Rain had no idea how far they walked; all she could focus on was the keys in her hands. Every time they crossed under a streetlight the key ring lit up brilliantly, bringing her short lived ecstasy. She found it a shame they were walking so fast, the illumination came in such quick, much less enjoyable bursts.
The group was practically jogging through the streets of Kansas City. Joe looked back almost constantly, making sure they weren’t being followed. Ben scanned the streets at every turn, trying to remember where he’d parked.
“Where’s your car, man?” Dando asked, anxiety in his tone.
“I know I parked it around here,” Ben insisted, scanning the roadsides. “It can’t be too far.”
“It doesn’t look like those guys are followin’ us,” Joe pointed out, taking another look back.
“The point of tailing someone is to make sure they don’t notice you,” Ben retorted, stress shortening his fuse.
“Well find the damn car then,” Joe snipped, equally shaken and angered by the situation.
“I think its right on the other side of there,” Ben pointed to a wide alley across the street.
“Well let’s go then,” Joe led the group across the road and down the alleyway. “You sure it’s right through here, right?”
“Pretty sure, yeah,” Ben nodded, little sureness in his voice.
“You better hope it is,” Joe growled.
“There’s only so many places it could be,” Dando pointed. “We’ll find it, we just gotta stay calm.”
“The time to stay calm is gone,” Ben stopped the group and pointed down the alley. Two shadows approached them. They all recognized them instantly.
“You got your gun on you?” Joe wondered hopefully at Ben.
“It’s in my glove compartment,” Ben replied frustratingly, “you?”
“I didn’t think I’d need it,” Joe shook his head, “Dando?”
“Same,” Dando sighed. “I thought a party would be the last place I’d need to carry a piece.”
It was at this point that Rain finally noticed they’d stopped moving. She looked up from the keys and was immediately horrified by the two men approaching them through the alley. As soon as she saw them reach at their respective holsters she sprung into action. In a flash Rain sprinted the opposite direction thoughtlessly. Before the men’s guns were fully drawn, she was out of the alleyway and gone from range, displaying truly super human reflexes.
“Damn, she got outta here fast,” Dando observed nervously. “Shoulda followed her.”
“Yeah, you should’ve,” one of the men replied in a hoarse sneer, aiming his pistol at the remaining trio.
“Looks like you in the wrong place,” the other, much shorter man aimed his gun as well. “Don’t you know this ain’t your territory?”
“This ain’t your territory either,” Joe replied harshly.
“Fuck it ain’t,” the tall man cackled. “We pushed out everybody else weeks ago. This is our neighborhood now.”
“If you kill us, it won’t be yours for very long,” Ben said darkly. “Vin will come down on your hard.”
“Vin ain’t shit no more,” the short man fleered. “His Emeralds are old news. Even meth heads ain’t buyin’ your shit no more.”
“I’d hate to disagree with you,” Ben argued.
“Then don’t,” the tall man cut him off.
“You just pickin’ the worst time to try and do this, you know?” Dando pointed out. “You ain’t gonna last a day if you kill us.”
“Shut up,” the short man aimed more steadily. “I’m tired of listenin’ to these guys talk,” he addressed his taller associate. “Let’s just kill these guys and get the hell outta here. Without ‘em, Vin can’t distribute nothin’. They gotta get got.”
“Your fuckin’ glove compartment,” Joe whispered furiously at Ben.
“Shut the fuck up, Joe,” Ben hissed quietly in response. “Don’t pawn all this on me. This isn’t my fault. Where’s your gun if you’re so prepared?”
“Hey! What did I say?” the short man ended the conversation before Joe could reply. “Come on, you wanna kill these dudes or not?” he inquired impatiently at the tall man.
“Yeah,” the tall man nodded, cocking his gun.
Just then, blindingly white light filled the alley from behind the men. The bright illumination was accompanied by a low roaring sound. Both the men lowered their weapons slightly and turned to find the source of the odd light and noise, still not having pin pointed its obvious origin.
As soon as the men’s eyes turned away, Ben, Dando, and Joe leapt to the walls of the alley and braced themselves. They’d seen the source of the light and sound far earlier and were singing praises to their respective deities that Ben didn’t take the keys away from Rain before she darted.
Before either of the men could move out of the way, Ben’s Cadillac slammed into them in a silver blur. The men smashed into the windshield and were carried limply as the car kept moving. Brakes screeched and the men were thrown like rag dolls off the car and to the unforgiving concrete. The tall man was tossed the furthest and hit one of the brick walls, while the shorter man only seemed to roll off the hood and was swallowed up beneath the car as it slowed to a stop on top of him.
For a moment all was still. The tall man didn’t move. The three men hugging the walls were too shocked to do anything other than hang their jaws, and the car only idled in place for a second.
Breaking the stillness, Rain hopped out of the car, Ben’s gun in hand. She approached the tall man, who was leaning up against the wall he’d hit, standing weakly against it. Before he could turn around and realize the danger approaching him, Rain raised the pistol and fired a single shot. The bullet struck the man in the back of his head and his shaky legs were instantly reduced to limp piles of muscle as he tumbled lifelessly to the concrete.
Without a word, Rain lowered the pistol and turned away from the corpse. She approached the three men quickly. They were coming out of their hiding places cautiously, unsure if Rain would shoot them next or not.
“Jesus Christ,” Joe looked at the carnage around them.
“I think we owe her one,” Dando pointed out in a fearful whisper. He didn’t want to speak too loudly in the off chance that Rain would take any small amount of offense to his words.
“Oh my God,” Ben spoke quietly, still too stunned to put volume behind his voice. “Rain, what’d you do?”
“I broke your car,” Rain said in a shaking calmness. She held out Ben’s keys and he took them slowly. She looked up at his horror-stained gaze and said the only thing she could think to say, “I’m sorry.”
11