Chapter 17
Lila
I saw the men loading their guns before they jumped out of the car, all five of them. I tried to escape, making a move for the lock on one of the doors, but the men held me back again while I kicked and screamed to be let go.
The guy who was holding me close to himself, made sure that I didn’t escape before he locked all the doors shut when they got out the car. None of my struggles had made any difference to them. I was no match for these five hulking men.
I screamed and tried to wriggle free from his grasp, but in the next second, all the doors were shut and I was trapped inside the car. Even though I knew there would be no point to it, I slammed my palms against the windows, thudding against it in the hopes that one of the doors would give way.
I could hear my sharp breathing, I could feel the dried up tears on my cheeks. That throbbing ache at the back of my head had become stronger and I was suddenly feeling very cold.
I gave up after a few minutes. There was no escape. I was trapped in the car.
Looking through the back window of the car, I could now see Girth approaching the five men who were standing in front of him in a row. I stared at him, relieved to some extent just to see him.
He looked strong and muscular, hovering tall as he stood in an attack stance, with his gun pointed at the men. However, no matter how strong and brave he was, no matter how much bigger he was than the other five; he was human and just one man against five others. I felt sick at the thought of what they could do to him. They could take him down with just a few bullets. They were going to kill Girth.
I screamed at the top of my lungs, and even though my voice was muffled by the car, I knew Girth had heard me. His eyes twitched and I thought I saw a tremble in his fingers as he held his gun. But he was concentrating, he hadn’t turned to look at me. He was focused on the men.
All I wanted was for both of us to survive this.
I could hear the five men laughing, stroking their beards and pleased with the situation that Girth and I now found ourselves in. I could sense that they were making fun of his tall height and I cursed under my breath. They had no idea how strong he was.
Behind us was an abandoned warehouse, where I assumed they were going to hold me captive after they had done away with Girth.
I was shivering and cold, I could feel the sickness in the pit of my stomach. I was stuck in this car and I was going to have to watch Girth die in front of my eyes. They were going to shoot him and kill him and he was going to lie bleeding there on the ground while they dragged me away and locked me up in the warehouse.
My heart was racing, I was sweating and cold at the same time. I was going to lose Girth forever, if I had any kind of life left for myself.
While I stared at Girth, I heard a shot that startled me. For a second I thought it was Girth who’d been shot, but then I saw one of the five men stumble and fall to the ground. Girth had killed him. In the next second, the men started firing at him and he ducked, then started running back towards his bike.
I hadn’t even realized that I was screaming. My screams filled the car now and I screeched till the back of my throat chaffed and I couldn’t scream anymore.
I could see Girth jump on his bike. He was still alive. There were too many shots being exchanged for me to know who was being hit and who wasn’t. I rammed my hands against the windows again. Could I break through? Maybe I could crack the glass, and then what?
Girth was riding his bike now. Taking shots at the four remaining men while he rode. Even though he was at somewhat of an advantage now, on his bike, he had to have been hit. He couldn’t come out of this unscathed.
I watched as he started circling the group of men who now stood huddled together. There were loud screaming voices. They were cursing him, shouting at him and I could see some of the guys bleeding. Girth must have been shot too, he must have been bleeding too but he was still riding his bike, circling around them and shooting at them.
It was difficult for the men to aim at him because he was riding too fast for them, sending them in a tizzy round and round for them to take a shot at him.
“Girth!” I screamed his name even though I knew he couldn’t hear me. I was smiling now, out of nervousness. There was still some hope! He might be able to take all of them out. Maybe his injuries weren’t life threatening.
The roar of another bike alarmed me and I looked up in the distance. There was a dust cloud being kicked up and through it, I saw a group of bikes emerge.
I recognized Rodeo’s bike immediately, I’d worked on its maintenance myself! I laughed out loud, unable to control myself. The Marked Skulls were here! They’d found us! Perhaps Girth had alerted them when he was chasing behind the car.
We were going to be okay, they were going to outnumber the remaining four men, all of whom were injured and bleeding by now. Now, the only thing I wished for was that Girth wasn’t fatally injured himself.