C H A P T E R E I G H T E E N

Shattered Glass

continuing…

Alex was a few steps ahead, the man a few steps behind. In the far corner of the hanger stood two other men. As one of them turned to walk away, Ethan saw the distinctive profile of an automatic weapon shouldered loosely under a jacket. He knew if he didn’t do something now, they would die, and everything that had been sacrificed, everything they had survived would be for naught. The Power of Souls would again be lost.

With all the courage and strength he could summon, Ethan spun around and launched his fist at the man’s head. The man was watching his colleagues at the corner of the hanger while releasing the safety on his weapon. Ethan’s fist struck the surprised man hard. He was instantly knocked backward off his feet to land hard and unconscious on the concrete floor.

As he hit, the pistol that was about to end their lives fell out of his hand and slid a short distance away. Alex turned at the sound, but first only saw Ethan struggling to regain his balance. Then she saw the man on the floor, blood gushing from his face, the pistol on the ground near his hand.

She gasped and covered her mouth with both hands. Ethan grabbed her arm and pulled as the man at the corner of the hanger started running toward them—raising his weapon and yelling to the others just out of sight.

“Come on, come on!” Ethan shouted. Alex stumbled, still in shock.

He pulled her through the door and pushed her down the hall before slamming the door, twisting the lock and running after her. Bullets sprayed through the wall behind them. They instinctively ducked as they ran.

“What happened?” Alex cried out as they turned the corner toward the door at the front of the lobby.

“He was one of them!”

Ethan shoved the door open. Outside were two parked cars. He ran to the first one—it was locked. He tried the second one—it was open, but there were no keys. He grabbed Alex who was almost numb with disbelief and they ran toward another group of cars in front of the next building about two hundred feet away.

As they ran, Ethan lifted the heavy bag from her shoulder and put the strap around his neck, the bag under his arm.

“Check those on the far end!” he shouted, pointing to the group of cars—hoping it would give her some protection, and both of them an escape.

They sprinted from car to car frantically grabbing at door handles. Alex was closest to the door of the building where the cars were parked. A woman walked out pulling her keys from a purse. Alex ran toward the woman who was still looking down, and snatched the keys out of her hand.

“Was machen sie?” the woman said surprised.

“I’m sorry,” Alex said frantically pushing on the key fob, trying to find the woman’s vehicle. A car’s headlights flashed and horn beeped. The side windows suddenly exploded in the first two vehicles on the end from a hail of bullets, setting off a blaring alarm in one of them.

Alex hid behind the passenger side of the woman’s car and Ethan ducked behind one of the others. The woman screamed and ran back into the building.

“The green one!” Alex shouted before opening the passenger door and climbing in. She fumbled the keys trying to get the right one in the ignition. Ethan briefly saw a man running toward them before he reached the driver side door. Alex had slid into the seat and was trying to start the car. Ethan opened the door, pushed the bag over to her and jumped in. Scrunching down in the seat, he put the BMW in reverse and floored the accelerator.

The engine roared and tires dug down, spinning wildly, throwing gravel everywhere as the car sped backwards. Ethan turned the wheel while hitting the brakes and slammed the shifter into Drive. The engine revved then labored when the transmission engaged and tires spun again, chirping intermittently as they found hard dirt. The rear driver side window and front passenger windows shattered. The back window exploded and several holes appeared in the passenger side windshield.

Now a distance away, Ethan sat up to look in the mirror. He was heading full-out for other hangers farther down the road.

“They’ve stopped shooting!” he shouted over the wind and engine noise. Alex had her head down between the seats and didn’t move. “We’re never going to get out of here on the ground!” She still didn’t respond. He looked down at her. She was covered in shattered glass—her dark hair sparkling with reflected light.

He reached down and shook her shoulder. “Alex! Alex! Are you okay?”

continues…