from my peripheral vision, but even that went blurry when I focused my attention on the boy who apparently had not one, but two guns under his name - because I was fairly certain that the one he gave me was still lying underneath his car.