Ebony Scales

Joy blanched but nodded, knowing that deaths were part of what they were trying to cause. They made their way back out to the small loading area, fishing the last of their firebombs out of their bag. Checking her watch, Joy was surprised at how fast the time had gone. They only had five minutes to get out of there, according to their schedule. “We have to boogie.”

They tossed the unlit bottles around the room, the glass breaking as it shattered against walls and concrete. Finding the last bottle in her hands, Joy lit the fuse before tossing it against the far wall, giving them a little bit of time before the whole damn thing blew up in their faces. “Run!” she yelled, hauling ass down the alleyway.

Reaching the street, they could see smoke already billowing out of the front of the club. Instead of running that direction however, they turned the other way, running further down the alley and away from the club, hoping that the alley would open up somewhere else. Jogging but not sprinting, Longwei in the lead, they rounded a curve, finding a chain link fence stopping their way. On the other side was a parking garage it looked like, and the open street beyond that. Joy started climbing the fence, before yelling at the other end of the alley caught her attention. Four men were running their way, two of them holding pistols. “Get over, and cover me,” Longwei said, pulling his pistol. He dropped to his knee, squeezing off two shots that scattered the men to the sides of the alley, finding partial cover in the doorways and against the brick.

Joy felt a bullet whiz by her ear at the top of the fence, the whining sound causing her to find an extra bit of push, vaulting her left leg over and dropping to the ground. She pulled her own pistol, turning and laying flat for cover as Longwei tossed over the bag of money he had taken from the Triads, and jumping to catch the top of the fence. One of the Triads stuck his head out to try and fire a shot, but Joy quickly sent him back behind his cover, her rounds puffing off the brick nearby and sending red shards of powder into his face. The next Triad wasn’t so lucky, and Joy’s shot caught him in the thigh, his screams bouncing off the nearby buildings as he tumbled to the asphalt, grasping his leg.

Longwei landed beside her, scooping up the bag as he fired two more shots semi blindly behind him while Joy got to her feet. “Run!” he yelled, and the two of them took off at top speed into the covered darkness of the parking garage.

While they heard the Triads try to follow them, the shadows inside the structure helped. Ducking behind a cheap little compact car, Joy took careful aim, putting a round into the chest of the first Triad to attempt climbing the fence, his compatriots pulling his body back as he bled to death. She and Longwei used the time to dart diagonally across the building, vaulting smoothly through a window like opening and into the street. Dashing across the now busy street, they blended into the crowd, which was still mostly distracted by the smoke now billowing into the sky from two blocks away. Slowing from a sprint to a light jog, they wound their way through the streets, Joy depending on Longwei’s innate sense of direction to get them back to Yingtai.

“How much time do we have left?” Joy asked, finding her watch broken from the rush to get away from the Triads. Longwei pulled out his disposable cell phone, looking at the clock.

“Still about ten minutes,” he replied. “Don’t worry, I see the street we want right ahead.”

Longwei turned right at the next intersection, and Joy could also see the convenience store where Yingtai was waiting, the truck engine idling in the cool evening air. Walking quickly, the couple covered the last block safely, waving to Yingtai who was looking around nervously from the driver’s seat. “We’re back,” Joy greeted her, dropping into the passenger seat while Yingtai maneuvered herself into the back half bench. Longwei slid behind the wheel. “Mission accomplished.”

Yingtai chattered off a long string of rapid Chinese, so fast that Joy couldn’t keep up, and she turned to Longwei, who shifted into reverse and backed out of the space and onto the road. Instead of translating, he rattled off a reply in his own Chinese, the two trading words back and forth as Longwei made his way out of the area and towards the highway. Finally, the conversation petered off, and Joy spoke up. “So what was all that?”

“Eh?” Longwei said, a surprised look on his face. Chagrin replaced it as he realized what had happened. “Sorry. I was just telling Yingtai about the raid, and the bag of money. She asked if she could count it, I said she could when we get on the highway. I have no clue how much it is, but it was a pretty heavy pack.”

“Why weren’t you translating?”

Longwei shrugged. “You’ve done such a great job the time we’ve been in Chengdu keeping up with Yingtai’s comments, I forgot. I guess I didn’t realize just how quickly she was speaking. I know you do that to me sometimes. When you get excited, you start talking so quickly that I only catch every other word or so.”

“So, what now?”

“First, we get the hell out of Chengdu. I know they saw our faces, which I guess we wanted, and those flyers are pretty damning too. Other than stopping for fuel, I don’t want to stop until we get back to Wuhan. Although if you’re going to go shopping with us, maybe cutting north at Yichang and going through Suizhou instead. The roads from there are smaller, but we can still get to the village in time.”

“The sun’s almost set. Can you get us back safely?”

Longwei shook his head. “No, but I’m good for the next few hours, maybe until we’re at least to Guang’ang or maybe even until we have to change over to the G50 and head towards Enshi. We’ll have to stop for fuel before then, if you can try and get some sleep before that, it’ll help. I don’t think Yingtai’s ready for night time driving.”

Joy glanced back, where the girl was busily counting bills, and nodded. She wasn’t sure just how much sleep she could get. She had, within the past hour, torched a Triad nightclub, shot at least two men, and been shot at herself. There was enough adrenaline running through her system she thought she’d be up for days. But Longwei was right, the best plan right now was to put as many kilometers between themselves and the attack as possible. “Okay. I’ll lean back and try to close my eyes.”

Finding the seat adjustment lever, Joy canted her seat back, pulling the hood of her sweatshirt up over her head to shade her from the streetlamps, and closed her eyes. Despite her concerns, within ten minutes she was snoring softly, the only other sounds being Longwei’s humming to himself while Yingtai muttered to herself as she counted out the money.