out of his mouth when the first bullet came in our direction.
âGet out of the truck!â the driver shouted. âOr the next one is in your head.â
Ron reached for the door handle. âDuck the fuck down and get us out of here,â I hissed.
âHeâll shoot me.â
âHeâll shoot you anyway. Fucking do it, Ron. This is my world now.â
Ron placed the truck in drive and ducked down just as I brought my rifle up. I peppered their car with rounds, forcing the driver to dive for cover. Rounds were still coming our way, striking the truck with heavy metallic thumps . We were picking up speed, getting away from our potential way layers. The rear windshield exploded inward as one of the men ran out onto the highway to get a better angle. I put at least one, maybe two, rounds in his stomach for his efforts. He would die a slow, miserable death.
âMike, you hit?â BT asked, alarmed. Heâd turned to look at me. I put my hand up behind my ear. The bullet had grazed me right behind it, digging a groove into that bony protrusion. Now that I knew Iâd been shot, it hurt like a motherfucker. That was the least of our problems as a funnel of steam shot up from the hood in a newly formed venting hole also supplied by our fellow highwaymen.
âMike, Iâm sorry!â Ron looked on the verge of panic.
âLooks like Iâm not the only one that can fuck up a truck,â I said, trying to stem the flow of blood from my head.
âYou are not going to do a âtold you soâ right now, are you man?â BT begged.
I shrugged. âWhy not?â Heâs been giving me shit about his precious trucks now for a couple of months, and he destroys the one heâs driving in under three hours. âSorta feels like poetic justice.â Itâs been well documented I use sarcasm and humor as a way to temper the fear Iâm feeling. It was not lost on me that Ron was on the verge of checking out. Heâd just had his perceived notion of how the world worked knocked on its ass. Itâs one thing to think about how it is, itâs completely another to live through it.
âYou all right, man?â BT looked over to Ron.
âIâm the fucker thatâs shot,â I told him.
âPlease, everyone knows youâre too stupid to die.â
âShit, BT, donât hold back. Tell me how you really feel.â
The engine groaned and clanked. It began to sound like loose sneakers in a dryer. Soon, it quit. Ronâs dashboard lit up in a variety of stunning colors. We found ourselves on a slowing roll.
âStart grabbing gear, BT. Ron?â My brother clamped his hands on the steering wheel. He stared straight ahead. âRon!â I smacked him on the shoulder. He responded with an erg or ugh. â Ron! â I shouted in his ear.
He turned slowly. âI almost got you killed; I almost got all of us killed.â
âYeah, so?â I told him. âGrab your fucking gear. Itâs not the last time youâre going to almost get us killed. Youâd better get used to it.â
âIs he kidding?â Ron asked BT.
âDoubtful.â BT had begun cramming stuff into a small backpack. Well, I mean it was a big backpack to a normal human, but small in his hands.
âWhy were they shooting at us?â
âRon, man, we donât have time to question everything right now. Either those douche bags are going to be on us, or zombies that heard the party are going to come and try to crash. We donât have time to think, just do. Thatâs our modus operandi now.â
âLatin, youâre using Latin. Iâm so proud of you.â
âWeâre losing him, Talbot.â BT was halfway out the door.
âRon, man, listen to me. We need to get out of here and now.â I heard the sound of an approaching engine.
âMike.â BT poked his head in.
âNot deaf, BT.â
âWant me to drag