Summerguard

CHAPTER 25: Ambush

TW: BLOOD AND VIOLENCE

~PAXTON~

How does one catch a snake? They can be anyone. Random strangers, neighbors, and even old friends. I can't just go up to every single person in New York and demand they take off their shirts. They hide in skins that at a distance can easily pass as normal, but they are far from normal. Once you shed that outer layer, you realize that they are invasive and dangerous. Like any invasive species, they need to be severed from the head. And maybe other parts, but the point is that if I am to approach this situation, I need to dig deep. Straight into the core. Find the den. Gas it and toss the lighter. But I don't even have a compass. I'm just a dunce holding all of this fire, but nowhere to throw it. 

"Breathe, Paxton. Breathe," Asher's voice is so distant amongst the incessant buzzings of the traffic around us. 

We sit at a standstill on the bridge as rush-hour traffic charges my anxiety. I hear too much... the chattering of giggly walkers, the impatient beeping of horns, and the ringing of a phone. Oh, wait. That's mine. I tap the Bluetooth button on my phone which is situated in front of my motorcycle.

"Hey, can I call you back? I'm right now stuck in traffic," I request, but my ears perk up as I hear the sounds of popping in the background. 

Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Guns. 

"Paxton! Where are you? Someone's broken into the building! I don't know where Gerard is and Nicky barricaded us in. She's talking to the police. Oh, god, the workers! Please, I am so scared," Chrysos whisper-yells and my heart is thundering its adrenaline.

No, no, no, no, no. I nearly fall off my bike, but luckily Asher is holding me steady from behind. I gotta get to her!

"Love, I'm coming. Stay brave for me, okay? I am coming! Stay on the phone with me," I promise her. 

Screw this. I rev my engine and do something stupid. I weave in through the spaces of the cars in front of me and when I see two trucks on both lanes too narrow for me to go through, I use the momentum I have built to hop the barrier separating traffic to the pedestrian side.

"MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!" Asher and I scream out as people clear out of my way. Asher is probably super confused and panicking as I weave around these slow-pokes.

POP! POP! POP! Three gunshots are heard from behind me and one just barely strikes under my foot. OMG! My eyes are crackling in fear, but my body is moving without resistance. 

"AHHHHHHHhhhhhh!" bystanders scream for cover, but I don't stop.

I can't stop. Minutes feel like hours and these seconds feel like molasses.

"We are almost there, love. Are you still with me? Please, be with me Chrysos," I plead and fight back tears of panic.

"H-hurry," she stutters.

"Hey, I am close. I have to hang up now, okay? But, I will get you. I love you, Chrysos," I say.

"Please, be safe. Oh, sh*t...." The line goes dead.

I run past red lights, use the sidewalk, and break every traffic law that there is in New York City. When I see the flashing red and blue lights surrounding the Beaumont building, I skid to a halt and gather my tools as I approach the nearest officer. What are they all doing standing around outside? There are at least five squad cars and a dozen officers.

"HEY! What's going on? Why are you all out here?" I boom at him.

"Ma'am, you can't be here. Go wait over there with everyone else," he commands me, placing a reassuring hand on my shoulder. I shove him off and although he can't see me through my helmet, I am certainly glaring at him, "No, there are people still inside. You can't just stand here."