Chapter 7 - The Choice in the Dark
Ruby didn't think.
She had spent her life watching from the sidelines, cleaning up other people’s messes, serving food to people who didn't know her name, and waiting for the world to notice her mother’s pain. She was tired of being invisible. She was tired of letting powerful men decide who lived and who died.
She grabbed a heavy steel coupling link from a shelf near the door.
With a loud, guttural scream, she ran forward, hurling the heavy steel link with all her strength at Richard Vance.
The steel struck his shoulder with a sickening crack.
Richard screamed, his gun firing wild into the ceiling as he stumbled backward. The bullet shattered a skylight, showering the floor in glass.
Arthur moved with a speed that didn't seem human.
He lunged forward, his gloved hand grabbing Richard’s wrist, twisting it until the bones clicked and the pistol fell to the concrete. Arthur struck him once in the jaw—a short, brutal blow that sent Richard crashing to the floor, unconscious and bleeding.
"Ruby!" Arthur yelled, spinning around.
But the fight wasn't over.
From the shadows of the warehouse, two of Richard’s guards emerged, their weapons drawn.
"Get down!" Arthur screamed, throwing himself over Ruby, his massive frame shielding her as the warehouse erupted into gunfire.
The bullets sparked against the concrete, the noise deafening.
Suddenly, the heavy metal doors of the warehouse were blown off their hinges with a thunderous explosion.
"Federal Bureau of Investigation!" a voice boomed through the smoke. "Drop your weapons! Drop your weapons now!"
A dozen tactical agents in bulletproof gear flooded the room, their red laser sights cutting through the dark. Richard’s guards instantly threw their weapons down, raising their hands in surrender.
The lights in the warehouse flickered on, revealing the full extent of the chaos.
Arthur lay on top of Ruby, his chest rising and falling in rapid, heavy breaths. He looked down at her, his gray eyes searching her face, his hands gently framing her jaw.
"Are you hurt?" he asked, his voice shaking with a raw, terrifying emotion. "Ruby, look at me. Are you hurt?"
"I'm... I'm okay," Ruby gasped, her hands clutching his wet shoulders. "I cut my leg on the window, but... I’m okay. What about you?"
Arthur didn't answer. He slowly sat up, his hand sliding down his side.
When he pulled his hand away, it was covered in dark, thick blood.
"Arthur!" Ruby screamed.
"It's... it's a graze," Arthur said, his jaw tightening as he slumped back against a shipping container. "Just... a graze."
"Medical team!" Victor’s voice boomed as he ran into the warehouse, leading a team of paramedics. "Now! Get the stretcher!"
As the paramedics rushed forward, Ruby sat beside Arthur on the cold concrete, holding his hand, her fingers gripping his with a fierce, desperate strength.
Arthur looked up at her, a faint, tired smile touching his lips.
"You threw a steel link at a man with a gun," he whispered.
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"He was going to shoot you," Ruby said, tears spilling down her cheeks. "And you still owe me for that traffic ticket."
"I’ll buy you the city, Ruby," Arthur murmured, his eyes slowly closing as the paramedics lifted him onto the stretcher. "I’ll buy you the whole damn city."
