THE WILD CAT

Chapter 23

Riley’s POV

The warehouse stood like a jagged tooth against the gray sky. It smelled of rust, salt, and impending death. I looked at the nine girls standing around me. We were the "Wild Cats," the lethal weapons of the Triplets. But today, I didn't want to be a weapon. I wanted to be free.

I checked my belt. My pistol was heavy. I felt the cold handle of the knife hidden in my pocket. It pressed against my thigh, a sharp reminder of the world I lived in.

"Today is the day," I whispered to myself. "Today, I get out of here. Or I die trying."

"Listen up!"

The leader’s voice sliced through the air. She was a shadow in combat boots. Her eyes crawled over me like spiders. She didn't trust me. I didn't blame her. I nodded slowly, keeping my face a mask of stone.

She gave the signal. We moved like ghosts.

The heavy metal doors groaned as we pushed inside. The darkness of the warehouse swallowed us. Suddenly, two men stepped out from behind a stack of crates. They didn't even have time to scream. The leader raised her guns. Two muffled pops echoed. They dropped like stones.

"Go! Go! Go!" she hissed.

We scattered. The girls vanished into the maze of shipping containers. My heart hammered against my ribs. I wanted to run the other way, but the leader was right behind me. Her presence was a leash.

Gosh, when will she leave me alone? I thought. I can’t escape with her watching my every move.

"You. Check that corner," she commanded.

I walked toward a dark hallway. My mind drifted for a second. I was thinking about the open road. I was thinking about a life without blood.

Whoosh!

A heavy iron axe whistled through the air. It missed my throat by an inch. I dove to the floor, my heart stopping. I had forgotten where I was. In this place, a second of dreaming meant a lifetime of being dead.

The leader didn't hesitate. She pulled two guns and emptied them into the man holding the axe. He slumped against the wall, red painting the concrete.

"Are you okay?" she asked. Her voice wasn't kind. It was a test.

I nodded, my hands shaking.

"Then get your head in the game," she spat. "Or die."

She turned her back and vanished into the shadows to hunt more prey. This was it. My moment. She was gone.

I sprinted toward the side exit. I could see the light of the moon under the door frame. I was so close. But then, I heard voices.

I pressed my back against a cold brick wall and held my breath. Three men were standing over the bodies of our sisters. One man stood in the center. He wore an expensive suit that looked out of place in this filth. He was the Boss.

"I see the Triplets sent their Wild Cats," the Boss said. He began to laugh. It was a dry, hollow sound.

"Boss, they are probably looking for the drugs," his guard said, clicking the safety off his rifle.

The Boss stopped laughing. His face turned into a mask of pure hate. "Then make sure none of them make it out alive. Kill them all!"

He reached out and slammed his fist into a red button on the wall.

BEE-BEE-BEE-BEE!

The alarm screamed. It was deafening. It was the sound of a funeral.

The guards began to flood into the main floor. My stomach dropped. I hated the Triplets, but the girls... they didn't deserve this. I couldn't just leave them to be slaughtered.

I pulled out my walkie-talkie. My fingers fumbled with the dial.

"Code Red!" I shouted into the plastic device. "They know we are here! Code Red!"

Static hissed back at me. Then, the leader’s cold voice: "Copy that."

I had done my part. Now, it was time to save myself.

I reached the back door. I reached for the handle, my heart soaring. I was going to make it.

"Hands up, bitch."

The voice was like ice down my spine. I froze. I slowly raised my hands and turned around. A guard stood there. He was huge, and his gun was pointed right at my forehead.

"Who sent you?" he growled. He stepped closer. "Give me a reason to pull this trigger."

I looked down at the gun tucked into my waistband.

"Don't even think about it," he warned.

"I won't," I muttered. I looked past his shoulder. I forced my eyes to go wide with fake terror. "Oh my goodness! What is that?!"

I pointed frantically at the shadows behind him. It was the oldest trick in the book. It was stupid. It shouldn't have worked.

But he looked.

I didn't wait. I lunged for the door, threw it open, and sprinted into the night.

I ran until my lungs burned like fire. I ran until my legs felt like jelly. I didn't look back. I crashed through tall grass and tripped over hidden roots. Finally, I collapsed behind a thick cluster of bushes.

I looked around. I was in a dark forest. In the distance, I could see the faint glow of streetlights. The road. Freedom was right there.

I stood up to run, but then I heard footsteps. Two men were walking along a dirt path just a few feet away. I pressed myself into the dirt, praying the shadows would hide me.

"So, we are blowing the place up?" one of them asked. He sounded excited.

My blood turned to ice. Blowing the place up?

"Yeah," the other one replied, laughing. "The drugs aren't even in the warehouse. That was just a lie."

"A trick," the first man said. "A trick to get those stupid Wild Cats in one place so we could wipe them out for good."

They walked away, their laughter echoing through the trees.

I stood there, paralyzed. This wasn't a mission. It was an execution. All those girls—the ones I had trained with, the ones who had shared their bread with me—they were standing on a giant bomb.

Something slimy touched my ankle. I looked down and saw a thick, black snake slithering over my boot.

"AH!" I screamed before I could stop myself.

"Who’s there?" one of the men yelled. He started walking toward my bush.

"Probably just a snake," his partner called out. "Leave it. We have to get to the detonator."

The man hesitated, then turned around. They disappeared into the dark.

I didn't head for the road. I didn't head for freedom. I turned around and ran back toward the hell I had just escaped.

I pulled out the walkie-talkie. "Code Red! Get out of there! It’s a trap!"

Nothing but static.

"There are no drugs! They are going to blow the building! Get out now!" I was screaming into the radio, my voice cracking.

"Come in! Come in!"

I burst through the tree line. The warehouse was right in front of me. It looked like a tomb.

"Girls, leave now!" I shrieked.

Finally, a voice broke through the static. "What? Riley, what are you—"

"LEAVE!" I bellowed.

I reached the perimeter fence. I reached out my hand to grab the wire. I was going to go back in. I was going to save them.

Then, the world turned white.

BOOM!

A roar like a thousand lions tore through the air. The ground jumped beneath my feet. A wave of heat slammed into my chest, throwing me backward.

I hit the dirt hard. The air was sucked out of my lungs. I looked up, gasping for breath. The warehouse was gone. In its place was a towering pillar of orange fire and black smoke. Debris rained down like hailstones of fire.

The silence that followed was worse than the explosion.

I stared at the flames. Suddenly, I wasn't at the warehouse anymore. I was a little girl again. I was standing in front of my childhood home. I could hear the wood popping. I could smell the smoke. I could hear the screams of my family.

It was happening again. Everyone was gone. I was alone in the dark.

"Noooooo!" I screamed into the night.

The fire didn't answer. It just kept burning, hungry and cold, swallowing the only sisters I had left. I had found my freedom, but the cost was my soul.