Read Online No Shelter by Robert Swartwood - Free Book Online

who’s in the dark shooting, and I figure Nova must be set up on one of the hills with a sniper rifle. The two men continue to return fire, forgetting me momentarily, and I scramble to my feet, jump for the closest weapon, grab it and turn and shoot the first man, then the second.  
    The gun in hand, I do a quick three-sixty spin, making sure there’s no more surprises. The only movement that catches my eye is the girls now huddled in the doorway of the ranch house, the girl I’d popped in the gut glaring at me.  
    Ignoring her, I hurry over to the guards’ house. It’s empty, the same men still lying dead in the same positions I left them in. I come back out just as Scooter pulls up the Escalade. Nova hurries down from the hill, his rifle in hand. I sprint forward, more glad than ever to see them.  
    Nova reaches the Escalade first. He opens the back door, throws in his rifle, shakes his head at me as he closes the door.  
    “I thought Berlin was the last time,” I say to him, grinning.  
    Scooter shuts off the engine, opens the door and steps out. He too is shaking his head, but he’s smiling as he chews his gum. “You, Holly, are one crazy bitch.”  
    “Yeah, but I’m one hot crazy bitch.”  
    He laughs, shakes his head again, steps forward to take me into an embrace. It’s a rare thing but I allow it, my heart still pounding, knowing how close to biting it I had come. I’ve been there before, right near the threshold of death’s doorway, but always managed to jump back. This time I was certain it wasn’t going to happen.  
    Nova must see it first. My back is to the ranch house, the girls momentarily forgotten. Scooter is hugging me, holding me tight, and Nova is standing behind him, still smiling. Then the smile fades. His eyes go wide. He starts to open his mouth but it’s Scooter I hear shouting. Next thing I know I’m being squeezed even tighter, Scooter grabbing me and turning to the side, letting go as he turns back and faces whatever’s coming at him.  
    It’s the girl I’d popped, the one who had first moved at Julio’s demand. She has come out of the ranch house, picked up one of the guns, and God help me, I realize it’s my gun she has, the nine-millimeter, the one now raised as she hurries forward, screaming and firing.  
    Scooter takes the bullets. He stays in front of me and he takes each bullet and for an instant I just stand there, paralyzed, not sure what to do.  
    Then I move. Even before Nova can, I step past Scooter and run at the girl who’s running at me. She’s still shooting but I don’t care. I intercept her, slap the gun out of her hand, punch her in the face, kick her in the knee, send her to the ground. Then I’m reaching down, grabbing the gun—my own goddamned gun—and standing back up, aiming the gun and firing at her face until she no longer has a face, until there are no more bullets, and I’m left just pulling the trigger and hearing the dry clicks.  
    Nova shouts my name.  
    The woman is dead but still I want to kill her again.  
    “Holly, let’s go!”  
    I turn away. The gun still in hand, I sprint back to the Escalade. Nova is on his knees, holding Scooter. Somehow, Scooter is still alive. His entire chest has been ravaged by bullets but he’s still alive.  
    I fall to my knees too. I say to Nova, “Start the truck.”  
    “Holly—”  
    “Start it!”  
    He gets to his feet, runs to the Escalade and climbs inside. The engine roars to life.  
    I hold Scooter, whispering to him that everything’s going to be okay. He wheezes, coughs up blood.  
    Nova is back out of the Escalade, hurrying over to pick up Scooter. I run to the back, open the door and get inside to help Nova load Scooter in. Scooter is wheezing even more, and I don’t know why I kid myself, but I actually think that it will be okay. That we’ll get Scooter the help he needs. That they’ll extract the bullets, close the wounds, nurse him back to health.  
    I even