In the Company of Thieves

The streets of the small city were filled with busy people. I took a sip of my iced tea from Starbucks. I headed toward the hospital. I had my internship in. I hadn't slept in days ever since I’d arrived at the hospital. I felt dead-tired. Not to mention, I had a part time job as a hacker to keep me up all night.

I took a sharp turn at a corner and froze at the sight of my best friend since middle school, Kit, which we always shared kit kat bars just for the irony of it. Kit seemed to be in a hurry. She was constantly glancing behind herself. Her eyes were filled with fear.

Two men dressed in black bursted from a corner and began chasing her. I quickly turned back. At the speed they were going, I would be able to meet up with them if I took the next turn.

I took the sharp corner, my eyes meeting Kit’s fear-filled eyes. She passed me by and snatched my arm, yanking me to follow.

“Kat, what are you doing here?!” She hissed as she glanced over her shoulder once more to check on our pursuiters.

“I saw you running. So, decided I wanted to joi--” I was cut off by the sound of a gunshot. I winced, seeing a bullet pass by. Kit grunted in annoyance and grabbed a handgun from her purse. My eyes widened in shock as she quickly fired back. Since when did she know how to fire a gun and why the hell were they shooting?!

We tumbled into a halt as a brick wall blocked our path. I cursed under my breath. Our awful luck to end up like this like in cliché action movies. We were cornered like mice.

Kit shoved me behind a dumpster and fired a few more bullet rounds, hitting one of them in the chest. She quickly ducked, the dumpster shielding her from the bullets as they fired back.

I covered my ears from the deafening repetitive bangs of gunshots.

“We need to call the police!” I cried over the ear-splitting bullet fires.

Kit just shook her head in response and tried to fire back. My eyes bulged in horror as a bullet hit her in the chest near her collarbone.

My heart skipped a beat. The world seemed to quickly fade around me as Kit’s body hit the ground with a thud. A pool of blood quickly spread around her. Her eyes flickered in and out of focus as she weakly handed her phone and gun to me.

“Call only this number and tell t-them the word, ‘Kitriaki’. Promise me you won't call the police for my sake.” She told me, her voice shaky and weak. She continuously coughed up blood as I tried to apply pressure to her wound. “Th-there should b-be...” She wheezed quietly as she slowly lost consciousness. “...f-four bullets left.”

I bit my lip in frustration. Kit was bleeding badly. I should call the police, but…

“Damn it,” I hissed to myself, dialing the number. My heart pounded as the sound of gunshots stopped. I could hear the men’s footsteps coming closer. I reached for the gun and shook my head, grabbing my cup of iced tea and throwing it above the dumpster.

Startled shouts came from that direction. I quickly used my tea as a distraction to get a chance at shooting a bullet. I did so, and it caused them to fire back.

“Hello? Kit, is that gunfire?” A male voice was audible from the phone as I took a deep breath to calm myself down.

“She was shot! I was told to call this number and say the word ‘Kitriaki’. I don't know what to do! I should call the police-?”

“Calm down. I have your location down. Just keep Kitriaki and yourself alive for about two minutes or so and do not call the police. I repeat, do not call the police.” He hung up before I could respond.

I winced, feeling a bullet scrape my cheek before it hit the wall behind me. I wiped the blood off my cheek and tried to keep focus on keeping the gun still in my shaking hands. According to Kit, I would only have three bullets left to last two minutes.

I tried to poke my head out but ducked back in as a bullet passed above my head

I cursed under my breath as I switched the phone camera to selfie-mode and turned it so that I could have a better view of the men. It also gave me a chance to hit my opponents with my lack of practice and sight of them from here.

I fired the gun, nearly hitting one on the foot. They cried out insults at my awful marksman skills as they neared me slowly. My heart was slamming into my chest, painfully racing faster with each closer step they took. Blood roared in my ears as I quickly fired another shot, making them freeze and approach me slower.

I stared at the gun in my shaking hands. I only had one bullet left and they had God knows how many!

I jumped at the sound of a motorcycle engine as it quickly neared the alley. Loud gunshots echoed in the area, and in an instant, it all grew silent.