Author's Note: This fits with chapter fifty of Witness.
Diary of a Protected Witness Part 40
Amusements
Fucking Feds! I said they all were crooks and liars, and Sims just proved me right; he didn't even wait until I was at the limo, but stepped out to meet me, grabbing a wrist and yanking me towards the car. "Get him in the back! And kill the cops and the girl!"
"Lying shit!" I snarled, unsurprised at the betrayal.
And then I swung with my free arm, slamming the switchblade up under his ribs, and diving into the back seat of the limo without pausing to see how much damage I'd done.
There was a startled oath from the guy on the far side of the limo, and he grabbed for a gun and started to climb in to keep me from going out the other door. But I had other ideas, and slammed a smoke bomb down on the floor, coughing at the pungent burst of gunpowder and ash.
I couldn't see what I was doing then, having closed my eyes to protect them from the worst of the smoke. But I could feel one of my ball-bombs in my pocket, and took a second to punch the trigger button and drop it onto the floor.
Then I was scrambling out the far side, squinting my eyes open enough to shove a coughing agent out of my way so I could make a run for it. I sure as hell didn't want to stick around to see if I'd measured my ingredients right!
As soon as I was in clear air, I was able to orient myself and dash for the stockade fence.
It fuckin' felt like there was a bull's eye on my back as I ran, and I half expected to feel a bullet reach its target before I reached my goal. God knew I could hear the volley of shots ringing out over the pounding of my feet. But then I was at the fence, and leaping to catch hold of the top and somersault over it.
I let out a sharp whistle as I did so, hoping to catch Heero's attention, if he wasn't too occupied shooting bad guys. My best hope lay in reuniting with my protectors.
I landed hard on the inside of the fence, glancing left and right and then sprinting towards the main gate. When I whipped around the corner, I nearly collided with Heero.
He told me he'd sent Catherine to Wufei for safekeeping, and that he and I needed to seek cover. I opened my mouth to say "no shit," but he yanked me close and stole a quick kiss. "We need a distraction. The bastards will be calling for reinforcement--"
The sound of an explosion made him jerk around in surprise. "What was that?"
"A distraction?" I smirked, giving him my most devilish wink.
"You made a fucking bomb?"
"Hey--Cathy had all the raw ingredients!" I babbled. "And I wasn't sure smoke and mirrors would be enough, considering where we were going. I was actually thinking of the moose when I made the first one--"
He pulled me into his arms and kissed me hard. "You're fuckin' amazing, Maxwell!"
Awww--if that was all it took to impress him, I decided I'd make it a point to blow something else up soon.
Of course, I didn't have time to dwell on it, as we ended up running for our lives again, sprinting between closed-up booths to find a place to hide while Chang apparently executed some master plan he and 'Ro had cooked up.
We ended up squeezed in between two walls, Heero in front and me pressed up against his back, trying to catch my breath without panting loudly enough to be heard by the two goons talking back and forth in the alleyway.
The Feds, for all their incompetence, had been savvy enough to call for backup, and so we had pursuit on our heels from the original crew, and more to worry about in the near future. If we only knew how many more, it would've been a big help, but we had no such luck.
It didn't matter much anyway, as we could hear one stalker nearing our position. If he spotted us, the Feds' backup would be the least of our immediate worries.
I slid a throwing knife free and offered it to Heero, hoping he could take the guy out in silence; but he shook his head and pressed the knife back into my hand.
"Think you can hit him from here?" he whispered.
Fuck--I had no idea. I mean, Cathy and I had played at target practice, and I had excellent aim. But I wasn't sure I could keep my hand steady enough with everything riding on a single throw.
I nodded anyway, and Heero switched our positions, putting me slightly in front, so I had a clear shot at our pursuer. When the guy drew even with our hiding place, I balanced the blade in my hand, the way Cathy had taught me, and just before I let fly, I coughed out loud to get the bastard to look our way and present a target.
He did, and when I threw the knife, it took him squarely in the throat. He dropped his gun and went to his knees, clutching at his neck and making a sort of gurgling sound before falling face down and going still.
I felt a rush of relief, followed closely by a rush of nausea. My hand was shaking like a leaf as I drew it across my face.
"You okay?"
I glanced back at Heero, hoping I wasn't as pale as I felt. "I--never killed anybody before," I admitted.
And I'd done it twice in under ten minutes--first Sims, and now this guy. Not only that, I'd killed them in front of cops--the ultimate eye-witnesses. There was a time that fact would've had me shaking in my boots. But this time, the cops were on my side. They were my allies, instead of my greatest fear.
Heero pulled me close, his warmth helping to soothe away my sudden attack of nerves. "Try not to think about it now, love. We've got a long way to go to get out of here."
If I'd had more time to dwell on it, I might've fallen apart, but I pulled myself together, just for Heero. He needed me at my best--but then with him, I always was.
We'd resumed our jog down the alleyway, when all the rides and machinery started up, and music began blasting from a speaker.
"Phase one complete," came Chang's voice over the loudspeakers.
"What's that mean?" I asked.
Heero gave me the short version of the explanation--Chang had powered up the rides to provide cover noise as well as movement to conceal our flight through the park. Smart move! And if there was a phase one--I hoped there was a phase two. We needed all the help we could get.
Shit, at that point, I'd have settled for any advantage at all; we had no idea how many Feds we were up against, or how many more were on the way, and I was beginning to get a seriously bad feeling about the whole thing.
I hid it from Heero, putting on my best tough-guy act when he talked about turning the tables on our pursuers. But while we were deciding whether to hide out in the Tunnel of Love, or the House of Horrors (guess which I'd have chosen, under better circumstances), we heard a shout that meant we'd been spotted.
"Horrors," I blurted, grabbing Heero's wrist and tugging him towards the dark, scary ride. "There'll be wax dummies," I pointed out, hoping the guys chasing us might be distracted by them.
Heero seemed to agree, and we raced into the darkness, groping our way down a pitch black hallway. I felt a hand catch at my belt loop, keeping us close, and couldn't resist a quick joke.
"At a time like this?"
"Any time, any place, Maxwell."
Hot damn, I loved that guy! Here we were literally running for our lives, and he could still tease me about making out in the dark. I wanted him so badly!
I wanted us to get through this ordeal, get the trial over with, and find the light at the end of the tunnel. But for the moment, I'd have settled for finding the way through the House of Horrors, and out to the daylight on the other side.
Heero helped with that, by pulling out a small flashlight to speed us on our way, and I tried to be just as together, following his orders without question, and staying alert to the danger behind us.
We made it to the carts that carried passengers through the ride, and dove into one, already hearing the sound of voices behind us.
Hell, I wish I could've really enjoyed that ride, but with certain death nipping at our heels, there was just no time to take in the scenery. We'd barely gotten to heckle the introductory narrative given by a disembodied voice, when our cart careened down a steep incline, leaving us hanging on for dear life.
It was a fast ride--up until we reached the first exhibit along the way--a chainsaw murder scene that was so blatantly fake, it couldn't have scared a feeble granny. I looked at the chainsaw, wondering briefly if it was real and functional, but decided it was nothing more than a prop--useless to us.
But at least I still had one real bomb and a smoke bomb tucked away, and I shared that tidbit with 'Ro, so he'd have a little heads up if it came down to me using them.
Fuck--maybe I should've blown up the tracks behind us. But the thought didn't occur to me right then, and by the time it did, it was too late.
Chang had called out a warning that we had two or three guys chasing us on the ride, as well as several more arriving at the park in an SUV, just before there was a ruckus on his end of the microphone and he went off the air.
I felt a jolt in my gut that had nothing to do with the bumpy ride of the cart, and Heero said he figured Chang and Catherine had to give up the control room and run for it. So, basically, we were on our own.
I dunno what gave me the crazy idea to draw in our pursuers by playing possum. But they were shooting at us by then, and frankly, I was scared shitless that they'd get lucky. I was desperate to reduce their numbers, and the only way to do that was to take them by surprise.
So I talked 'Ro into letting me play the dummy in the next exhibit, and while I lured in the bad guys, he was able to get the drop on them and take two out.
If only we'd known there were three...
It was like a horrible nightmare when that last guy came out of nowhere, taking aim at us. And even as I grabbed for a gun, Heero was grabbing for me--shielding me with his own body while I shot over his shoulder.
I never saw if my wild shot hit home, because Heero sank to his knees on the floor of that cart, dragging me along with him; and when I pulled back, my eyes went straight to the spreading red stain on the front of his shirt.
Jesus fucking Christ!
TBC...
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