| Zac suddenly threw a couple of pieces of toast at him. He caught them, despite the towel. "Anyway, it's better to go for it when there's still three of us left, right? Rather than one or two," Zac pointed out. "What about Troy?" I asked, looking between the two. "Put it this way, we're going to see him sometime soon anyway. If he's there, he's there," Zac said, finishing off his toast. "So what are we gonna do, exactly?" I asked. "Just rock up and hope for the best?" Zac shrugged. "That's it?" I looked at Taylor. He shrugged as well. Twenty minutes later, we were on our way, and arrived maybe half an hour later. As we made our way through the front door, we were suddenly reminded of the old jail in Adelaide. As we just stood and looked around, someone approached us. "You shouldn't really be here," came a man's voice. We turned to see a man in uniform behind us. "Uh, sorry..." Taylor began, "but we need to see either Brad Standish, or someone regarding Brad Standish." The man eyed us off for a moment. "Friends?" he asked. "No, not exactly," Taylor replied, watching as he walked over to a desk. We followed. "Bradley Standish? I know him. Quiet fellow, up for manslaughter on two accounts," he said. "Yeah, that's him," Zac confirmed. The man turned to us again. "Now why would you want to see him?" he asked. We looked at each other. Zac shook his head. "Can you at least pass on a message?" Taylor asked. "That I can," he replied. "He's aloud a phone call, right?" Taylor asked. "Well this is your lucky day. This afternoon," the man grinned. Taylor grabbed something from his pocket. "Tell him to ring Taylor on this number, regarding Troy. He'll know what you mean," he handed the paper to him. "Sure thing," the man said, "now you'd better get going." We nodded our thanks, and began to leave, when suddenly... "Holy crap!" Zac exclaimed. He ran for the window. "What?!" Taylor exclaimed, following him. "That's him!" Zac pointed to a van just pulling up as I joined them. "Troy?" I asked. "Yeah!" Zac insisted, as the man in black got out of the vehicle. "He looks like Mike," Taylor commented. "Yeah? Well he's more like Greg, believe me," Zac backed away. "What do we do?" I rushed. "Is there a problem?" came the man's voice again. We didn't answer. "Whatever we're doing, we have to do it now..." Taylor murmured. "We have to divert him. Distract him away from Brad," Zac began towards the door. Troy was almost at the door himself. Taylor and I quickly glanced at each other, and ran after him. "Hey!" we heard the man behind us. Zac opened the door, and we followed him through. Taylor immediately went for the car. Zac and I just kind of stood there... Troy soon saw us and hesitated, obviously not expecting us to be here, let alone facing him. He smiled. "Well, well, well... what do we have here?" he began, reaching for a gun we knew was there, "you didn't want to leave, did you Zac? Come back for more?" Zac only snorted his response. We heard Taylor starting the car behind us. Troy began to take a few steps forward. Naturally, we took a few steps back. "Where do you think you're gonna go? Huh? You aren't even safe in your own home, let alone anywhere else," Troy practically sneered, "you will come to us sooner or later, why not now?" I was beginning to get nervous at his advancements, but suddenly, the door opened between us. Zac and I took the chance to run for the car. "Wha's going on out here?" asked the man in uniform, but Troy had rushed back to his van. Taylor took off the moment we were in, as Troy started his van. We were soon in another pursuit. "Aren't I lucky? Three car chases now," I mumbled. I was ignored, but I didn't care. Taylor's focus was strictly on the road. "Tell me where to go guys," he said. "How far can we make it?" I asked. "Half a tank, that should be enough," Zac checked. "How long do we have to keep this up for?" Taylor asked. "Until he gives up, or his focus is solely on us and not Brad," Zac replied, grabbing a road map and starting to navigate. Taylor checked the mirrors. After maybe five minutes of Zac giving Taylor directions, Troy made his way up beside us. Suddenly, there was a monstrous bang. "What was that?!" Taylor jumped. "It was a guy on the side of the road," Zac looked back. "Oh man..." Taylor began, as the car began to skid. "Please, tell me he did not get a tyre," I said, getting up to look. "I think he did," Taylor replied, having trouble steering. We could suddenly hear the loud grinding of metal on metal. We caught Troy's sly grin. "What are we gonna do?!" Zac exclaimed. Taylor swerved, and just managed to get around the next corner. Troy was now behind us. "We have to dump the car, now!" Taylor insisted, "I can't control it like this." Zac and I looked back, then ahead. "Tay, pull up against those buildings," Zac pointed ahead, "we can get between them, and he can't follow if you block it off." Taylor immediately pulled up onto the pavement - careful not to hit pedestrians - and screeched to a halt where Zac had said to. Troy pulled up behind us as we got out and ran for the alley. We were almost out when we heard a gunshot, and the 'clink' of a bullet hitting concrete. Taylor yelled out, and as soon as we were around the corner, collapsed to the pavement. "What? What happened?!" I exclaimed, as we knelt down to him. Taylor leant his head back against the wall, and lifted his hands from his right leg. There was blood. "Oh man..." Zac moaned, trying to roll up the leg of his pants to see the damage. We cringed. "Well, at least you weren't shot," Zac said. "I might as well have been," Taylor replied, taking deep breaths. I took a look back down the alleyway. Troy was standing at the other end, motionless. He saw me, nodded, and turned to leave. I shook myself, then focused on Taylor. |
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| Chapter 10 - Losing Control |
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