Chapter 5 - The Collision
Sadi did not hit the brakes.
The black sedan blocking the narrow estate road belonged to the rogue security team.
Three armed men were standing behind the vehicle, raising their weapons toward the approaching SUV.
"Keep your foot on the gas!" Dante commanded loudly.
Sadi braced herself against the steering wheel and accelerated.
A hail of bullets struck the reinforced windshield, leaving deep, spiderweb cracks in the thick glass.
The armored SUV collided with the black sedan with a sickening crunch of tearing metal.
The sheer force of the impact threw the smaller car completely off the road and into a deep ditch.
Sadi fought to keep control of the heavy steering wheel as they swerved onto the main coastal highway.
The storm was blinding, the rain washing across the cracked windshield in heavy, gray sheets.
"Where are we going?" Sadi screamed over the chaotic noise of the engine.
"Take the highway north for twenty miles until you reach the abandoned lumber yard," Dante instructed.
He pressed a fresh cloth against his bleeding side, his face looking paler than the moonlight.
"I have a safehouse hidden beneath the old office building."
Sadi focused entirely on the treacherous, winding road.
She checked the rearview mirror constantly, but the storm seemed to have hidden their escape.
They drove in agonizing silence for forty minutes.
The abandoned lumber yard eventually appeared through the dense fog like a graveyard of rotting wood.
Sadi parked the damaged SUV behind a massive stack of decaying timber to hide it from the main road.
She helped Dante out of the vehicle and supported his weight as they walked toward a small concrete building.
Dante punched a code into a rusted keypad hidden behind a loose brick.
A heavy steel door hissed open, revealing a pristine, brightly lit medical bunker.
Sadi guided him to a sterile steel table in the center of the room and helped him lie down.
"You need a real surgeon," Sadi said, looking at the horrifying amount of blood soaking his clothes.
"I do not have a surgeon," Dante replied through gritted teeth.
He pointed to a silver tray filled with surgical instruments resting on a nearby counter.
"You have to cut the bullet out right now, Sadi."
Before Sadi could protest, her cell phone began vibrating loudly in her wet pocket.
May you like
She pulled it out and stared at the glowing screen in sheer terror.
The caller ID displayed the name of the ruthless loan shark who held her father's debt.
