I looked to the opened door and peered outside to the falling ash. I stepped over the corpse and made for the exit. The wind howled, blowing some of the ash inside the stock room.
I leaned through the doorway and skimmed over the alley that ran behind the buildings for any further threats or movement, but spotted none. I grabbed the edge of the door and closed it.
The latch on the steel door wouldn’t catch because of the damage done by the crowbar. I pulled it tight against the jamb.
A thin bead of light shone through the narrow opening left behind. I ran my hand over my face, then turned away from the door, leaving it be.
The dagger remained clutched in my hand. I turned my attention to the two dead thugs, pulled the Maglite from my pocket, and checked their bodies for anything of use. I rifled through the pockets of their coats and denim jeans, hoping that I might come across some keys. Two muffled shots sounded from the sales floor of the store. I flinched. My muscles tightened.
Jake yelled, but I couldn’t make out what he said. I stood, staring at the double-swinging doors across the stock room.
The flashlight trained at the entrance. I left the dead bodies and navigated my way toward the sales floor. Another gunshot echoed inside the building, louder and more defined.
The sound of glass breaking loomed in the air. My heart hammered. The surge of adrenaline wouldn’t let up, lancing through my body.
I stood next to one of the swinging doors and diverted the light away from the opening. I pushed it open a hair, then peered out to the storefront.
The glass door at the main entrance sat in ruins. Shards of busted glass littered the floor. The jagged fragments that remained lined the outer rim.
Where’s Jake and Abby?
A loud crashing noise filled my ears. Grunts and heavy footfalls sounded close by, growing louder, bolder.
A black-clad figure materialized from one of the aisles near the entrance. He hit the floor hard on his side, sliding along the linoleum tile floor. He slammed into one of the shelves near the entrance.
A beam of light trained at his face from the aisle he’d come from. He sat up from the tile floor and lifted his arm, shielding his eyes. It was Jake.
“Abby,” he said, calling out to her. His hand reached down to his side, pulled a pistol from his hip, and pointed it at the aisle. “Leave my daughter alone, you assholes.”
A shadowy figure emerged from the depths of the aisle in front of him with a rifle shouldered. Jake hesitated for a moment and didn’t fire. He looked away with, his hand blocking the bright, white light that blasted him.
Footfalls sounded from close by. I caught another flash of light from the side of the store near my position. I thumbed the button on the Maglite, placed it into the pocket of my coat, then looked to the armed man towering over Jake.
He ripped the pistol from Jake’s hand, tossed it aside, then trained the rifle at his head. I pushed the door open a bit more, slipped around the edge, and vanished into the darkness of the aisle that ran along the cinder block wall.
I stayed low and moved fast. Multiple footfalls hammered the floor a few aisles over from me. I neared the end of the shelving unit and toed the edge.
My back sat flush against the steel. I turned and looked down the long stretch of aisle that led toward the front of the store. A beam of light washed over the shelves that ran the length of the wall two aisles over.
Abby bolted from the aisle in a dead sprint, stopped, then skirted the corner of the endcap. Her feet slipped out from under her, and she hit the floor, falling on her backside.
The light grew brighter from the aisle. One of the militant gunmen flanked her with his rifle shouldered. He closed in and reached for the hood of her coat. She scrambled to her feet.
His hand ripped the beanie from Abby’s head as she slipped away. Her long hair whipped about as she turned and glanced at the armed man.
He followed, reaching for her coat or anything else he could take hold of. She tumbled into the shelves on the next aisle over, knocking items to the floor.
The foot soldier lowered his rifle and darted in after her. I slipped around the corner of the endcap and followed them. He pinned her to the floor, prone on her stomach with her face pressed to the tile. His foot rested in the middle of her back. The rifle and light trained at her thrashing body as she tried to get out from under his bulk.
“Abby,” Jake said through strained breath. “Don’t hurt her or I swear I’ll—”
The gunman removed his boot from the small of her back and lowered his rifle, allowing it to hang from his shoulder. The gun-mounted light trained at her legs. He bent down, grabbed her coat, wrenched her from the floor, and turned her around.
Abby punched his chest and kicked his shins. The much taller brute struck her across the side of her face with the back of his hand, knocking her to the floor once more.
A yelp fled her mouth. She hit with a thud and groaned.
My lips pursed, nostrils flared. I advanced, stalking the gunman from behind. My fingers closed tighter around the handle of the dagger.
He kicked her boot with the tip of his shoe. Abby rolled on the floor,
