Crash and Burn

Chapter Thirty Two

Layla's POV:

Bang!

Everything happened in slow motion. One minute Scarlett was behind me and the next she was in front of me, taking the bullet. She gasped as the impact knocked her flat onto her back. No!

"Scarlett!" I rushed forward, kneeling down and moving her hair from in front of her face. I carefully inspected her, finding the bullet hit nearly the center of her chest. Pressing a hand to her back confirmed my worst fears. It went through.

"Hm. Wasn't expecting that." I heard Maya say. My heart ached as I looked down at the girl I love one more time, then stood up and trained my gun directly in her direction. The guards behind her lifted theirs back into position and she raised hers, taking a step forward.

"Four against one. Odds really aren't in your favor right now." She said, tilting her head. Hot tears stung my eyes, but I refused to cry in front of her. Instead I swallowed hard and lowered my gun just a bit.

"Let me take her to the hospital. Please. Then you can do whatever you're planning to do with me." I begged. She paused, as if to think for a moment. Then that wicked smile returned. She stepped forward, squatting down next to Scarlett and gently playing with her hair.

"She's cute. But you and your little organization are some persistent fuckers. Better off dead. How about you join her?" The guns were pointed at me again and without thinking I clicked the safety off of mine and shot her in the shoulder. I fully expected her to fall back or at least drop the gun. Neither happened. Instead she simply stumbled back and rolled her sleeve up to see the entry point. The pain made her grit her teeth. The gun was raised in my direction once more.

"Haven't been shot like that in a long damn time. Consider that your lucky shot" She sneered. Then fired. The bullet hit me in the shoulder and almost immediately a wave of pain took over. I fell to my knees, stupidly dropping the gun which was instantly kicked away from me. Maya moved to stand over me, the barrel aimed directly for my head. Fuck.

Attempting to sit up resulted in nothing but shoots of pain and getting punched. Maya giggled as she looked down at me. Then raised her boot and stepped down hard on my shoulder. I bit my lip to hold back the scream desperately fighting to escape, meanwhile she leaned down and grabbed my hair, pressing farther down and forcing me to look at her at the same time.

"I have to admit you've been a huge pain in my ass lately. You hacked the collars and found a way to get rid of our lethal injection needles. Using a prototype from Sky's labs is crafty. And stupid considering they can easily be tracked. I was pinged the second you pulled out of the parking lot" She explained. Shit.

"Y...you're a..fucking..Monster" I choked out. She laughed and pressed firmly, grinding her boot into my shoulder and causing unimaginable pain.

"She May love you for whatever reason, but I definitely don't. If putting a bullet through your head is all it takes to restore what I've been building and ruling over for years. Then so be it." The pressure disappeared and I made the mistake of looking up. She punched me again and stood back up.

"Sky will be upset for a little while. But don't worry, she can buy herself as many new daughters as she likes. And she will, after you're gone" She said. My vision was blurring from holding back so many tears. The barrel returned and I closed my eyes, waiting for the pain.

Bang!

The bullet sank into my chest instead. Someone had shoved her. The pain was intense. I couldn't focus. My shoulder and chest throbbed. I weakly tried sitting up, witnessing the scene in front of me.