Page 130 of Silent Damage

“What do we do?” one asks.

I press my finger to his lips to keep him quiet, then pull both men closer and whisper as quietly as possible, “Sit tight. Let your eyes adjust.”

I’ve spent enough time out in the woods at night with Gabe to know this.

My eyes adjust, the shadows above slowly morphing into silhouettes moving about the top of dividers and slithering along the rafters.

Fuck me.

Tobias’s men are everywhere, and we’re like sitting ducks. I see the outline of a box, and I recall there was a metal chest that had kinky shit in it when I was here with Gabe.

“We need to take cover,” I whisper. “Follow me.”

They follow me to the chest, and we huddle up behind it. My eyes look above, and I see what I think are four guys perched on the dividers and one in the rafters.

I pull my men closer again. “Do you see them above us?” I ask.

The men look, their jaws dropping. “Fuck,” the one whispers.

“We can’t take them all, but we’re down here where it’s pitch black. They have no visibility at all. Follow me.”

We’re silent as we slither along the wooden walls of the maze, but then the lights turn on full blast, and I look up to see a swarm of HellCats, and I dive under a metal folding workbench.

My team isn’t so lucky—both get nailed.

I’m hiding beneath the bench, listening to the HellCats above me chuckling and making jokes. They think they’ve got me, but they don’t know who the fuck they’re dealing with.

I look around, trying to find something…

Paint splatters off the walls and floor around me; Tobias’s men are just waiting for me to try to make a run for it.

The bench I’m under rattles—his men have jumped on it. I push with my legs, lifting this fucking thing with my back, and the men go tumbling to the ground.

Pop. Pop. Pop.

I got ‘em! Holy fuck, I got ‘em!

They look at me with wide eyes. “Nice, kid,” the one says.

The lights go out again, and I make a run for it—rushing along the maze walls.

The red exit sign is in sight.

My legs move on instinct, running hard when the light turns on, and Tobias stands right in front of me.

Pop.

Red paint blooms across my chest. The sting radiates through my ribs.

Tobias shakes his head. “You’re dead, Jason.”

The other HellCats walk over, leaping down from the tops of dividers.

“Why are you dead?” he asks.

“I-I saw the exit…”

My voice trails off, but Tobias adds, “You got target fixation.”