Young Guns: Escape Part 4

The boy looked up to see the hole in the doorway that led into the next room, as well. Did he just do that? What was happening was strange enough, but he stumbled out into the hall to see nurses and doctors scrambling to him. Staff members surrounded him, their speech was indistinctive; he couldn’t think quickly enough to answer them as he caught a glimpse of the man storming through the next room pushing people aside to get to him.

Angel instinctively moved past the doctors and moved as quickly as he could down the hall. The floor was quite cold against his bare feet, but that wasn’t his main concern. He saw two metal doors at the end of the hall passed the receptionist’s desk. Just a bit further, but he looked behind him instinctively. The man was right on his tail, throwing people aside as he stomped along.

The boy picked up the pace, but began to lose his balance as he came closer to the elevator. He couldn’t feel his feet on the cold linoleum, but it didn’t matter once the elevator doors slid open. Instead of continuing on his path, Angel slowed, but not to catch himself, but to avoid another threat. The elevator opened to reveal a girl clothed in black; he stared as he stopped himself. Cornered, Angel lost a shred of hope as his mind raced for a way out. Who the hell are these people?

Every muscle in his body tensed when he saw the object in her hand; a pistol that she raised in his direction. Time appeared to slow, and he could only make out his own heartbeat through all the commotion. Was this how he would die? Angel figured that if he died in a hospital, he would be in a comma with his children’s children pulling the plug. The eternity it took her arm to raise was unbearable, her voice echoing so loudly that he almost didn’t take it seriously, “Get down!”

Angel’s body reacted before his mind did, dropping down to his hands and knees. A loud pop tore through the hall and caused an immediate ringing in his ears. The nerves in his knees flared as they hit the floor, and amongst the neutral tone is his ear, a hand tugged at his arm. As quickly as he dropped, he let someone else help him up and before he knew it, the elevator door was closing with him in it. Before the door shut, Angel caught a disturbing glimpse of his bald pursuer cradling himself, blood dripping from his forehead as he limped forward. His eyebrows furrowed deeply and a snarl curled across his lips before the door closed completely.

The boy stood in complete terror; his breath never slowed for a moment. He could barely speak besides a syllable that leaked through his chattering teeth, “Wha-“

Not only was he shaken to his center, he was freezing from the ice-cold floor and the fact that he wore nothing but a hospital gown. Then, he looked to the girl; her black hair in a ponytail. She looked as though she’d just come from a leather-clothing store, and there were at least three holsters with identical pistols. It was something out of his wildest dreams, but the guns were real and she actually used them. So many questions flooded his mind, but he could only utter, “Are you going to kill me?”

Her head turned to him, almost immediately with a raised eyebrow. A hard scoff came out followed by a brief chuckle. Her sarcastic smirk didn’t make it any easier to take it, “I could if that would make it easier, but that wouldn’t do me much good.”

She had a point, but he couldn’t be too sure. The last thing he remembered was being in lunch period, and then he woke up here. Her appearance was random, but something he didn’t focus on at the moment because what little was in his stomach began to slither upward. Angel quickly leaned forward, his mouth opened wide to allow liquid and small solids out. Although he was occupied with vomiting, he could hear the girl, “Oh, gross.”

He choked a little, gasping for air as he tried to pull himself together, but it was too much, “What’s happening?”

“That can wait until we’re out of here.” The girl said, covering her mouth and nose until the elevator stopped. She slipped through the doors as they opened, and left Angel to follow in his quick steps. He slowly emerged into a parking garage, unable to fathom the situation.

“Please-“ He stopped walking for fear of falling over, “Tell me what’s going on. Where’s my dad?”

She rolled her eyes as she walked to him, “Look, I don’t have time to give you a play-by-play. My job is to save your butt, but I can’t do that if you keep bugging me with questions. Look, your answers are coming. You’ll just have to wait.”

Angel frowned. The girl had pinched a nerve, but he was still nauseous and quite tired. He’d have to trust her since she just rescued him, but what was next? Was it worth finding out? Feeling as if he didn’t have a choice, he slowly nodded and followed her into the lot. He just wanted the nightmare to be over. No. He couldn’t keep his mind off the fact that he was almost killed. Stopping, Angel continued to squirm as the cold concrete made his body quiver.

“Screw that!” He frowned at her, “I’m not going anywhere with you until you tell what’s going on. Who was that guy, and who the hell are you?”

The girl slammed the car door and stormed from around the car to him, stopping inches from his face, “The only reason I’m not gonna stick a taser in your gut is because I don’t want to piss anyone off, but give me a reason and-“

“Is this a rescue or a kidnapping?” Angel was clearly intimidated by her advance, but he stood his ground, “Not a good way to get me on your side if you need me.”

He could see she wanted to come back with a tart remark, but she held her tongue and took a step back. Crossing her arms, she took in a breath and exhaled heavily, “Sure. We’re still in danger, but what the hell? The big guy in there is Boulder. He’s very strong, durable, and can snap your neck with one hand. I took him down, but he won’t stay down for very long, which is why we have to get the hell out of here.”

“Wait-“ Angel lifted his hand, “You shot him… in the head. He can survive a bullet?”

“He can survive a chainsaw to the shoulder and a missile to the chest-“ She paused, and let out a chuckle, “Believe me, I’ve tried.”

Angel grimaced at that. He couldn’t imagine the brutality she must posses if she took a chainsaw to someone like that, but still, he had to ask, “Where are we going?”

“Somewhere safe.” The girl scoffed, “Like I said, if I wanted to kill you, I would have done it a lot better than Boulder.”

She shrugged, turning to the car and opening the passenger door, “So, can we get a move on?”

Angel still wasn’t completely satisfied with any of it, but if that guy was still walking around, then they were still in danger. As he was about to get in, he looked to her, “What’s your name?”

“Let’s not push things. You haven’t earned that right.” She said as she pushed him in. He pulled his legs into the car quickly before she slammed the door. Her rude, abrasiveness aside, she did save his life. She was quick to ease into the driver’s seat and begin working on the wiring underneath the steering wheel.

“This isn’t your car?” Panic flooded Angel’s body as he looked around nervously.


“Great. I went from having my life in peril to committing a felony.”

“Well, stick around and you can learn to be a world-class criminal and terrorist.” Her sarcasm didn’t help as a loud crash echoed through the parking garage. Angel’s head snapped to see the door to the stairwell on the ground, deformed from taking a beating. Then, the man from before stepped through the opening, kneeling a bit to accommodate his height. Angel froze for a moment, but snapped out of it as he made brief eye contact with Boulder.

Turning back to the girl, he began to politely encourage her, “HURRY UP! COME ON!”

He looked back to see that the giant was now running toward the car. Angel hunkered down in the leather seat, unsure of what to do. Then, the engine started, and he heard the driver side door shut. They were in full reverse toward the man. Angel gritted his teeth as he shifted his gaze from the girl to Boulder. The engine roared and the tires screamed as the car hit something that almost felt like a speed bump. Angel might have assumed as much if he hadn’t watched the man go down as the car backed up.

The girl put the car in Drive and floored the acceleration pedal, and ran over Boulder again. As they pulled out of the parking garage, Angel turned back only to see the man getting up and watching them drive away, “Holy-“

To be continued...