It takes easily another hour to get next to the aisle. The gunmen don’t seem to notice; I guess when you’re watching so many people, you’re highly unlikely to notice the exact seating position of them all. The people sitting beside us have been watching us, and smartly, moved as we did.
“We’re going to have to move to that door fast, and there is a solid chance they’ll see and shoot. We’re going to have to run. Can you do that?”
The pain in my stomach is intense now, throbbing with every move I make. I feel lightheaded and dizzy, but if getting over there means there’s a chance of saving my baby, I’ll do it.
“Yeah,” I whisper.
“All right, Lucy. When the time is right, I’m going to squeeze your shoulder. I need you to move quickly and quietly. Can you do that, too?”
I nod. He focuses on the men moving around, some still talking on cell phones.
It’s so quiet, until it isn’t. Chaos breaks out when a group of men about two sections away from us stand up. There are about twenty of them. They move quickly, rapidly, dropping to their knees and crawling, using the flimsy plastic seats to protect them. It seems they have the same idea as us, only they’re being overly bold about it.
Gunshots ring out.
Horror fills my vision as bullets fly. I open my mouth to scream, but Hunter clamps a hand over my mouth. My vision blurs as the most horrific visions of my life play out in front of me. The gunmen don’t hesitate—they just shoot. Wildly. Carelessly. Women and children scream again, and the gunshots increase.
“We have to move,” Hunter whispers frantically in my ear. “Now.”
He pulls me, and like a thief in the night we start towards the door. He practically launches me up and my feet barely touch the ground as he runs. I move as quickly as I can, never having felt so terrified in my entire life. I wait for the gunshot, the one that’ll rip through my body and end me. My skin prickles, my body throbs with fear, and everything feels like jelly. Hunter reaches the door. His hand jerks out, twists the handle but it doesn’t open.
Locked. It must be locked.
I start to panic.
Gunshots keep ringing out.
He reaches around into his jeans, pulls out a gun, and shoots the lock. My eyes widen, my knees wobble, and I can’t think. Why does he have a gun? A shot rings out right beside my head, and I scream. Hunter launches me up and over his shoulder, running into the open door. The gunshots keep coming.
It’s dark back here. All the lights are out, so wherever this leads isn’t being used today, but I can hear the commotion outside, the screaming, the gunfire, all of it. I make a strangled, pained sound in my throat and clutch Hunter as he runs—I don’t know where he’s going, or how he plans on getting out, but he just keeps moving.
Gunshots ring out, flying right past our heads.
“Fuck!” he curses, putting me down. “Can you run? We need to move faster.”
I nod.
Terror unlike anything I’ve ever felt before lodges in my throat and I take the hand Hunter offers, forcing my legs to keep up as we start running. Hunter swings me around to his left and turns, firing into the darkness. The sound hurts my ears, it’s so loud.
“Why have you got a gun?” I yell frantically.
“I’m not going to hurt you. Just trust me,” he growls, pulling me harder and faster, while turning and firing shots behind us. I’m too afraid to turn back and look.
We reach a door and he aims the gun, shooting the lock twice. It pops open and he kicks it open. Gunshots keep flying, and I hear people running quickly behind us. I realize it’s the people who were sitting closest to us. They must have taken the risk and followed us. Commotion can be heard above still, and I could swear I can see figures moving around us in the darkness.
“Come on,” Hunter barks, pulling me down.
It’s dark.
I can’t see anything.
He withdraws a phone from his pocket, turning on the flashlight, and aims it in front of us. We run. The two people following us are closer now, but Hunter doesn’t wait for them. We reach another door and Hunter stops at it, turning and aiming his flashlight at the two people.
The next moment happens so quickly. A bullet rings out and takes the man down, ripping through his chest with such force that blood explodes outwards. The second takes the woman down in the exact same way.
Hunter aims.
He fires.
The two men who just killed those innocent people drop to the ground. My knees give way and I scream. Hunter catches me, one arm around my waist, and hauls me back up. I fight. I claw and scratch, shoving him out of the way.
“Let me go,” I scream. “Let me go. No. No.”
“Lucy.”
“Let me go!”
“Look at me,” he roars and I flinch, taking a trembling step backwards and jerking my arm to my chest. My eyes find his, only barely in the darkness. “You’re okay. You’re going to get out of here. I’m going to get you out. Do you understand me?”
“They just, they k-k-k-k-killed those p-p-p-people and then you . . .”
“Hey,” he says, stepping up close, his eyes flicking to the door before focusing back on me. “I didn’t have much choice. Better I get rid of them than allow them to hurt you. Do you trust me?”