Chapter 17
Chapter 17: Envy
Sha Lu looked around and saw the others were gone; greed crept across his face. If he took out Gu Yi now, the loot would be his. He and Zheng Bin were on the same team, but not of one heart. As the saying goes, people die for money and birds die for food.
He crept toward Gu Yi with care.
Gu Yi saw him coming and whispered, hopeless: [I’m done for.]
Seconds dragged by. Sha Lu edged closer, never letting his muzzle drift. If Gu Yi dared to lift his head, he would shoot first.
Sweat soaked Gu Yi’s brow. Time had never felt so slow. His heart burned with unwillingness, but all he could do was wait for death in silence.
Then a rifle cracked.
Gu Yi jolted, then peeked. Sha Lu lay on the ground, fading into white light, a backpack left behind.
Long Ming vaulted down from the far stairs, landed steady, and sprinted toward him.
Gu Yi shouted, relief flooding his face: “Bro!”
Long Ming slid in beside him and asked, worried: “Are you okay?”
Gu Yi winced and said: “Left leg got shot. It hurts like crazy. What kind of game is this? It feels too real!”
Long Ming glanced at the wound and saw it still bleeding. He tore a strip from Gu Yi’s shirt and tied the leg to slow the blood.
He said in a low voice: “We need to move. They will be here any second.”
Even as he spoke, Zheng Bin’s three-man group clattered down the upper stairs. Seeing Long Ming helping Gu Yi, they raised their guns and shouted: “Kill him!”
Long Ming pulled Gu Yi around the statue’s round base, using it to dodge the shots.
Bang, bang! Rounds hammered the metal base and sparked.
Long Ming leaned out with his single-shot rifle and fired.
Bang! The bullet shaved the air by Zheng Bin’s head. Zheng Bin flinched back and fired wildly.
Long Ming missed, ducked, ejected the casing, and reloaded fast. He drew a breath, leaned out again, and squeezed the trigger.
Bang! Sun Wu dropped with a headshot.
Zheng Bin and Wu Kang, shocked, scrambled back and hid behind two iron trash cans.
Gu Yi couldn’t help himself and shouted, excited: “Nice shot, bro. Two left!”
Long Ming kept his voice steady as he said: “I have only one bullet left. Do you have any?”
Gu Yi’s hope crashed as he answered: “No. I’m out too.”
Long Ming frowned. One round could not finish two. Closing the distance would be hard, and a fistfight was a gamble.
On the other side, Wu Kang asked in a tight voice: “Brother Zheng, what now?”
Zheng Bin’s face was dark as he said: “You go call people. I’ll keep watch.”
“Okay!” Wu Kang turned and ran.
Hearing the movement, Long Ming peeked out and saw Wu Kang sprinting away.
Bang! Zheng Bin snapped off a shot at Long Ming’s head. Long Ming yanked back; the bullet smacked into the statue’s base.
Gu Yi saw Long Ming’s grim look and asked: “What happened?”
Long Ming said, face cold: “One ran. He is going to get help.”
Gu Yi swallowed and asked: “So what do we do now?”
Long Ming said: “We pull out. I’ll help you move.”
Gu Yi shook his head and said, giving up on himself: “Forget it. He’s watching us. You can’t run while dragging me. You go.”
Long Ming’s eyes flicked as he lowered his voice: “I have a way.”
Gu Yi blinked and asked: “What way?”
Long Ming said: “We use the statue to block their view and crawl away on our hands.”
Gu Yi nodded and said: “That could work.”
“Move,” said Long Ming.
They lay flat, picked their angles, and inched backward by hand. Gu Yi’s leg hurt, but his arms still worked, so they could move.
Behind the trash cans, Zheng Bin stared at the statue’s shadow. Nothing moved. Only a distant rumble echoed now and then. He felt a twinge of doubt but kept his eyes locked on the spot.
Time crawled by. Still no sign of the two. He didn’t dare go alone to check.
At last Wu Kang hurried back with three more players. He called out: “Brother Zheng, we’re here!”
“Good,” said Zheng Bin with a hard grin. “They’re behind the statue. Wrap around with me.”
He led them forward step by careful step. Their hearts pounded; their fingers gripped their guns tighter.
At the last moment they rushed in together. The space behind the statue was empty.
“Where did they go?” asked Wu Kang, stunned.
Zheng Bin stomped in anger and said: “No wonder it was so quiet. They ran!”
“What do we do now?” the others asked, faces dark.
Zheng Bin pointed at the ground with a cold smile and said: “Why panic? See the blood trail? They can’t have gone far.”
“Then let’s chase!” said Wu Kang, brightening.
“Go!” barked Zheng Bin, and they followed the blood.
Elsewhere, Long Ming supported Gu Yi to the street that led toward the fortress. Ahead was the sewer entry.
Long Ming said: “Hold on a little more. The sewer entrance is right up there.”
Gu Yi nodded and said: “Got it. I really owe you this time.”
Long Ming said: “No problem. But how did you end up fighting them?”
Gu Yi gritted his teeth and said: “We didn’t mess with them. Those Sin City guys are gross. They saw us find good loot and got jealous.”
Long Ming nodded and said: “I see.”
They reached the manhole. Long Ming helped Gu Yi down and warned: “Slowly.”
“Okay,” said Gu Yi as he eased himself onto the ladder.
Just then Zheng Bin, Wu Kang, and the others arrived. Seeing them try to escape, they raised their guns and opened fire. Long Ming spotted them at once and, without hesitating, shoved Gu Yi down into the sewer.