Mikhail

1

Crack.

Without thinking twice I spun around and directed the barrel of my gun at the quiet noise from behind me. The source of the sound turned out to be a strongly and solidly built man, mirroring my stance.

"Put the gun down," I hissed quietly, eyes narrowing at him. He wasn't one of Julio's men, but now wasn't the time to start finding out who he was.

"Who the fuck are you?" He gruffed out, voice close to echoing around the abandoned and dim storage hall.

My stance faltered and I was quick to move one hand away from the gun, pressing a finger against my lips to silence him.

He hadn't shot me yet, and I doubt he wanted to come face to face with the killing machines after me right now. The men after me would come running if they heard a shot, although I knew I could kill this man quicker than he had time to react.

The second I was left with only one hand on my gun, he took a confident stride forward and more aggressively pointed his gun at my head. I would never retreat or back down, especially when facing off with a man.

"You're not my biggest problem right now," I glared at him, harsh voice barely above a whisper, "if you're not going to-"

"Get down," he ordered all of a sudden, large hand grabbing my shoulder to push me down.

My ears rang from the loud echo of a shot.

One of the storage racks behind the mysterious man now squatting in front of me took the hit of the bullet, and I realised he had just saved my life.

I ripped his hand away from my shoulder and pushed past him, quickly rising to my feet and making a run for it. I heard him muttering out a curse and shuffling onto his feet as well.

Another shot fired, followed by a third.

I sprinted through the storage hall, making sure to not run in one line for too long and to stay out of view from the men paid to kill me. I squeezed the gun tightly in my hand, heart racing from the excitement of it all.

I heard a fourth shot much closer to me now.

A stinging pain emanated from my calf. I glanced down quickly enough to realise I had cut it on the edge of one of the old and industrial storage shelves. I cursed to myself at having been so reckless, knowing the professional men would need much less to track me down than a few spots of blood on the floor.

I then heard someone running behind me. I quickened my pace, not bothering to look back. I turned a sharp corner, wanting to lose whoever was following me. This was a mistake, as I ran down a small hallway between the shelves, down which one of Julio's men was standing, confused and oblivious to what was going on.

My sprint never faltered as I raised my gun and shot him, watching the panic in his eyes before he limply fell to the ground with a thud. I heard the steps behind me closing in quickly, and I glanced over my shoulder to find the mysterious man following me.

For some reason he wouldn't shoot me, but I still needed to lose him as he was nearing me all too easily.

I turned another corner, now running along the side of the storage hall, littered with rusty metal doors. No more gunshots sounded, and I wondered what Julio's men were planning.

I screamed brokenly when my upper arm was grabbed roughly and I was pushed against the concrete wall, my head hitting it and causing me to wince out in pain.

My sprint had come to an abrupt stop and I glared up at the culprit, both of our chests rising and falling with accelerated breaths.

"What do you think you're doing?" I gritted out, mustering up all the strength I had to rip my arm away from his rough hold but embarrassingly unable to do so.