Compass - Banana Fish x Reader

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR: Mortality

I could hear voices shouting from down the hill, but my brain wasn't registering what they were saying.

Jennifer and his father were in there, so I was terrified for Ash. He didn't have much of a choice if he wanted to keep them from harm. Shorter dropped lower against me as I shuddered, watching Ash slide his gun through the door before walking in with his hands up.

We had to do something. I had to do something. I wasn't sure why I suddenly felt so protective, but it was overwhelming, and before I really realised what I was doing, I had snatched Shorter's gun from his pants and wiggled out from beneath him.

"(Y..Y/N), wait..!" Shorter made a grab for me, but it was no use. I was already in a full sprint down the grassy hill, barely managing to not fall flat on my face when I reached the bottom.
"Sorry for dragging you into this..." I could hear Ash's voice from inside, and, very cautiously, I peeped in from the doorway.

Jennifer was standing beside Ash, and a large man with shades and a loaded pistol was in front of them. Behind, another man, holding Ash's father hostage.
"You're a fool. Did you really think you  could beat Papa Dino?" The man scoffed, tilting his chin upwards. "Tch, nevermind. The order was to catch you alive, anyway."

I need to think. If I run in, we'll all be killed...but if I just stand here, then...

My hand quivered around the handle of Shorter's gun, and I wracked my brain for answers. For something logical. Jennifer was closest to me. If I could somehow grab her attention without anybody else noticing, then at least I'd be able to get her out of harm's way. The problem was, that was much easier said than done.

Suddenly, the world was washed in blinding white, and I nearly dropped my weapon from the shock.
"FREEZE! POLICE!" A voice, very familiar, shouted out from behind me, and I knew I had to move. I knew that, but my legs didn't want to work.

Ash howled out as he moved, racing forward and kicking the armed man backwards, into the dining table. The other aggressor raised his gun, teeth bared.
"You punk!" My heart jolted with each gunshot, and my eyes grew wide.

My sight had barely adjusted to the high beams, but I knew what I saw. Jennifer, falling backwards, blood already flowing fast. The bastard had shot her, not Ash. I was completely out of it when I heard another gunshot, but my body finally moved.

My pulse wild, I barged into the room, very nearly tripping over Jennifer's body, and I took aim. Everything was a blur, apart from the prominent crease between the man's eyes. Hands suddenly steady, I pulled the trigger, and kept my gun raised, just in case my headshot had failed.

It was obvious to me that it had worked. The man was completely lifeless, and if that wasn't enough, the splattered gore leaking from the back of his skull was. Still, I couldn't move again. This time, however, it was from shock.

Did I...just...

"(Y/N), watch it..!" Ash snapped me out of it, and I spun around, coming face to face with the man he had kicked down before, ready to attack. I was a deer, and he was the headlights. Before I even had a chance to register anything from the prior twenty seconds, the man was pulled back by an arm. The same arm that had laid across my shoulders earlier that evening.

I had seen throats being slit on television, in movies, but seeing it in real life was much, much worse. As the knife ran across his flesh, I could hear the sound of his jugular unzipping, and I felt the thick, hot spray of his blood wash over me.

Shorter met my eyes as the man fell, becoming the third corpse of the night, and they were different. Even behind his token shades, I could see that a switch had been flicked. This was boss Shorter, not my Shorter.