by K. L. Savage
“He—he—is older. White tank top, greasy hair—”
“And the hostage?”
“I don’t know. I swear, I don’t know. They didn’t say. They paged Code Black, which means active shooter.”
I drop him to the floor, and he cries out when he lands on his foot wrong. “Ah!” he grabs his ankle. “You broke my foot.”
“Better than being dead.” I step on his leg as I walk toward the door, which has him whimpering.
I grin.
Yeah, I can be a sadistic sonofabitch.
I peek out the narrow rectangular window in the door and see papers scattered along the floor. I grip the handle and turn it, but it’s locked. “What?” I hiss and try again. I jiggle the handle and tug, but it won’t budge. “Why won’t the door open?”
“All doors are locked for safety. Only doctors can get in and out.”
I get my knife out and the doctor pushes himself across the floor as far away as he can get from me. “Tina, I’m busting out of this room. I have a feeling the hostage is Daphne. You’ll be vulnerable since the doctor is useless.”
“I’ll… be fine.”
“I’m not useless,” the doctor tries to justify.
I dig my phone out of my pocket and see fifteen messages from Reaper. I press play and hold the speaker to my ear. “Tongue, we can’t get in the hospital and no one can get out. It’s all over the news. We are in the parking lot, brother. We’re here, but they won’t allow us in. Be careful,” the last message says.
I press the record button and lower my voice, “He is on our floor. I’m busting out of the room and going to find him on my own. I think he has Daphne. I told you I should have killed him the other night and none of this would be happening.” I press send, then give my phone to Tina by tossing it to her. “Use that if you need to. The guys know I’m here.”
“Be… careful. If it’s her… save her.”
“Always.” I focus on the task at hand, push the panic and terror aside, bad thoughts, and breathe. I take the handle of my knife smash it against the glass.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
It takes a few times before it cracks, it won’t budge. “Shit, I’m an idiot,” I say to myself, then rush to Doctor Pansyass and grab his keycard. “Thanks for doing your part.”
“No problem,” he says with chattering teeth. He’s in shock.
I slide the keycard over the black square and the door clicks when the light turns green. When I step into the main area of the intensive care unit, I’m shocked by how abandoned it is. Paper is everywhere, IV bags are busted on the floor, and that scent of fear is there again, making it hard to breathe. I take a right, down the hallway, listening.
“Oh, fuck,” I whisper when I see a man lying face down in a puddle of his own blood. Gunshot to the abdomen. It was not a quick death. Looks like he traveled pretty far, according to the blood path. It leads all the way down another hall.
It’s so quiet.
Too quiet.
The kind where something could happen at any moment.
Silence is loud if one listens carefully enough, and right now, it’s telling me to be prepared for death.
I loop around by going down a back hallway. The lights flicker from being shot. There are a few more dead bodies. A nurse with a gunshot wound to the head and her elderly patient.
Another gunshot wound to the head.
He knows what he likes, doesn’t he?
Blood is everywhere.
And for the first time in my life, I dread seeing it.
I do another loop and find the rest of the halls empty and find myself back at Tina’s room.
I hear a click and the warm barrel of a gun pointed against the back of my head.
Execution style.
His favorite.
The End… for now.
GOOEY BY GLASS ANIMALS
DEVIL LIKE ME BY RAINBOW KITTEN SURPRISE
GLASS HEART BY CAPTIVES
NO MATTER WHAT BY CALUM SCOTT
SOMETHING WONDERFUL BY SEAWAY
SEE YOU IN HELL BY WSTR
DROWN IN MY MIND BY STORY UNTOLD
I’M SORRY BY MOKITA
WORKDS OF PROGRESS BY ACROSS THE ATLANTIC
HOME BY SECRET EYES
To our Ruthless Readers we just couldn’t let go of Tongue. Thank you for sticking with us!
Give Me Books here’s to another great release.
To all the bloggers and reviewed and shared Tongue’s Target thanks y’all are the best.
To Wander and Andrey you truly are the best! Thank you for being my rocks.
Donna we love you! #BOOMERISDONNAS
Stacey at Champagne Book Design thanks for all your amazing work.
To my Instigator you are stronger than you think.
Lynn you’re the best friend a girl could ask for.
Silla thanks for everything you do!
Carolina the torture continues, but I know you like it.
Harloe you are amazing
Mom love you
Jeff 5 LITTLE WORDS
Austin as always y’all are such a blessing
PREQUEL - REAPER’S RISE
BOOK ONE - REAPER
BOOK TWO - BOOMER
BOOK THREE - TOOL
BOOK FOUR - POODLE
BOOK FIVE - SKIRT
BOOK SIX - PIRATE
BOOK SEVEN - DOC
BOOK EIGHT - TONGUE
BOOK NINE – A RUTHLESS CHRISTMAS
BOOK TEN – KNIVES
BOOK ELEVEN – TONGUE’S TARGET
A RUTHLESS HALLOWEEN
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