Street had a plan. In fact it was less of a plan and more of a; well he wasn't quiet sure what he should call this audacious move. Death sentence went through his mind but he quickly pushed that thought away. Street has always been reckless. He himself would admit it, but what he was about to do was further than he had ever gone before. He double checked his vest, relying on it to save his life if needed, and pulled his gun out of his holster. He would do anything to get her back; and he was about to prove it.
He was in stealth mode then. Gun up and ready to go. He slid down the alley alongside the white van. He stopped at a heavily rusted door. He could still turn around, wait for back up, or at least tell someone where he was. His hand went to the door handle and he pulled it open. He was terrified as he crossed the threshold. He waited a second for his eyes to adjust to the darkness inside then set out into the building. It didn't matter which way he went, he would search the building until he came across her. He didn't let it cross his mind that she might not be here. She just had to be.
Street scanned the mechanics workshop. Everything was dark and packed up for the night. He passed through the cars checking all the usual hiding places, but there was no sign of anyone on the ground level. He looked at the metal staircase running up the wall to the next level. It was his only option. Metal steps always made a noise but these ones were unbelievably loud. They groaned under Street's weight.
He wiped the sweat off his brow with his arm. With the noise he was making he expected someone to be waiting for him at the top. He reached the first floor and was relieved to find he was alone. The metal balcony ran around the top of the room. There was no sign of anyone. One door led off the balcony. At least there was no choice to make. He edged forwards, each step taking him closer to Chris.
The smell of damp and rotting hit him as he entered a filthy corridor. It looked like the building used to be flats. Doors to the flats were open and rubbish littered the floor. He crept along pausing at doors, it was quiet around him, he couldn't imagine anyone staying here. He didn't even bother checking in the rooms. There was a staircase at the other end of the corridor. Street decided to go up, he could work his way down. As he reached the landing he heard the first sign of life. Voices were coming from the left. They were muffled and he couldn't work out what they were saying. He paused on the top step listening for a while trying to work out if Chris's voice was among them. He didn't hear her.
'What are you doing?' Street jumped and spun around aiming his gun at the person sneaking up behind him. His eyes widened as he came face to face with Chris. She had frozen too, just looking at him. Neither of them knew what to do. She looked better than the last time he had seen her just hours earlier. She was dressed all in black again, her baggy clothes hiding the fact she was just skin and bones.
'Chris,' Street eventually spoke when it was clear she wasn't going to make the first move and hadn't started running. His gun was still trained on her, but neither of them took any notice of it.
'I don't know who you think I am but I'm not her,' She spoke, she was wary of him. They held eye contact. He hadn't looked into her eyes for so long that his barrier nearly dissolved. He didn't know how he managed to stop himself from trying to hug her. All he wanted was to reach out to her, but he kept his feet firmly planted.
Street thought she would have looked away from the eye contact by now, but it held. He couldn't bring himself to stop, even though he had so much he wanted to say to her.
'You need to leave and never come back,' She told him, her voice calm and disconnected. She really had no idea who he was. Even now she was pushing him away in true Chris form.
'I'm not leaving without you,' Street advanced towards her. Maybe, just maybe this could work out much better than he expected it to. Lowering his gun for the first time he found himself directly in front of her. Chris sprung into action disarming him and drawing his weapon back on him. It all happened so unexpectedly that Street ended up staring down the barrel of his own gun before he had registered what had happened.
'Got one in the corridor,' Chris shouted up the stairs. That blow landed like a physically one and he recoiled as she hurt him. Within moments four armed men were upon them, each of them judging the standoff on the stairs. She hadn't taken her eyes off him, and he hadn't off her. She saw the hurt in his puppy dog eyes, she just didn't care it was there.
'How many are with you?' The men looked panicked, glancing around to find Street's team.
'It's just me,' Street held his hands up either side of his head as he turned to face these men. His heart was beating quickly in his chest. This was what I wanted he told himself, anything to get close to her again.
'Search the building,' the main guy, Street still didn't know his name, spoke to two of the guys. They disappeared to waste their time.
'Jamie,' the guy looked at her and side nodded his head towards Street. Street looked questioningly from him to Chris and back to him. Chris had taken a step towards him while his eyes were focused on this guy. The hair on his arm stood on end as she got close enough to touch. He turned to look at her once more; then realised his mistake. The butt of his gun came crashing down on his temple. He had one second to see Chris's fist wrapped around it before the darkness took over.
