Chapter 6 - THE EXPLOSION AND THE ESCAPEClick.
The world didn't just explode; it shattered into an infinite number of blinding, deafening fragments.
The middle SUV erupted into a massive fireball, sending a shockwave of superheated air and jagged metal shrapnel ripping through the alley. The force of the blast knocked Julian off his feet, sending him crashing hard against the brick wall opposite us. Several of his tactical operatives were thrown like ragdolls across the frozen pavement, their weapons scattering into the snow.
"Down!" I roared, lunging forward with every ounce of strength I had left.
I threw my body over the little girl, wrapping my arms tight around her head and tucking us both beneath the heavy, reinforced chassis of the second dumpster as a second, secondary explosion rocked the street overhead. Debris rained down like molten hail, scorching my coat and filling the air with thick, choking black smoke.
Bear covered our flank, his body shivering violently as hot ash settled over his matted fur.
When the roaring finally subsided, ringing in my ears like a continuous train whistle, the alley was unrecognizable. The vehicles were burning skeletons of twisted steel. Smoke choked the sky, blotting out what little moonlight remained.
I pushed the heavy, smoking debris off my back and sat up, coughing violently.
"Lily? You okay?" I gasped, grabbing her shoulders.
She blinked through the soot, coughing, but nodded frantically. "I’m... I’m okay. Bear?"
The dog whined, struggling to stand on his trembling, broken leg, but he gave a weak thump of his tail. He was alive.
I scanned the smoking ruins of the alley.
Vance was gone—nothing left of him except a smoldering piece of his expensive wool coat near the crater of the first SUV.
Ten yards away, Julian was pushing himself up from the snow. His tactical trench coat was shredded, his face blackened with soot, and blood trickled from a deep laceration on his forehead. He was groaning in pain, clutching his left arm, which hung uselessly at an unnatural angle.
He looked across the burning wreckage, his eyes locking directly onto mine through the thick, toxic fog.
For a moment, neither of us moved. The mercenaries were either unconscious or scattering into the shadows of the side streets. The entire operation had gone up in flames.
Julian struggled to his feet, swaying unsteadily. He looked at the little girl, who was now clutching my hand with both of her tiny fingers, and then back at me.
A bitter, exhausted sigh escaped his lips. He didn't reach for his gun.
"You always were too stubborn to die, Victor," Julian called out, his voice rasped and broken over the roar of the fire.
"Takes one to know one," I shouted back, pulling the little girl and the dog up to their feet. "You're coming with us, Julian. We're going to talk. Without the masks. Without the guns."
Julian stared at me for a long, agonizing moment. Then, sirens began wailing in the distance—police cruisers and fire trucks converging on our location from three different directions. The whole city was waking up to the war we had brought to its doorstep.
Julian turned his back to us, limping heavily toward the dark mouth of the side street.
"Catch me if you can, brother," Julian muttered into the wind, disappearing into the swirling snow before the first police cruiser rounded the corner.
I looked down at the little girl. She looked up at me, the locket swinging gently from her neck, catching the flashing red and blue lights of the approaching sirens.
"Where do we go now?" she whispered.
May you like
I wrapped my arm securely around her small shoulders, pulling her close against the biting cold, and looked out toward the horizon where the first pale light of dawn was beginning to break through the dark winter clouds.
"Now," I said, a grim, determined smile touching my lips, "we take our city back."
