A burning sensation spread through his shoulder. Dark spots danced in front of his vision, but he blinked a few times to let the road ahead of him come into focus. He could feel the blood running down his back and his fingers shook against the steering wheel. The pain grew until it burned white hot. Kit cried out, unable to help himself.

"Kit," Emily said, her voice shaking.

"I know." He swallowed, trying to ignore the pain and the blood trickling down his arm. "Just do what you can. We have medical supplies, right?"

"Not for this!"

"We can't stop."

"You need to see a doctor."

"No, we need to keep going. Just do what you can, Emily. Please."

She nodded, her bottom lip trembling and her hands shaking around the cold metal of the gun.

Something flew over his head and he ducked, registering the echoing sound of the gunshot long before he felt the rush of air. He swerved across the road, not caring about crossing lanes because the road ahead of them was clear. Beside him, Emily reached into the back of the car and pulled out the few supplies she'd been able to grab.

Kit cried out when Emily pressed a wad of bandages against the wound in his shoulder. He tried to ignore it, but the aching pain grew and the dark spots clouded more of his vision with each minute that passed. Gunshots flew over their heads. Emily shrieked when they got too close, tucking her head and tying the wad of bandages to Kit's arm.

She turned with the gun raised and fired off a few shots towards the car, struggling to keep herself steady. Kit kept swerving the motorcar in the hopes the bullets wouldn't hit them. He could hear them hitting the metal of Royce, no doubt denting it, but the state of the motorcar didn't matter. They needed to get to the port.

He struggled to concentrate, the dark spots blocking most of the road and the pain becoming overwhelming.

"We need to stop before you faint," Emily said, still firing behind her.

"If we stop, they'll get us." He shook his head, trying to regain his focus. "I'll be fine."

"No, you won't, Kit! You're losing too much blood."

"We keep going. We're going to make it to the port."

Emily fired the gun behind her, her other hand pressing against the wad of bandages on Kit's shoulder. They were stained crimson from his blood, with more still pouring from the wound.

It knew she was right, but he didn't want to stop. If they stopped, he'd die anyway, but he would have failed to get Emily away from her father. He knew that he wouldn't survive a gunshot without the proper medical care, but if they stopped off in a hospital, he'd be arrested. Too much was riding on them getting to the point.

Even if he didn't make it, he wanted to make sure Emily was safe and away from her father. That was why they had set off in the first place. His own safety didn't matter; hers did.

Emily slumped down in her seat to refill the gun with the few bullets they had left. Whoever was driving behind them kept firing, the bullets just missing them, but smashed the glass in front of Kit's face. He tried to shield himself from the glass, small shards cutting into his arm. The pain in his shoulder grew.

The dark spots in front of Kit's eyes merged with the semi-darkness of the road. On the horizon, the sun started to show itself. Kit watched it, still swerving across the road to try to avoid the flying bullets.

"Why the hell won't they run out of bullets?" Kit yelled, slamming his hands against the steering wheel in frustration.

"I don't know, but we're going to run out soon if we're not careful."

"God-damn it! Just a few hours, that's all we needed!"

Emily looked at him, a flash of fear crossing her eyes. Kit swallowed deeply, his shoulder aching and his mind spinning. He didn't want to scare her. That was the last thing he wanted to do.

The car behind them pulled that little bit closer. Kit's foot slipped off the accelerator, his mind growing fuzzy.

A second dull pain hit the top of his back.

Kit spun the wheel.

Someone screamed.

The motorcar swerved off the road and smashed into a nearby tree.

~~~

First Published - February 15th, 2024