Lindsay exhaled deeply. She propped herself up against the wall, from exhaustion. Her lower back was aching terribly for some reason. Lindsay lowered her head, watching the sweat fall from her face. Between panting of her breathing, Lindsay listened for footsteps. She couldn't hear any, but that didn't mean he wasn't in the building. Lindsay started down the hall again. She took a few steps before she heard something. Lindsay followed the sound into an emptied apartment.
"Hello?" Lindsay whispered.
Someone whimpered in the dark room.
Lindsay dug in her back pocket for her flashlight. She flicked it on and scanned along the room. Lindsay walked further into the room, listening to the whimper. "Is someone in here?"
There was still no answer, but Lindsay could hear the crying voice further in the apartment.
Lindsay scanned along the walls, catching someone n her light. She dragged her light back to the figure. It was a young woman, early twenties with dark blond hair. She flinched in the light and began moving from Lindsay.
"No, no! I'm a cop. I'm a cop." Lindsay explained. She moved closer. "It's all right. It's all right, Misty."
Misty seemed to calm down. Tears were rolling down her frightened face. "He shot Lucas! He shot Lucas! Marty just…came out of nowhere and shot him! I was…I was upstairs painting when I…I heard them arguing. I didn't think Marty would…would shoot Lucas over this! I hid up here, thinking Marty would come after me! Oh god, I don't wanna die!"
Lindsay grabbed Misty's shoulders and held her. "Shh…shhh…we're gonna get outta here. Alright? We're going to find a way out."
Misty shook her head. "We can't. The fire escapes are on the other end of the halls and the stairs are the only other way down."
Lindsay looked around the dark room. She could hear the faint footsteps growing closer to the apartment.
Misty fidgeted in Lindsay's arms. "He's coming! He's coming to kill us!"
Lindsay covered Misty's mouth. "Keep quiet, Misty. He won't find us if we're quiet."
Misty stopped crying and waited. They sat quietly in the apartment. Lindsay shut off her light and removed her hand from Misty's mouth. The footsteps grew louder, reaching the front door. Misty shook against Lindsay. Then the footsteps grew quieter, heading further down the hall. Lindsay and Misty relaxed.
"Do you have a phone?" Lindsay asked.
Misty nodded and pulled out a razor phone from her pocket. Lindsay took it and checked it's life. Lindsay looked up, catching a metallic glint from the city light. She flicked on her light, illuminating the metal. It was a ventilation duct. "Where do those lead?"
Misty looked up. "All over the complex."
Lindsay nodded. "That's our way out of here." She stood up and headed across the room. Lindsay set her light down near the vent cover and grabbed the edges. Lindsay heaved the cover off with a loud crash. She waited, listening for the footsteps to return. "Let's go, he had to have heard that."
"Wait a minute.." Misty called.
Lindsay turned, shinning the way for Misty. Misty was looking at her hands and shirt was covered in blood. Lindsay frowned. She hadn't seen the blood when she found Misty.
"This isn't my blood." Misty explained.
Lindsay slowly touched her back. She felt the wet material sticking to her back. Lindsay brought back out her hand and shown it in the light. Her hand was covered in the crimson color. How had this happened? Lindsay hadn't even felt the bullet hit her. How long had she been bleeding. The blood! Lindsay grabbed her light and lit it on the ground. Lindsay found a small blood trail form the door and to the vent.
Before Lindsay could do anything, she heard the footsteps. They were quick, heading toward the door. Lindsay reached out and grabbed Misty. Lindsay pushed Misty into the vent and followed her. She reached down and pulled up the vent cover, hiding them inside.
"Go." Lindsay ordered.
Misty began crawling into the vents. Lindsay followed behind her, lighting the way. Lindsay heard the door burst open behind her. Misty had begun whimpering again, moving as fast as she could in the small vent.
"Keep going Misty." Lindsay said. She glance back. The lights had turned on in the apartment.
"There's two turns. "Misty whispered.
"Take either one, hurry." Lindsay answered. She watched the vent ripped off as Misty rounded the corner. Lindsay crawled after her as a barrage of bullets entered the vent. Misty screamed as the bullets entered, but couldn't reach them.
"Go Misty, go!" Lindsay yelled.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Outside the bullets echoed loudly. Everyone stopped moving, watching the complex with wide eyes. Danny swallowed in fear. His chest heaved in anticipation. He couldn't wait out there forever. Danny forced himself to look away from the complex as the bullets ceased. He was standing with Mac, Flack, and Sherman, looking over the map of the complex.
"C'mon, keep focused Sherman." Danny ordered. He tapped the hood of the car, snapping Sherman's attention back.
"Uh…right." Sherman stuttered.
"How many exits are there?" Mac asked.
"Um…there's two on the first floor, the front and back door. Then there's the fire escapes on the east end of the building. We haven't gotten to the west end yet. That's all for now." Sherman explained.
"Wonderful." Danny groaned.
"We were three months behind on renovation, we hadn't even gotten to the apartments yet." Sherman explained.
"Yeah, whatever. You got more schematics to this place?" Flack asked.
Sherman shook his head. "Not me. Lucas and Marty have the schematics."
"Where?" Mac asked.
"Uh…I don't know where Marty kept his, but Lucas kept his copy in his toolbox." Sherman answered.
"And where's that?" Danny asked.
Sherman turned and pointed down the street. "In the back of his truck."
"Alright, let's go." Danny ordered. He pushed himself off the hood of the car and jogged down the street. Sherman followed him, heading for Lucas's car.
Sherman jogged over to a red pickup trick. He grabbed the handle on the driver side door. "It's locked."
"Move." Danny said. He pushed Sherman out of the way. Using the butt of his gun, Danny smashed the widow and unlocked the door. He dug out the toolbox from the car. Danny groaned seeing the lock on it. "You got the key?"
Sherman shook his head.
"Figures." Danny said. He stepped back and shot the lock off the box.
Sherman opened the box and pulled out the plans to the building. Danny dragged him back to the car. Sherman set the blueprints on the hood.
"Alright, here's the plan. We go in and clear this place one floor at a time." Mac ordered.
"Inferred camera's are up and running." someone called.
Danny turned from the map. He walked to the monitor and checked the building. He couldn't see anything on the first two floors, but there's was tons of movement on the upper floors. "Hey Mac, check this out."
Mac joined Danny at the screens. Danny pointed to the heated floor. "Look's like we got movement on the third floor."
Mac nodded. "Look's like there's three people in there." he pointed to the screen. "These two are grouped together, heading from this one." he pointed to the third figure.
"That might be our shooter?" Danny said.
"Maybe." Mac replied. He dug out his cell and dialed. Mac looked at the building, waiting for his call to go through. He shook his head and shut his phone. "Damn."
"What?" Danny asked.
"Lindsay must've dropped her phone." Mac replied. Suddenly his phone rang out. Mac slid accepted the call. "Taylor."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
i own nothing.