Chapter Five

"Still, he figured, sometimes you've got to do what you've got to do, and then sometimes you've just got to run like hell after it's done."— Derek Landy

Tramp was trying not to drown. He floundered and fought with all his might to stay above the current of his fury and the weight of his dread. The stand off in front of him was so far from what he wanted, and the anger with his friends for instigating it was hard to contain. But it was Lady, who stood hidden behind him, that caused him the most distress. If they notice her it's all over. She's going to be targeted like the rest of us.

A rat faced, greasy haired specimen sauntered forward from the opposite group with a gloating smile on his face. "Why are you in such a hurry? Here I thought you downtown shits were supposed to be fearless."

"Get us in a fair fight, we'll show you just how fearless we can be." Russell spat, still supporting Miles with his shoulder. Tramp grimaced at the amount of blood dripping from the side of his head, it was just a knick, but he didn't like how pale Miles looked. Buster hastily shoved his way forward and said: "Alright Ripley, what do ya want? You got us where you want, so spill."

"Don't play dumb with me, Calvetti." Ripley sneered. "We came to stop your skeevy little deal, and put the fear of god into Swanson while we're at it."

"Ha, jokes on you, asshole." Slim said smugly behind Buster. "We already did it, you were too late." Tramp ground his teeth hard. Did Slim not see what kind of spot they were in? Instead of concentrating his frustration at Buster and his friends, he focused on the other five members behind Ripley.

The first two were so similar, with brown eyes and dark coloring, Tramp guessed they were brothers, maybe even twins. They look civil enough.The second was a nondescript boy with dirty blonde hair, but Tramp didn't miss the glint of a blade in his newsboy hat. A small threat but not alarming. He looked at the third member and surveyed the tendrils of a messy scar on his chin. He could be trouble. The fourth wasn't formidable; he was short and thin, but had a poorly concealed pistol by his hip. A wild card most likely, not ideal. And finally, the man on the far right had a hook nose and a rugged five o'clock shadow. He also carried a pistol, but made no show of hiding it. And Tramp knew, from his violent smile and his finger near the trigger that he was the biggest threat. Gotta keep a close eye on that one.

"He's right though." Buster continued. "You got here too late. So what's next, wanna have a shoot out right here? Or you wanna take this somewhere else? It makes no difference to me."

Tramp hissed under his breath. That was not what he wanted to hear. His mind churned madly with ideas of how he could possibly get Lady to safety without notice, however his friends weren't making it easy. Tramp was going to have to seriously reevaluate the company he kept when this was all over.

"Naw, you're gonna come with us and spell out exactly what Lynch's plan was. I'm sure the boss man would love to hear it." Ripley said.

Russell snorted like he had just heard a joke. Tramp steadied himself for defensive action, widening his arms to cover Lady even further. He was going to stay silent and if the opportunity to run showed itself he was going to take it, and take it fast. But behind his hectic planning there was something Tramp couldn't ignore; a chilly tug of wind at his back. It must be the hole the bullet left from earlier. Maybe if it's big enough...

Buster let out a sound between a laugh and a scoff. "Yeah, we're gonna have to decline. You think we're spineless saps who are new to all this?"

"The way Lynch has you grunts doing things, you'd think so." Ripley replied.

Tramp yanked himself out of his thoughts and quietly swore, which made the trigger happy man, Hook Nose, glance in his direction. Now there's really no going back. Tramp thought. He knew from experience that Buster was going to fly off the handle any second, like he always did when Lynch's name was smeared in his presence. It was a real problem, one that Tramp never understood or cared for, but now he resented it more than ever. Really gotta re-evaluate.

Seeming to sense Buster's anger too, Russell left Miles to spill against Slim and joined his leader at the front, his gun raised. Tramp assessed the men behind Ripley and, just like he'd guessed, the scarred one and Hook Nose were the first to raise their weapons. Lady softly gasped and moved half a step closer to his back.

"Buster, call off your guard dog." He seethed through his teeth, unable to restrain his frustration. "We gotta get out of here before the fuzz shows up."

Buster said nothing. He was already consumed by his rage, his face twisted up in a feral scowl. Riplely met his gaze smugly. Both groups waited for their leader's orders but no one said a word, and Tramp's warning was left unheard. He shifted back a step closer to Lady and clenched his fists to keep himself in check. This was not going to end well.

Silent seconds went by and no one moved. Slowly, as they stared at each other, a sound began to rise in the distance. Tramp clenched his fists so hard his nails dug into his skin. Damn, I knew it. It was the shrill cry of sirens ringing out across the night. Tramp released his anger and let out a stabilizing breath. "Buster, come on." He ground out, as his rationality came back to him in pieces. "We don't have time for this."

"Dry up, Luske." Russell snarled at him.

In the blink of an eye Tramp's mild annoyance for the ginger burst into contempt. He yearned to holler obscenities at Russell, maybe even punch him. But, it was Hook Nose who kept him from acting on his impulse. The man now gave him his undivided attention, sizing him up and trying to see who stood behind him. Tramp moved in vain effort to block Lady from his gaze. Really, really gotta re-evaluate.

The sirens increased in volume around them. It would be only a few minutes before they got to the mansion. Tramp's anxiety suddenly took the most precedence over the churning ocean of his emotions. He glanced over his shoulder at Lady, who was clearly terrified. She clutched onto her dress and shook uncontrollably, her face pale as paste. Tramp's stomach twisted to see her so distressed and he intensely regretted greeting her in the first place. But instead of dwelling on it, he quickly observed the window behind them. He was gifted with the sight of a large opening in its shattered face which they could fit through easily.

"Your move, Calvetti." Ripley crooned, drawing Tramp back to the stand off. Hook Nose kept glancing from his leader to Tramp through narrowed eyes, seeming to comprehend his escape plan.

Buster's voice was deep with wrath when he spoke. "I'll show you whose move it is, you motherf—" Suddenly, the small thin boy surprised them all and fired off a shot at Buster.

Pop!

This is why I hate wild cards. Tramp thought furiously as he made certain to shield Lady. Buster agilely ducked and was missed by a hair, but the bullet ricocheted and hit Slim instead. The blonde went down in a howl of agony, clutching at his lower leg and Miles crashed to the floor with him while Buster shouted something indistinguishable. Russell fired his gun and hit Ripley in the shoulder. Tramp was moving the moment the blonde dropped his gun in pain. He grabbed Lady by the wrist and rushed for the window with glass crunching under his feet.

Tramp hopped over the edge of the window, careful to avoid the jagged opening above his head. Yet another round went off and this time it hit the window he and Lady were exiting from with a high pling! Lady shrieked and Tramp roughly yanked her clear of the projectiles. Several shards sliced his hand and face but he ignored them without effort.

"Get back here, damn it!" An unfamiliar voice bellowed.

Tramp cussed and took off running without looking back. He pulled Lady harder than he would've liked but they needed to put as much distance between them and the mansion as possible. Not a single word left Lady's mouth as they ran, and Tramp almost wished she would speak. What could she be thinking right now? Did she fear him? He winced internally. On second thought maybe I don't wanna know what's going on in her head. They exited into a no man's land, between the front yard and the back veranda on a stretch of unaltered grass. As they ran across the yard, the cold air hit Tramp's lungs like pins and needles. His mind was again wildly flying through a thousand different options for his next course of action, when Lady exclaimed: "They're following us!"

Tramp's instincts reacted before his brain and he jolted to a stop. He pulled Lady around and hoisted her over his shoulder like she weighed nothing. His adrenaline had the reins now. Tramp sprinted with all his might now that he didn't have to worry about Lady keeping up. A gun went off in their direction but his speed had increased so much that it wasn't a danger to him. They reached the end of the lawn and dove through a neat line of trees which separated the mayor's estate from their neighbors'. Tramp was met with another yard and the large home it belonged to, which he analyzed in half a minute. He bolted for a large fortification of hedge bushes close to the wall of the house, which he knew was large enough to conceal them.

Just as he heard shouts from behind them Tramp plowed into the bushes. He came to a stop and let Lady slide down from his shoulder. They moved to the wall and sat in the dirt, with their backs against the brickwork. As he got his heavy breaths under control Tramp put a steadying hand on Lady's shoulder and motioned for her silence with a finger to his lips. Lady brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped herself around them. A strong emotion flashed through him but Tramp couldn't identify what it was through the thick curtain of his adrenaline rush. The omnipresent wail of police sirens resounded through every corner of the neighborhood. What a shit show. Tramp thought as he kept his hand lightly placed on Lady's shaking form. I'm gonna kill Buster for dragging me into this.

Progressively, his adrenaline changed from a puppet master to an acute sixth sense of sorts. He soaked up everything around him and then spewed it back into his analog mind like a stock ticker. The amount of time it would take their pursuers to reach the yard. The headlight beams bouncing in all directions from cars fleeing the party. The sound of he and Lady's breaths filling the cold space around them. Then abruptly, dark figures spilled out of the tree line. Tramp counted three men, though he couldn't make out their features from the bush branches. Lady jumped out of her protective crouch with a whimper and Tramp gave her shoulder, what he hoped was, a comforting squeeze. "Shhh." He breathed. "We're alright."

"Where'd they go?"

"They came this way I know they did!"

"Damn that skinny bastard, I knew he was gonna run. Come out, you coward!"

Tramp didn't recognize any of their voices but he got the sinking suspicion it was Hook Nose who had hollered. His ached to jump out and meet his challenge but Lady's presence made him refrain from it.

"We gonna go after them then?"

"We gotta get everything single one of them or it won't mean anything to the boss."

"Then we should get going, if they got a car we gotta beat them to it."

"This way, they must have gone to the front of the house."

They collected themselves and began to run, but directly at the hedge bushes. Lady stiffened up in terror as the shift and thump of shoes on grass beat in rhythm with Tramp's pulse. He readied himself to fight, took his hand off Lady's shoulder and shifted into an offensive position. The moment he let go she grabbed his wrist with both hands and frantically shook her head. Tramp looked into Lady's eyes, torn and stunned at her reaction. Their footsteps were close now and his fight instincts went into overdrive. But they didn't stop. The men sped past without a pause and jetted towards the front of the house, their footsteps quickly fading away. He waited until he heard nothing but insects and the roar of fleeing vehicles to let out a suppressed breath. "God, that was rough." Tramp murmured.

He allowed some looseness into his drawn up muscles but he didn't relax them completely. Tramp turned back at Lady who still had a death grip on his wrist. "You alright there, Pidge?" He asked.

Lady blinked slow, as if his words were difficult to process. Her eyes were dark orbs, her face ashen and Tramp noticed her fancy hair do had fallen out. "I-I'm not sure." Lady quavered. "Are—are they gone? They're not coming after us?"

Tramp grimaced. "For now, no, but I don't think they're gonna give up that easily. We still have to get out of here without them noticing."

Lady blinked again and instead of answering she swallowed thickly with more fear in her eyes. Suddenly she jerked her hand away when she noticed her grip on his wrist. Tramp felt a wave of disappointment at the lack of contact. Confused at his own reaction, he pulled off his bow tie, unbuttoned his collar, and slipped out of his tuxedo jacket. He placed it on Lady's freckled shoulders as he figured she had to be cold in her sleeveless dress. She accepted it but Tramp got the impression she was in a bit of a shocked stupor. For the first time, as he analyzed her, he wondered if he could be compatible with such a fragile girl, seeing as this situation wasn't all that abnormal in his world.

"What do we do?" Lady whispered, her voice hollow.

"Hey." Tramp said as he touched her arm. She looked up mechanically and the emotion he'd been unable to identify flashed through him again. He felt sorry for the poor girl. "It's going to be alright. I'll get you out of this and you'll be back home before you know it, okay?"

Lady nodded, and pulled his jacket tighter around herself. "Okay." She echoed.

"Now, those chuckleheads gave me an idea. I know exactly how we're gonna get out of here."

"How?"

"You ever witnessed a car robbery?" He grinned impishly. Lady looked up with her eyes wide and Tramp chuckled. He stood up as best he could in the hedge, offering a hand to help her up. They stepped out of the shrubbery together and as the crickets chirped, and the stars glistened they ran further into the night. Amidst their flight, Tramp's hand slipped down the silky line of Lady's wrist and he intertwined his fingers with hers.

Hello, friends it's been awhile huh? I've been plugging away at this story but I can't seem to get out of posting a chapter per month. I am a perfectionist to the max though too lol. Also this was a doozy of a chapter, phew! Well I hope you guys enjoy, it's been a fun trek so far. (aaaaand if you like this story don't forget to show ya girl some love!)

— Curly