“ARE YOU SURE THAT CAR will start?” I asked Theo after he finished whispering his plan into my ear. “I mean, it looks kinda old and we don’t know why it’s parked all the way there, and...”

“We’ll find out. If it can’t, then use it as a shield.”

“Right.” I wasn’t too fond of our plan, but I supposed we didn’t have many options left, and I certainly couldn’t come up with a better one. “But can’t we go together? I’m not sure if I can break into that car or start it. I mean, it’s been a long time since I tried something like that.” My ex-boyfriend had tried to teach me how to do it, and I’d been successful only once, but then again, I hadn’t had to steal any cars.

“Trust me. Everything will work out.” Theo gave me an encouraging look. His confidence seemed to be infectious, and I took a deep breath and nodded.

“Okay. Let’s do this.” I glanced at the building behind us and hoped none of the Spiders would decide to poke their heads through one of the windows and shoot at us. Shouts were coming from inside, and I knew it was only a matter of time until they realized the building was empty or until they decided to come out here to check.

When we were sure no one was looking our way, I raced across the yard toward the car, and Theo headed in the direction of the truck. His plan was to sneak up on the guards and incapacitate them before they even saw him, and even though there were only two guards at the moment and Theo was more than capable of taking them out, I still couldn’t stop myself from worrying.

I dove behind the car, and as I moved toward the door, I spotted one of the Spiders looking out from one of the windows of the building across from me. Lowering myself to the ground so he wouldn’t see me, I risked taking a peek around the car because I thought the Spider would probably be able to see Theo. But instead of shouting or pointing his weapon through the window, the Spider pulled back inside. Theo must’ve found a hiding place just in time. If one of the guards had spotted him, they would’ve alerted the rest of the Spiders, so I knew he was safe for now.

My blood was racing as I tried the car door. There were a few big rocks lying around, so it shouldn’t be too hard to break the window to unlock the door, but then everyone would hear me. If Theo’s plan worked, soon it wouldn’t matter. I nearly fell on my ass when the door unexpectedly opened, and I wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad thing because I didn’t know why they’d left the car unlocked.

Maybe it was broken after all. There was only one way to find out, so I ducked inside and tried to remember what my ex had taught me. Unfortunately, the Spiders hadn’t left a key. Maybe they were using this car for a getaway, so they wanted to be able to get inside quickly. Besides, it was parked in the middle of their hideout, so it wasn’t likely someone was going to steal it. Well, they hadn’t counted on Theo and me showing up.

I glanced up, but all I could see was the front of the truck. A wall and a few barrels were obstructing my view. Theo would be fine. I had to believe that. As I fiddled with the wires, glad that the Spiders didn’t have a better car—they certainly wouldn’t miss this one if something happened to it—I wondered where they were staying since the buildings around here were empty, and there had been only one guard when we were inside.

They had probably set something up underground. I managed to connect the right wires and the car came to life. Theo had better finished with his part of the plan because everyone was going to hear the engine, and they were going to come here. I settled in the driver’s seat, slammed the door, and stepped on the gas pedal. There was just enough space for the car to pass between the truck and the building.

Once I was past the truck, I couldn’t see anyone, and my heart skipped a beat. But when I came to a stop and looked back, I spotted Theo inside the truck, and the bodies of the guards lay at his feet. He jumped out and raced toward me just as gunshots rang out. The Spiders definitely knew where we were, and I held my breath as Theo dodged the bullets. But before he hopped into the passenger seat, he threw something that he’d been holding in his hand at the truck. One of the bullets hit the roof of the car, and the back window burst into pieces.

“Go!” Theo yelled as he got in, and I kept my head down, gripping the steering wheel tightly as the car lurched forward. Someone appeared at the gate and fired toward us, but I didn’t slow down or stop. The man jumped out of the way before I could mow him down. I took a sharp turn left, and a loud blast shook the ground.

In the rearview mirror, I could see fire and smoke, and I glanced at Theo, who only gave me a small smile. That truck had been full of weapons and explosives, so he must’ve found something to make it all explode. The Spiders were still shooting at us, and they were rushing for their cars. But just as we were about to reach the end of the street, a car appeared out of nowhere in the middle of it, trying to block our path.

Men rushed out of the car and opened fire. Theo and I ducked, and the bullets hit the windshield until it burst. Glass was everywhere, and the wind was blowing in my face, but we couldn’t stop now. The car wasn’t big enough to block the whole street, and I knew it’d be possible to pass right next to it, but it wasn’t going to be easy. Theo had his gun ready, and when his gaze met mine, he smiled, his free hand closing over mine on the gearshift.

“You can do this,” he said, and I nodded, pressing down on the gas pedal. Yeah, I could do this, provided no one hit one of our tires or me. My knuckles were white as I held onto the steering wheel. Bullets whizzed everywhere around us, and something warm brushed my shoulder, but I didn’t have time to think about it.

As we were getting closer to the car and the men, Theo opened fire, and I squinted my teary eyes. I swerved and the car lurched to the side, and we flew right next to the men and their car. For a moment, everything seemed to be in slow motion, and I could see Theo dodging one of the bullets aimed at his head. The car was starting to make strange noises, and I had a feeling its bumper had fallen off, but we were speeding away from there, leaving the men behind.

I took a right turn, my hands shaking slightly. We’d done it! Theo looked behind us and swore. This was far from over, and I realized two black cars were coming after us. I weaved between the cars, crossing into the opposite lane, and I hoped no one would crash because of me, but if Theo and I wanted to escape the Spiders and live another day, we had to lose them somehow.

“Did you destroy most of their weapons?” I asked. “I don’t want them to go after the Cobras.”

“Everything that was in that truck, yeah, but I’m sure they have more stashed away somewhere.”

“At least they won’t be ready to attack immediately. We should get rid of them and go to the Cobras’ territory so we can warn them.” I didn’t think that going in the opposite direction and away from the Cobras would stop the Spiders from attacking them too. “Do you think they recognized us? They might think it’s the Cobras trying to sabotage them and they won’t wait to retaliate.”

“I don’t know.”

“Did you see Walter anywhere?”

“No.”

“I can’t just take us straight into the Cobras’ territory,” I said, and barely avoided colliding with an oncoming car.

“You’re really good at this,” Theo said as I managed to put some distance between the Spiders and us, but it still wasn’t enough.

“Thanks.” I quickly wiped my eyes. “I just wish we had a windshield because my eyes and my face don’t like this at all.”

He glanced over his shoulder again. “It’s still just two cars.”

“They’ll expect us to go to the Cobras’ territory, so they might try to set up some kind of a trap for us.” The car jumped over something as we whizzed through an alley full of trash, and I was glad it was still running.

“We can try to lose them.”

“Like the last time when they were chasing us?”

“Yeah.”

“We can’t go to another shopping mall. The Spiders are serious about this now and they won’t care about anything. Someone could get hurt in the crossfire.” A garage would be full of people, and I didn’t want the Spiders to shoot anyone.

“I wasn’t exactly thinking about a shopping mall,” he said, and I glanced at him.

“Then what are you thinking?”

“We have to do something the Spiders won’t see coming.”

“Well, yeah, but...” Cars honked as I ignored a red light, almost grazing one of them, but the Spiders were right behind us.

“We have to get them to crash,” Theo said.

“And how are we going to do that?” We were going toward a less busy street, and I didn’t have to dodge as many cars, but that also meant it would be easier for the Spiders to follow us.

He held up his guns. “Keeping going until there’s no one around, then hit the brakes.”

“What?” I gave him a quick look full of incredulity.

“They have to be close enough for me to be able to hit their tires. Right now, they’re speeding after us, and we’re too far away for them to try to shoot at us, so they’re waiting and saving their bullets. So if we suddenly stop, it’ll take them some time to react.”

I took a deep breath. “Okay.”

Once the road was mostly straight and clear, I glanced in the rearview mirror and realized the two cars were now side-by-side and they were getting closer. And their cars were a bit better than ours. This was our opportunity, so I gave Theo a small nod before hitting the brakes.

“Be ready,” he said, turning in his seat and aiming his guns at the cars that were approaching at great speed. A moment later, he fired in rapid succession, and a few bullets hit the back of our car too. “Go!”

He didn’t have to tell me twice, and I stepped on the gas pedal again, hoping the car wasn’t too damaged. Our tires screeched, and a loud crashing sound echoed behind us, but we were moving and getting away from there. I didn’t have time to look back, but out of the corner of my eye, I could see Theo’s smile.

“They’re down,” he said.

“Good.” Now all we had to do was make sure no one else was following us and reach the Cobras as soon as possible.