Mike heard the shotgun pellets shatter the rear window at the same time that his left arm exploded in pain. Forcing himself to hold onto the revolver as tightly as possible, he collapsed back into the bench seat with a faint moan, trying to disguise the injury from his partner to avoid distracting him.

With his head partially ducked down to evade the rogue spray of lead from behind, the young Inspector kept his eyes glued onto the road ahead, jaws clenched and hands wrapped around the steering wheel in a death grip.

When he was reasonably assured that Steve hadn't been hit, Mike swallowed another moan of pain and glanced down at his left upper arm, but couldn't see anything against his black coat in the dim light.

And yet, the hand he ran across the area quickly became sticky with blood.

"Damn it!", he cursed again, when a second hail of shotgun pellets was fired into their direction, entering the trunk but not making it to the front bench by some divine intervention.

Ignoring the growing pain that came from several regions of his body and the first symptoms of shock setting in, Mike turned around once more, determined to use his last two bullets to stop their attacker.

"Steve, keep the car as steady as possible…"

Quietly acknowledging his order, the Galaxy slowed down slightly, as his partner sought out the smoothest part of the road to continue their travel.

Taking one last deep breath to fight off the throbbing in both of his arms, Mike steadied his aim and waited until the cab of the tow truck came into full view. From that distance he could see several bullet holes in the large vehicle's windshield and a good size hunting rifle sticking out of the driver's side window, aimed at the Galaxy.

With his fingers trembling, Mike pulled the trigger in rapid succession, firing at the faint outline of a steering wheel, until the chamber of his revolver emptied.

His reward came quicker than expected, when the large truck nearly came to a complete halt before drifting uncontrollably into the embankment to the right.

"Got him! Steve, I got him!"

Sighing in relief, Mike let himself crash back into the front bench, his breaths coming in short gasps, shaking and sweating profusely.

Taking a moment to calm down and refocus his energy, he put the .38 back in his holster, before reaching across his chest and putting pressure on the wound on his upper arm. Midway between his shoulder and elbow, he could feel where the pellets had torn into his sensitive muscle tissue and damaged nerves, turning every movement into an agonizing act.

And yet, despite everything that happened, they were both still alive.

It was a miraculous fact that was motivation enough for him to keep on fighting.