everywhere here. Very unsafe.”
I didn’t get a second to process before the freezer above me began pinging and vibrating. Eight motioned for me to stay low and crawl toward her. I had to twist my torso so I was shaped like an actual person again, and then I began my crawl. She pulled me in close, her fun bags touching my arm, chest, and at times my neck. This was a great way to die. I mean, I wasn’t advocating for that to happen, but I loved boobs so much. These in particular were real showstoppers.
I didn’t see how we could get out of this. The snipers on top of the hotel had a far superior position. I’d played enough first-person shooter video games to know we were done. The place was surrounded by all kinds of staff who I was guessing were experts with the type of gun that Eight had freed from under the bar. It was disarming to smell the ocean and suntan lotion—hallmarks of vacation—and be scared for my life.
Deal was busy concocting something under the bar. I didn't think now was the time to take a 101 class in cocktail makings, but okay. Eight was heedless to her nudity, eyes darting from one place to another. She seemed to be tracking something. She glanced at me and offered an explanation, “Tracking the trajectory and watching their reflection in the freezer.”
Hot damn.
Now was not the time to introduce my private general to a life of violence. He needed to stand down.
Deal turned, holding a crazy looking bottle with napkins sticking out of it. It felt like a surreal dream. I had no idea what he was planning until he grabbed a lighter from the glass station.
“I want you to run the second he throws it, okay? Head behind the bar—it’s round and jump over the backside and find the first cover you can. Don’t move until I grab you.”
I had a list of questions that should have been met with multiple part answers and maybe a diagram, but then Eight and Deal locked eyes while nodding.
I watched Deal light the fuse and cock his arm back. My lovely boob safehouse gave me a swift push toward the freezer. I ducked low out of instinct and shimmied around the equipment that cluttered the center of the round beach bar. Everything turned orange as a huge bang shook the ground.
What happened next was a hail of gunfire and then me being dragged by my arm by Eight. She was a machine. The way she scanned the environment and pulled us from one cover to another. By the time we made it to the road, I was sure I had been hit by bullets at least five times. As I did a self-assessment, the only issues I seemed to have were a very increased heart rate and what had to be the makings of my first panic attack.
Eight looked in my eyes and slapped me in the face. “Not now. Focus. Deal will be here in just a moment. Do you know how to shoot a gun?”
“I used to do target practice with my air soft on pumpkins in the backyard.” I’d never seen someone’s expression disregard something so quickly as I did on her face at that moment.
“Here we go.” She held my bicep and tipped her chin toward the huge bus careening at us.
Deal was driving with one hand and holding a pistol with another. Behind us, running feet and gunfire increased.
The bus screeched to a stop and Eight let go of me so she could use her fingers to peel open the door’s seal.
Four women tumbled out of the bus in a panic. The open door seemed to be an invitation for the passengers on the bus to try to escape. Some streamed out of the emergency exit in the back.
Eight pushed me into a huge dude who was trying to leave the bus while Deal screamed for him to get out of the way.
I felt my shin scrape against the first step as I tried to catch myself with my hands. I managed to avoid hitting my face. The sensation of a huge European dude using my prone body as a doormat was not my favorite. I looked over my shoulder as Eight punched the dude with one hand and aimed her gun over her shoulder to return fire.
I did a pushup to throw the guy off balance. He tumbled out of the bus. The