ENDS

35- Ends

  With chaste, we hopped into the car and zoomed off.

Hunter was driving at a speed of 102km per hour and I have never been happier that no cars were on the road.

Note, loneliness is beneficial sometimes.

Tell your kids.

“ Hunter slow down… we need to be alive to save Louie” I managed to say as my body swerved when we took a turn at a sharp bend.

Seat belt.. where is my seatbelt?

Before any other action, I made sure I buckled my seatbelt and held my body firmly.

“ Hunter please slow down” I yelled out again as we climbed a bump that I hadn’t gotten the chance to see.

At the rate he’s going.. I won’t be able to see anything in life if we mistakenly crash into something.

And I mean instant death.

“ what would happen to us if I slow down would be a lot worse than the speed I’m going. Just buckle up and……”

  He didn’t complete his statement when a gunshot rang through the air and shattered the rear screen glass.

The shock rattled the both of us that Hunter lost control temporarily of the wheels and the car began drifting in both directions.

We weren’t even given enough time to recover from the first shot when another hit my side mirror.

“ Dear God” those were my only words.

My heart was thumping so loudly against my chest that I could hear the reverberation in my ears. I could swear that the dilation of my pupils have limited all I could see to only ten percent.

I didn’t believe it was possible, but Hunter started going faster.

I didn’t even have enough courage to tell him to slow down.

Just speed and let’s get out of here.

“ Iris I’m going to need your help”

Immediately the words left his mouth… a finely blended mixture of shock, fear and adrenaline grazed my tongue.

It tasted like beer and what the fuck!?

“ Me?? For what? How?”

Just how? He was the experienced one in all the runs and getaways. All I knew was how to bake a cake.

God please.

“ I need you to tune the radio to forty four point six and increase the volume to seven”

“ Huh?”

Huh?

“ YOU HEARD ME DIDN’T YOU!?”  he yelled as he sent me a glare that lasted only half a second before he returned his eyes to the road.

“ Hunter I…”

Another shot rocked the air and within seconds I assimilated his instructions quickly.

“ Do it now!”  Hunter instructed with a firm voice as two more shots hit his side mirror and knocked it off.

Hunter was currently driving in a zigzag motion to dodge the bullets that were coming in more frequently now but I had to stable my hands and tune to the radio station.

“ Volume number?” I asked to proceed with the directions.

“ Seven”

I increased the volume to seven and expected to hear a sirens cry for help or instructions for an emergency escape.

But I got nothing.

“ Then?” I curiously asked as I turned around to find the source of the bullets and there they were.

Two cars hot on our tail with their guns poking out of their windows.

“ Never look back unless you want to get shot in the head. Understand?”

No time for delays, I looked forward and shook my head in affirmation.

“Now press the FM button twice and wait for it”

“ Okay”  I scooted forward once again even though that was difficult with a seatbelt strapped across my chest.

FM button twice and wait for it.

A man’s voice came on.

He sounded really jovial like he was broadcasting news about a beach on a very warm summer with an electric guitar background music, you’d think he’s advertising for a rock band.

“ I think the direction of the sun is in the opposite direction because this heat wave is entirely something different. If you can relate to this send me your dispatch location”

“ Aj77s3. Maroon” Hunter said like the man in the radio could hear him.

I looked at him so awkwardly but who was I to question, he was the experienced one.

A few seconds passed by and the man on the radio replied.

“  Hunter drive into the woods on the right and crash it. Help is on the way”

What just happened? Crash what?

“ Hunter I don’t understand. Crash what?” He didn’t waste a second as he sharply turned the vehicle right ways into the thick of trees that sidelined the road.

“ The car. Hold on tight”

The Car!?

Sweet God!!

The car jumped and rattled against the stones and broken branches but that wasn’t enough to stop him.

He drove with a much stronger speed and avoided the tall trees like it was nothing as we kept going deeper and deeper into the woods.

I was so tempted to look back but after Hunter’s warnings, I decided to check it out through the rearview mirror.

I couldn’t see any cars but the gunshots were still a loud enough implication that they were close by.

“ Iris hold on, we’re crashing. They’re up ahead”

We’re crashing. I don’t think I was given enough time to prepare for the impact when he bashed into a tree.

The windscreen shattered into a million pieces but the force of impact threw my head downwards to avoid the shards of glass.

My head bashed against the dashboard before the airbag inflated and I felt a dull ache on my forehead.

A warm liquid began trickling down my face as my before blurry vision became clouded with a lot of black spots.

I hadn’t noticed when Hunter had gotten down and raced over to my side until my door opened and I heard his voice.

“ JESUS! Iris stay with me, help is on the way” he put his hands into the car to help me out.

I accepted his hands and slowly came down from the car. With the little sounds I could hear, there was a battle of bullet exchange not too far from us.

I couldn’t stand for long on my two feet and Hunter noticed as he gripped me against his chest and began yelling.

“ HELP! SHIT… HELP!!!”

  Slowly I was losing consciousness as I fought to stay awake.

Before everything became black the last thing I heard was.

“ Iris please don’t leave me”

Or …. I’m not so sure.

So I guess that’s how it ends?