In Too Deep

Fourteen

•
•
•
•

They were surrounded.

All around, all over, scattered in every direction possible. The air was polluted with gun powder. The gunshots sounded as if they could crack her skull or render her deaf. Bullets flew in every direction like rain, each one ripping into someone or something, and each one ripped through Nova's heart, erasing all her happy memories.

Every blast in the air made her jerk in fear as she took cover behind a car. The sounds were so brutal and reverberated in her ears that she tried to mute by covering them with her hands. She was crouched on the ground, shaking terrifyingly. Her heart was thudding in her chest and everything around her was spinning.

She couldn't breathe, her lungs were crying out for someone to save her. The man across from her, taking cover behind another car went off on his gun, raining more bullets. It just took one second before his shirt was painted red. He was hit in the chest, propelling him backwards as he spayed flat on the ground, dead. Nova clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle her scream.

Pause.

Rewind.

Twenty minutes ago.

She let herself into the auto yard. The howling wind crawled through missing doors and slid over peeling roofs. The sounds of metal scraping metal, the beep of a truck backing up, and rumbling and reviving of motors from heavy types of equipment hung around.

Nova's gaze drifted around towards the rows of broken-down vehicles with dirty windows and raised hoods, wires and hoses bleeding out of the engines, the burned and smashed-up cars that were beyond salvage and stacked for scrap. The acrid tasted of smoke from polluted air that she tried not to breathe in so much. The ground was littered with pieces of broken plastic and metal, and loose screws.

A burly figure pushing a wheelbarrow noticed her looking confused. His whistle caught her attention, and she almost ignored him, but then realized that she wanted to be done with the delivery. She hurried up to him as she ignored the rats scrambling through the junk.

"Can I help you, lady?"

She nodded. "Yes, um, I'm looking for Buzz."

He smiled mirthlessly, revealing a mouthful of stained and broken teeth. "Whaa girl like you want with Buzz?"

Nova struggled to understand the words coming out of his mouth. "I have something for him."

She caught the fleeting impression of suspicion on his face. "Well, where is it?"

There was dull pounding in her temples. "It's in my car." When he continued to stare at her like he didn't believe her, she bit her lip in vexation. "I can't carry it!"

"Oi, Slimey!" A deep male voice startled them both from behind. "If you don't want to stay behind tonight, I'd suggest you get back to work!"

Nova cast an anxious glance behind her. He stood with his feet apart and his hands on his hips. He was tall and scary looking. His hair hung in long greasy strands around his dark stubbled face.

"Can I help you?" he asked with a yell.

She walked over to him carefully. "I'm here to deliver a crate for Buzz. It's in my car, so if you could just get someone to bring it down...." she trailed off.

"Slimey!" The man shouted again, not taking his eyes from her face. "Get Jo and go to the nice lady's car and bring the goods to Buzz."

A ray of hope sprang in her chest. "Thank you." She started to turn to go back to her car when he put a hand on her shoulder.