The car drove steadily down the winding mountain road, and Adrian sat in the passenger seat, his expression tired but watchful. Driving was his best friend and second in command, Jack Williams. They had just signed a new deal for the development of a luxury mountain resort not far from where they were now. They had left the rest of their men behind to enjoy the facilities the resort had to offer, giving them a two-day break as a reward.
Adrian looked out the window, breathing in the fresh mountain air tinged with the scent of the ocean. On both sides of the road were thick trees that hid most of the light from the setting sun.
Through the side mirror, Adrian noticed that the car behind them was driving faster than the road allowed.
"Let them pass," he said lazily, turning to Jack.
"Hmm," Jack nodded and veered slightly to the right to give the car room, but the vehicle didn't speed up. Instead, another one joined it, driving parallel at the same pace, now, keeping a steady distance from their car.
Adrian's brow furrowed. Jack glanced at the rearview mirror, then at Adrian.
"It seems they're here for us, not the road. I'll try to lose them." Jack joked, flooring the gas pedal. Their car had been modified to go faster than normal cars whenever they needed it. IT saved them a lot of effort when they had to deal with people tailing them
The two trailing cars soon faded from view behind them as Jack maneuvered skillfully through the curving roads. The mountain resort was about 160 miles away from the nearest city, a usually peaceful two-hour-ish drive. But now, every mile had them on edge.
Adrian leaned his elbow on the window frame, but he no longer enjoyed the breeze. His eyes were trained on the trees, watching for movements or traps.
Suddenly, Jack abruptly slammed the brakes, jolting Adrian from his thoughts. The tires screeched in protest as the car obediently pulled to a stop.
In front of them, massive rocks blocked the whole road, clearly placed there on purpose.
It seemed there was a mole among his men. He had only told them the night before that he was leaving, and they all knew better than to spread it to the outsiders.
"This isn't a simple case of stalking," Jack muttered. "Who do you think did it?" "Your uncle Paul or Peter."
"Most likely both. They usually forget they hate each other when it's time to deal with me." Adrian replied with a dry laugh.
"We'll have to ditch the car and find a place to hide," Adrian said, already unbuckling his seatbelt.
But his words, although true, came too late. Just as they both got down, the two cars from before finally caught up, and were now joined by a white windowless bus instead.
"Shit." Jack cursed. "How did they get here so fast?"
He threw open the car's back door and pulled out two handguns stashed beneath the seats, and tossed one to Adrian.
Together, they ran into the forest, fallen branches and underbush crunching beneath their feet. Gunshots rang out behind them almost immediately.
Their pursuers also entered the forest and started pursuing them aggressively. Shooting at them as they tried to take cover. Because they were in the mountains, visibility dropped within minutes, the sun had just set, but it was already as dark as night. The attackers, frustrated, began firing blindly into the woods.
They fired back and were able to take down some of the men, but soon they ran out of bullets and could only keep running and hiding.
Swish. A bullet hit Adrian's leg.
He grunted in pain but didn't shout out. He was used to it, growing up in the mafia means being ready to die at any point in time, and survival didn't mean you didn't get injured. But they were in the middle of nowhere.
Jack hurried to Adrian's side and grabbed him before he could fall.
"Don't slow down. Keep moving." Adrian hissed through gritted teeth.
Jack looped Adrian's arm around his neck, putting most of his weight on himself.
"I can't believe you got hit by blind luck."
They continued forward, each step growing higher, under the cover of the dark, but their pursuers were still hot on their trail. They both knew they couldn't outrun the gunmen, with one of them being injured.
They couldn't continue like this.
"You should go on without me," Adrian said hoarsely, trying to pull away.
Jack's head whipped towards him. "What the hell are you talking about?"
A gunshot cracked, the bullet whistling in the air, and this one hit Adrian's arm.
He stumbled again, collapsing against Jack. "I'll only hold you down. It's better if you hide first. I'm the one they're after, not you. You can escape, get revenge later."
The sky thundered loudly, drowning out whatever Jack had said, and it started to rain heavily. Thick icy sheets that turned the soil beneath their feet into mud. It was harder to move now.
They increased their pace as much as they could. Eventually, they chanced upon a narrow opening in a rock wall, a shallow cave that was mostly hidden by small trees and ferns.
"This is a good spot." Jack stopped and helped Adrian rest against a nearby tree before stepping inside the cave to check for wild animals.
He came back outside after a few minutes. "It's all clear inside."
Then he half-carried Adrian inside the cave, and laid him gently on the cold dry floor. The cave wasn't deep, but it was more than enough to shield them from the rain and their pursures.
Jack stripped off his jacket and then Adrian's, wrapping Adrian with his. Then knelt beside him, trying to catch his breath.
He reached into his back pocket and took out his wallet, opening it, he stared at the picture of a young man, brushing his fingers over it before removing it and handing it over to Adrian.
"This is Felix Reed… he… he's very important to me. If I don't manage to escape, promise me you'll protect him in my stead, okay?"
Adrian turned his face to the other side. "Protect him yourself," he said, pushing Jack's hand away with his uninjured arm. He was already weak from the blood loss and couldn't muster much strength. "Don't do anything stupid because of me."
Jack smiled faintly. "More people need you than they need me. All our brothers… you're their only hope for a better life. I have no regrets."
"Jack…"
But Jack wasn't listening. He placed the photo on the floor beside Adrian and activated the emergency locator pinned inside Adrian's belt.
Then he slipped on Adrian's jacket and stood.
And without another word, Jack ran out into the storm.
"Come back," Adrian shouted after him to no avail.
He struggled to stand up, Pain laced through his leg and arm but he did it.
Then he fell, hard.
He crawled to the cave's entrance, his blood mixing with mud.
But Jack was nowhere in sight.
All he could hear was the sound of gunshots in the distance.