Jason
“Get the fuck down! Now!” I shout, instinctively placing one hand on Kat’s neck and forcing her to crouch. I hear more gunshots, the quick rat-tat-tat of semi-automatic guns drowning my thoughts and allowing instinct to kick in.
Reaching behind my back, I grab my Colt, my fingers tightening around the cold metal as my heart pumps boiling blood through my veins.
By the time I’m done, there’ll be a body count.
Grabbing Kat by the wrist, I drag her behind the counter and release the safety of my gun, my back pressed against the wall.
“Jason, no!” she whispers, looking straight at me. Her face is as white as the first snow of December, and her eyes are wide with terror. Even though she grew up used to violence and corruption, she sure as fuck isn’t used to having a target on her back.
No wonder. She’s been trying to lead a normal life for years now—a life that wasn’t supposed to involve me.
But I’m here now.
And I’ll be damned if I’ll let anyone come between Kat and me. Point a gun at her, and you’ve just signed your fucking death sentence.
“I don’t want to lose you,” she tells me again, placing one hand on my chest, right over my heart. “Not again.”
“You won’t,” I tell her with a slight nod. At the same time, I hear footsteps all around us, shattered glass being stepped on by heavy boots. If I stay here hiding, we’ll be doomed.
I need to act, and I need to do it right now.
I take one quick peek over the counter, and a fraction of a second later, I hear another gunshot. I duck just before a rain of bullets falls against the counter, splinters of wood flying everywhere.
I counted five guys, three of them carrying handguns while the others have sawed-off shotguns. They aren’t after Kat then; if that were the case, they would have just sent one guy.
No, they sent five assholes because they want to put me down. Well, that was a fucking mistake. If you want my head, you better bring an army of sufficient size.
“Don’t move,” I tell Kat as I reach for my boot with my free hand. I grab the small blade I carry there and, still with the Colt in my other hand, I take a deep breath and jump up to my feet.
Moving fast, I cock my left arm back and then throw the knife at the first guy I see. He tries to shoot all the same, but by the time his finger squeezes the trigger, my blade is already buried deep in his neck.
“Get him!” one of them shouts, but I’m too fast.
Digging my heels into the floor, I place the palm of my left hand under the butt of the gun and take aim. The first guy goes down like an empty paper bag, his eyes going vacant the moment my bullet pierces his skull.
I hit the second guy twice—one time on the chest, the other right between the eyes—and then I duck behind the counter once more.
“Jason…” Kat whispers my name, but I can’t bring myself to look at her. I don’t want her to see me like this—the coldhearted man she tried to run away from, a man on a path of violence and chaos.
Rage wells up inside me fast. How do these motherfuckers dare come to me the moment I find Kat? Why are they forcing me to be the old Jason once more?
I’ll make them pay.
I’ll make them fucking pay.
Gritting my teeth, I jump up to my feet once more. The moment I’m standing, I squeeze the trigger on my gun, and the next guy collapses on the floor, a bright red painting his white shirt.
Jumping over the counter, I run straight toward the last man standing, and I take hold of his shotgun before he has the time to do anything.
“Don’t you fuckin’ move,” I growl, pressing my Colt right between his eyes. I’m so close to him now that I can smell the fear.
“P-please,” he stammers, and that just makes me want to squeeze the trigger even more. I know I should be asking questions, but right now I just want to make him pay for putting Kat’s life in danger.
Fuck all questions, and fuck all answers.
“Jason, no!” I hear Kat say behind me, her mellow voice calming down all the rage consuming me from the inside out. “Don’t...don’t be that man,” she urges me, slowly placing her hand over mine and forcing me to lower the gun.
As I do it, I feel a glimmer of hope inside me. Maybe Kat’s right—maybe I don’t need to be the old Jason. Maybe I can be the right man for her to love.
With her by my side, I can change. I know that.
“Go back,” I growl at the man cowering in front of me. “Tell everyone—come after me and you better bring a second army…one just to bury the bodies.”
Emptying the shotgun, I throw it to the floor and then stash my Colt back on my belt. “Let’s go,” I tell Kat, lacing my fingers with hers and dragging her out of this ruin of a place.
“Let’s go,” she whispers softly, running her tongue between her lips.
For a fraction of a second, I can’t help but believe it.
Maybe this time we can be together.