Brief Commentary:
Augh, I was so bored (and feeling like procrastinating), so I went ahead and wrote chapter twenty-six. Jesus Christ...loves you! LOL, um, don't ask. XD It's kind of a thing going around the school...like fire to gasoline, basically. Even the "emo" people are using it. Eh heh...yeah. Um...-hackcough-...here's chapter twenty-six.
Reasons Not For Your Ears
Chapter Twenty-Six
Winry dimly realized that she had hit the alley's brick wall when she fired, causing miniature explosions of dust with a minor scattering of rubble. She didn't care that her eyes were stinging from the dust, or that she was coated white with the stuff - she urgently stared through it, desperate to see any signs of movement. She barely registered the sound of Scar's coughing and disregarded the fact that he was uncomfortably close.
Another loud hacking suddenly accompanied his, and Winry felt her body sag with relief as the dust settled to reveal a very familiar shape. Before she could completely realize who it was, the person shot out and knocked her off her feet, forcing her to the ground just in time for Winry to hear Scar firing at her again. A quick glance up confirmed her suspicions, but she hardly had time to think,
Edwar-
She was rudely shoved away as he stood, pulling his pistol once again from his jeans pocket. Winry easily recognized one of her father's shirts on his torso as he brought the gun up, flicking off the safety catch with quick efficiency as he began to shoot his rounds, golden eyes squinted to aim. She was surprised to see a sheen of sweat coating his body as he stood, and did not miss the slight trembling of his legs as Edward blocked her from Scar's view, and vise versa.
"Y-you-" she started, visibly shaken. She could still feel the twin rivets of salty tears on her cheeks, the flow continuing even against her will. The terror she had felt before had receded some what, but the ever-present fear remained. "You c-came to-"
"Shut up!" he hissed, voice fierce. She flinched backwards, and the sudden reality of the situation came back to her.Winry felt herself break out into a panicked sweat all over again, biting her lip anxiously as if to stem the emotion. Edward fired several rounds, face shadowed and unreadable as he aimed and shot, aimed and shot, over and over, while Scar dodged time after time to avoid the near constant stream of bullets. When Scar tripped and stood to recollect himself, he whipped around to face her, his face and voice both seething.
"What the hell were you shooting at me for?!"
"I-I-"
"I come here to see what the fuck is going on and you shoot me!?"
"I d-didn't mean t-to-"
"Oh, you didn't mean to; that's just fantastic-"
"Edward, look ou-"
He dodged Scar's oncoming bullet before she could continue, ducking close to her face before righting himself. Edward smirked at her shocked expression and turned on his heel to return fire, visibly biting his tongue each time he missed.
"Damn, I almost forgot how fast this guy was," he muttered to himself. Winry swallowed and tried to stand, having to lean against one of the surrounding brick walls for support. Squinting, she realized with dread that it was increasingly hard for her to see through the darkness; even though it must've been at least midnight by now, the shadows were only growing longer, enveloping the alleyway into an intimidating shade of black. With a glance at the sky, she shivered to find that the moon nor the stars were present tonight on a account of heavy cloud cover...it might even rain.
Her bare foot nudged something small and cold; looking down, Winry found it to be a cell phone. Picking it up and flipping the cover open, she was surprised to find that the scratched electronic communication device still had service, and good reception. She winced as Scar fired again at Edward, who avoided it before ducking down to return with a cascading of bullets. Flinching with each loud BANG!, Winry quickly punched in the three digits that would contact the nearest police station.
The ringing seemed to continue on for an eternity and longer before a click signaled that a phone was being answered. A gruff voice on the other end muttered into the phone, bored.
"Yeah, police."
"W-we have a shooting g-going on," Winry whispered frantically. She could hear the officer straightening himself, voice now more brisk.
"I see. Where is this?"
"Um, I c-can't really t-tell," she winced as another gun shot rang out in her ear. "It's in the alleyways...and a m-man called S-Scar is involved."
"Scar? My God..." Winry managed to hear his voice speaking to his comrades, "There's a shooting out there, and Scar's involved. Weren't those two other kids saying something about an incident? Where'd they go, Walter?" He turned his attention back to the phone. "We'll be over there as soon as possible, don't worry. We'll bring back up, as well. Thank you for your call."
The dial tone signaled the police officer had hung up. The phone slipped from her hands and clattered to the ground, Winry feeling quite light-headed from relief. Yes, the police would be here soon...they'd sort everything out, take Scar away...throw him in prison for life for all his crimes... She was taken by surprise when Edward's rough hand encircled her wrist and tugged her to his side, face lit with fury.
"Who did you just call?" he hissed, using his other hand to aim another bullet at Scar's chest as the dark-skinned man leapt over a fallen garbage bin. When Winry did not answer immediately, he repeated his question with more ferocity.
"Who the HELL did you just call?" He let out a snarl and tightened his hold on his wrist.
"T-the police," Winry squeaked, wincing at the pressure he was applying to it. She attempted to wriggle out of Edward's death grip, but the intensity only increased what seemed a tenfold; she let out a whimper, concerned he might break it.
"You fucking called the police? Aw, that's just damn great," Edward's voice rang out in disbelief and disgust. He pulled Winry down with him to avoid several bullets Scar had just fired, before giving her a seething glare that caused the young Rockbell to flinch away. He ignored her reaction and hoisted her up again, not releasing his tight hold on her wrist as he shoved her behind himself to release several more shots.
Winry let out a squeak as a hollow-point from Scar sped its way past, nearly nicking Edward's shoulder and subsequently the top of her bowed head as it went. She began to shake again as several more ricocheted off of the sides of the alley wall, instead of busting blindly into them, clattering to the cement at her feet. Winry froze as she heard Edward grunt, and stared in horror as a bullet dug its way out of his stomach to continue through the air, soaked in his blood, only to land a few meters away. Blood quickly began to soak itself into her father's shirt, Edward stumbling and muttering what sounded suspiciously like,
"Goddamned sonovabitch...I'll fucking kill him...that's the third hole he's put in me..."
He coughed up some of his blood, wiping it carelessly on the back of his hand as he fought to regain his former stance, pistol balanced precariously in his shaking hand.
"D-don't," Winry choked, gently touching at his shoulder with her trembling, free hand as the spot of blood on the crisp, slightly dirty shirt grew larger and darker. "d-don't s-shoot at h-him, Edward...otherwise you're-" here she swallowed, face paling as blood began to drip onto the filthy cement, "-you're gonna d-die, Edward."
He brushed her off, shaking his head and glaring hard at the dark-skinned man in front of him, who seemed to have paused briefly in amusement. A cough violently tore its way from his throat as he shot four times at him, more blood spattering the ground as he hunched over, pistol clattering to the ground and his grip on her wrist released as he clenched at the hole in his gut.
"E-Edward!" she couldn't keep herself from crying out, stumbling forward, just as Scar released another hollow-point aimed for her head. Another shot aimed into the sky echoed his, and Winry, crouched fearfully next to Edward, looked up to see several police cars surrounding the alley's mouth, one with the barrel of his gun pointed up at the sky. She was half-surprised to realize she hadn't noticed the flashing lights or heard the wailing of the siren, distracted as she had been. A drop of water on her nose also alerted Winry that it had just begun to rain.
In what seemed the blink of an eye, Scar was disarmed by the police force, his handgun falling to the ground with a metallic chink. In the next moment, he was surrounded by the uniformed men and being lead towards a police car, one attempting to snap handcuffs around his large hands. Her terror quickly sub-sided and Winry quickly relaxed, turning her attention back to Edward, who was still muttering curses with blood seeping past his lips as the rain fell harder, easily drenching everyone there who was without cover (the police had wisely brought a few umbrellas with them).
"God, Edward," she whispered, attempting to bring her rational thoughts back, "Give me your shirt."
He stared at her as if she was insane for a moment or two, before complying and straightening himself to do so. He was just about to reach for the seams of the soaked shirt when there was a yelp from one of the police,
"He had a concealed weapon-"
The cry was abruptly cut off, Edward and Winry looking back in shock as they realized that Scar had managed to pull out a knife, and had already decimated a good chunk of the law force. His crazed eyes landed directly on Winry, his red pupils dilating just as her blue ones did, and a dark smirk spreading onto his face again. Scar let out a strangled cry and charged towards them, knife extended in his hand and aiming straight for her.
And all Winry could think, as he raced towards her with the crystal clear intention of murder, was,
Fuck, I'm going to die.
Top that for cliff hangers! ...maybe. Or perhaps not.
