Covert

Chapter Seven- Shot, Bang

The unforgiving reverberation of a shot having been fired alerted Autumn enough to awaken from a dead sleep. Light filtered through via phones of others nearby as screams and wails could be heard echoing nearby. Given the fact that Autumn and Declan had ventured farther into the cave for an isolated place to sleep, they were allowed more warning than those who were forced to endure the shots that had been fired. Autumn felt the floor in front of her, until this brought her to the wall. Knowing the wall led to the hallway, she made her way into the corridor where she first entered, trying to gain insight into the scene before her. Peeking around the corner, her eyes fell to a man set within the corner, holding his chest. A thin line of blood moved from one side of the catacombs to the other-leaving a small set of people frightened into the opposite corner. Their sobbing and gasping via fear had acted as the only noise throughout the entire cave. Within seconds, the gunman, who was revealed to be a man with a bandana around the lower half of his face, pulled the trigger of the gun. The man who had been in the corner had collapsed without any breath to keep him alive. Screams filled the area before a forced pulled Autumn into the darkness-just as the gunman had looked to where she had just been standing. 

"Stay still." A familiar voice spoke as Autumn instantly recalled it as having belonged to Declan. 

She was held against Declan's body, his strength keeping her between the hole that would guarantee death or an unknown path that would ensure them getting lost. Autumn watched as the gunman moved throughout the group, picking people off one by one. He would pull them from the group and either beat or injure them with a non-lethal shot. Then, he would bring the weapon to their heads, ending them within seconds of injuring them prior. 

"We have to do something!" Autumn pleaded to him, having looked forward, preparing to move until motioning her to a slight angle. 

"Uno. Dos. Tres. Quantro." He spoke, counting each man who stood within the confines of the room with weapons. "I can almost guarantee it is drug related."

"We could create a distraction...or-"

"The only distraction would be our deaths." He commented, just as the sound of steps began approaching them it was clear that they had been too loud to remain in hiding-resulting in someone taking notice of them. 

"Créeme." He spoke in Spanish, telling her to trust him. Although she was unaware of what it was he was speaking to her, she was able to understand via the look exchanged that he meant her well. However, as he took her hands and dangles her over an open section that fell into the dark abyss beneath them, she wondered if he was trying to dispose of her. But without an alternative escape, she had no other option but TO trust him. He gave a nod to her before then telling her to keep her hands at her sides and to hold her breath the minute she felt her feet come into contact with the ground. She nodded to show she agreed before having him hide her in the hole, releasing as a flashlight moved to identify those in hiding. Autumn was able to dispose of her own presence before being covered, her body coming into contact with a frozen body of water, just deep enough to cover her fall without resulting in any major injury. However, as she cleared her eyes of the water that could keep her blind, she heard the sound of a gunshot above. Her heart began to race as a body made its way into the water beside her. Using the small amount of light that made its way down the hole, she pulled the person to view-finding it to be one of the gunmen. His throat had been bleeding, after having been shot directly through his trachea. With the man having hit the water at a horizontal position, his body was placed into shock-forcing him to drown as the water blocked his throat, leaving him to claw at her for help. She pulled away, finding the horrible gargling to haunt her, before he disappeared beneath the water. 

A second shot echoed above as another mass made its way into the water. As she expected it to be another gunman, Autumn brought her focus to him. Having expected the man to be dead or close to, she was surprised to find an abdominal injury and a hand clutching the skin nearby. As her eyes moved to see who it was, her heart stopped. 

"Declan!" She called out in shock before the flashlight was focused solely onto them. The nature of the water along with the layout of the catacombs being unknown around them her had caused Autumn to grow nervous of being unable to escape. Her mind immediately thought of grand cave escapes, like ones from Indiana Jones-but it was Hollywood and this had been her life. 

"Vamanos!" He called out to her, struggling to keep up with the weight of the water trying to pull him down and the injury sustained a few moments prior. The unintelligible sounds of the remaining gunman speaking sounded above before they descended via diving to catch up with those who could identify them. 

Pushing through the water, Autumn was unsure if she was moving within a beneficial direction, as all that set before her had been more water and continued darkness. Her focus was set upon the path before her until the sound of splashing water had alerted her to turn around. She was able to see via the lights on the edge of the men's guns, that Declan was pulled beneath the water. Knowing his injury would give his opponent an unfair advantage, Autumn turned around quickly to assist him. As she had difficulty making out the difference between the men in the water, she focused on pulling them apart. This happened to leave her with the second gunman as he attempted to drown her. 

The feeling of his strength keeping her below the surface of the water allowed her the chance to help Declan while also helping herself survive. She allowed the man to believe he had killed her by holding her without air, as her body continued to float without movement. This allowed her to appear sustained, enough to surprise the other man, jumping upon his back to test him from Declan. It worked like a charm as the man tried to force her into the water similar to the other, as Declan used a knife from an unseen location to turn the already black waves into those of a crimson lake. With only one left, Declan washed off the blood within the water before focusing on him, while Autumn searched the water for one of the lights. She was able to gain one in just enough time to see Declan cutting the other man's throat. She winced at the sight before he disposed of the body behind him and held his side to then follow Autumn as she led forward with the flashlight. 

It would take a lengthy amount of time walking forward before Declan and Autumn came upon something other than water. A small cave linking the cemetery to an unknown body of water had become divided by this small location. Due to it having been a cave, they followed it out into the sea, luckily coming upon a beach nearby. It seemed rather abandoned with daylight still spreading across the view, as they emerged from the water, and onto dry land. Although the temperature of the water had changed, it did nothing but affect their already frail medical conditions as they looked for somewhere safe upon the beach. 

"A hospital!" She spoke upon seeing a cross upon a building, before he stopped her. 

"I cannot…" the urgency in his eyes allowed her to understand that he was anything but a normal guy. Although this was expected, now it was verified. 

"Where can we go?" She asked as he set his arm around her shoulders before bringing her to a usually busy section of the city. Perhaps due to the time of morning it had been or the rundown nature of the building, they were able to enter a place of seclusion. A dark brown building hidden among a set of other shops had promoted its own existence by the lit up green cross sticking out and the word "Farmacia" written near the cross. It was clear what the place had been, even for a foreigner such as Autumn. 

"Here?" She asked as he nodded, having motioned to a lock that would break the padlock of the back garage, used to host deliveries. As she made her way into the currently abandoned building, both her and Declan were unaware just how close a police officer had come to discovering them when crossing a corner.