~Mark

      We all walked in awkward silence, unsure of what to say to one another and not wanting to attract the attention of anybody that could be nearby. "Why does everybody want to kill each other?" Jack finally asked with a frown. "Not everybody, some sane people lock themselves indoors." Ken corrected, avoiding Jack's question. "This is taking too long." I grumbled under my breath. Parked on the side of the street was an army green four door jeep wrangler, very dirty, but seemed to be intact. "Mark, what are you doing?" Felix asked. "Doing some Grand Theft Auto work." I replied. I used my elbow to smash through the glass, then unlocked the doors. "Hop in." I ordered, cringing inwardly. My elbow stung like heck, but at least it wasn't bleeding or broken. Obediently they clambered in, Ken in the passenger seat, then Felix sitting behind Ken and Jack sitting behind me. "What about us?" Bob asked. I glanced over at the trunk. "I guess the trunk isn't too bad."  Wade sighed in resignation as the two clambered into the trunk. I waited for everybody to get in and buckle up before I joined them. "You know how to hot wire a car?" Ken asked incredulously. I nodded in response, then began fiddling with the ignition. "The joys of engineering." "Um, Mark? You might wanna hurry up." Felix pointed out the window at a large group of thugs in black ski masks. Two of them were the people we met at Walmart. "They see us." Jack stated nervously. "Hang on a minute!" I growled in annoyance, a tangle of wires in my hands after prying off the case for the ignition. Just as I finished hot wiring the car, I heard the bang of guns going off in our direction. "We're fine in here." Ken sighed in relief. Suddenly, a bullet shot through Felix's window and imbedded itself in the door. "Go go go!" Jack shouted impatiently. "What's going on?!?" Wade cried in confusion. "I'm not done yet!" I snapped back, ignoring Wade as I placed the cover back on. "There." I stuck my house key in and started the car. It roared to life, then began to purr. I smiled in satisfaction as I drove way above the speed limit, tearing down the street like a rocket. "Mark, they have a car too. It looks like an armored military vehicle." Felix informed me. In the side mirror, I saw a black army jeep nearly on top of us, bullets being fired from all windows. One pierced through the rear view mirror I was just looking through, shattering it to pieces. "Okay, I think I have a plan. You guys trust me?" I asked. "Why would we be in the car with you if we didn't?" Bob answered. I took a deep breath, then pushed the accelerator as hard as I could, heading straight towards a nearby abandoned shop. "Um, Mark?" Ken lightly tapped my shoulder. "I know I know!" I muttered. Just when it looked like we were going to crash, I made a hard turn to the left. The jeep barely brushed against the double glass doors, making an earsplitting screech. The other car wasn't as lucky. Since it was heavier, it charged towards the shop and crashed right through it, disappearing in a cloud of dust and a shower of rubble. "That should buy us some time." I joked with a lopsided grin. "Ha ha, you're such a comedian." Jack faked a laugh with an exaggerated eye roll. My smile faded and my face paled whenever I looked over to my right. Driving right beside us was the black military jeep, the hood slightly dented but otherwise fine. "That's not good." Ken mumbled, his face equally pale. The driver looked over at me, then rammed the jeep into the side of ours, causing me to swerve dangerously close to a row of houses. "Fuck off!" Felix shouted while pointing his middle fingers at the jeep. The driver responded by slamming into us again, harder this time. I spun back off of the road. The jeep started tilting on it's side, the wheels on the right lifting off of the ground. "Hold on to something!" I shouted as I struggled to no avail to right the car again. The jeep did several flips past the neighborhood before crushing the wooden bench and landing on it's roof in the middle of a grassy park a few feet from the playground.

~Felix

I groaned in pain, my neck sore from being flung around. I felt something warm drip down my face and onto my seat. It was blood from a gash on my forehead. "Everyone okay?" Mark shouted. "Yeah, I think so." I called back. "Jack?" I looked over and nudged him lightly. "Yeah?" He mumbled through slitted eyes. "Bob and Wade?" "We're out here!" Bob yelled from outside the car with Wade.  "Ken?" Mark said. No answer. "Ken?" I said a little louder. No reply. "Felix, we need to get out of here." Mark began fumbling with his seatbelt. "Why?" I asked as I began doing the same. "Listen." Mark directed. Faintly, I could hear something flowing and the soft crackling of fire. "This car's gonna blow up." My eyes widened with the realization. "Ow!" Mark grumbled as he fell out of his seat, rubbing his head as he unbuckled Ken and hefted him over his shoulder. "Got it!" I sighed in relief as I dropped out of my seat and began helping Jack. He seemed in bad shape, his left eye swollen shut and his patched up shoulder bent at an angle. "Hurry up!" Mark hissed as he dragged Ken out. "Then help me!" I shot back angrily as I finally unbuckled Jack's unconscious form and pushed the door open. Mark swung the door behind me open. "Get out now!" Mark barked. I crawled with Jack towards the door, but my foot got stuck in the seatbelt. I kicked it free after a few tense moments and continued on hastily, unsure of how long I had. I heard Mark mutter something under his breath before he dived in after me and pushed me and Jack out of the car just before it exploded in a ball of flames and sparks. I felt the heat singe me slightly as I retreated back, trying to look for Mark through the flaming wreckage. I took a deep breath, then marched towards the car. I felt Bob and Wade hold me back as tears filled my eyes, believing that Mark had died. "Stop I'm fine!" Mark interrupted, a now conscious Ken standing beside him. Mark had a tear in his shirt and several burns on his arms that glowed bright red like his hair. Ken seemed relatively unharmed. "Where's Jack?" Ken asked, his eyes widening in alarm. Bob and Wade released their hold. My own panic rising, I frantically searched the area for him, but he was nowhere to be found. "Wait a minute." Mark bent down by the jeep and picked up a piece of paper. "It's those thugs that chased us around. They're ransoming him for...one million dollars." Mark shook his head in defeat. "I should've been there." He sighed, his head hung. "Hey, if you were, Ken and I would be dead." I put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Does it say where to meet?" Ken changed the subject quickly. "No need. We've been watching you." I whirled around to find the driver of the military jeep staring back at me. Behind him, he had his friends holding  Jack at gunpoint, a pistol pressed against his head. Tears stained his face, his one good eye was red rimmed and bloodshot. His whole body trembled in fear, but Jack's face was stoic. "Let him go!" Ken demanded as he took a step towards the driver. "Ah ah ah, I'll kill him if you step any closer." He threatened. The guy holding Jack pressed the pistol harder into the side of his head. Jack closed his eyes and took a shaky breath, but otherwise made no sound. "Why are you doing this?" Bob demanded. "Just trying to make a quick easy buck around here." The man hissed. "We don't have the money!" Wade blurted. "How unfortunate." The gunman aimed his gun at Jack's foot and fired at his toes. Jack barely evaded the shot by moving his feet apart and took the moment of distraction to fight the thugs holding him, but he wasn't strong enough, especially since one shoulder was still out of place and he could only see through one eye. The driver knocks him to the ground by the slapping him in the face with the back of his hand. Jack sprawled our on the ground, completely at the mercy  the thug. "I want you to remember this." The driver peeled his mask off and tossed it to the ground. "Cause this will be the last face you'll ever see." He grinned maliciously as he pointed the gun and fired. The billet never hit it's target. Instead Ken had jumped in the way, taking the bullet in the ribs. "Ken!" Jack cried as he held Ken's head in his lap and tried to retreat back from the man. "How cute. Take them all, alive if possible." The man ordered. Suddenly something jabbed me in the ribs, sending electrical currents rippling through me. I screamed in pain and fell to the ground, dazed. I watched helplessly as one by one my friends were taken down, although none of them went without a fight. The last thing I saw before losing consciousness was the man dumping my friends in the army vehicle and tying bags over their heads, along with restraining their hands behind their backs.