CHIARA
I looked at the text on my screen. I've been doing this since this morning. Carmelo had sent me a good morning text, it was now evening, and I haven't replied yet. I just couldn't. I sighed and placed the phone down.
Thunders shook my heart and the lightning blinded my vision from now and then as the driver was taking me back home from work. I was already in a foul mood and now this rainstorm made it even gloomier. I was getting married in fucking two weeks.
"The rain is too heavy, madam. I suggest we take a different route." He said. I shut my eyes and leaned my head on the headrest. "Do whatever you can, just get me home." I replied, yawning. This weather called for a long and relaxing nap. If only I was on my bed, under a warm hug of my duvet. I pulled the suitcoat further up to my chest, getting relief from the shivers.
A loud bang made me jump on my seat, followed by another one, and another one, and then a piercing screech of our car. The gunshots went on despite the heavy rain. "What is going on?" I asked the driver who was gripping on the wheel as though he had seen people being tortured in hell.
"A gang shootout madam! We're in the middle of a gang shootout!"
I leaned forward peeking through the front mirror. "Shit!" It was a whole war out there. Several cars parked on either side of the road and we were in the middle of both. Where bullets attacked our car as both sides opened fire rapidly. It was bulletproof but there was no telling if it would shield us forever with the amount of bullets that rained at it.
"Shit! Shit! Shit!" I reached for my phone and dialed the emergency number, informing anyone at home that I was in trouble. Hopefully they would send help soon, or else we were both dead. "Get down! What are you doing?" I just said the words when a bullet pierced through, cracked a window, another one penetrated the driver's skull and exited through the other side. "Fuck!" I got down myself watching as his body limply fell over the wheel, his open head honking continuously.
"Fuck! Okay, calm the fuck down, Chichi!" I slapped my face, feeling my heart racing in my chest. "There is a gun in every car! Below the backseat!" I recalled the safety measures we were taught growing up by the head of Marino security. I reached under the seat and took out a gun. I reached the other side as well and took out another one.
I then checked the magazine, and they were both loaded. Looking outside for an exit, I climbed to the front seat, staying low. I reached for the button and opened the door before pushing the driver out. Bullets wrecked the seat, and I quickly shut it.
Breathing heavily, I started the car and drove aimlessly. But instead of going forward, I drove at the left side of the gang and ran them over. Hitting my head hard on the wheel. I groaned and continued to exit the door before they got near me. The car was already damaged. I wouldn't have reached anywhere before they caught up with me.
I crouched down, my back pressed to the wrecked car. My chest rising and falling at full speed as I breathed through my nose, rain soaking me over furiously. Footsteps approached me and I released fire the moment his head came into my vision. All the while the fight between the two gangs was still ongoing.
I could smell kerosene and knew I had to get away from the car as soon as possible. Biting my lip hard, I tucked the other gun behind my pants, and held the other in place for an ambush.
With my body lowered down and light steps, I ran past my car up to the other one that I'd ran over. A hard punch connected with my jaw, sending my face to the side and my body slammed against the car. A thunder tore off the sky. My hair stuck on my face as the rain poured harder. He came at me with another punch, I turned my face just in time and it broke the window instead. Before he could pull his hand out the shards, I shot his skull and shoved him off my body. I ducked low as bullets passed above my head.
I ran heedlessly to the forest, turning back only after I'd found refuge by the trees and then went on, wiping my face off because the rain had blurred my vision. I'd never hated heels like I did at that moment. I leaned against a tree, heart beating so loud I could make drum music out of it.
I thought it was a gang fight, so why were those bastards after me? The tree scrapes fell on my face as the bullets were fired above my head. "Fucking rotten dicks!" I shouted, taking a stance, I crouched down and shot back, taking out one before hiding back again.
I untied the heels and left them behind while I bolted forward, scrapping myself against the thick bushes but I knew there was no turning back. No help could help me like the help I'd give myself at the moment. Hissing when thorns stuck on my soils.
I swung back and fired with tears burning in my eyes. "DIE!!!" I shouted firing everything and emptied the gun. I could hear thuds behind me as I kept running. I threw it away and reached for another one behind my back, my hair stuck to my face. My legs were killing me, my heart was screaming at me to stop before it exploded inside my chest. My head pinched so hard I could hear warning signs. But I didn't stop. I just kept running and running and running until running was the only thing I could think of.
I toppled down in the mud and smacked my head against a stone. "Holy shit!" I groaned. And flipped on my back instantly, my gun pointed and my eyes searching frantically if anyone was coming for me. Blood trickled down my face. I wiped it with the back of my arm and sat down alert, shivering. Where the fuck were they?
I couldn't hear anything but the sound of my fast-beating heart. My head felt light, and my breath came short, and my body felt numb. "No," I murmured with a trembling voice, feeling energy leaving me.
This couldn't happen now! No! I cried, hyperventilating. My vision got blurry, and my body gave away. I collapsed, clutching the gun close to my chest.
Flashes of someone displayed as my eyes opened and shut, rain hitting my face. "Chiara! Hey! Stay with me! Chiara!" I saw a shadow looming over me and heard his voice before everything blackened out.