Survive The Fall | Book 4 | Total Collapse

report, popping off three rounds before clicking empty.
Glass shattering melded with the grunts and groans of both men wrestling for control of the Ruger. A faint yell sounded from the hallway.
Russell out muscled the gaunt man, lifted his arms into the air, then kneed him in the ribs. Gold Chain gasped, removed his hands, then doubled over. Russell grabbed the back of Gold Chain’s head, then rammed his knee into the man’s face.
Gold Chain’s head snapped back. He stumbled backward, then dropped to the floor.
“I got one of his buddies in the hallway I think,” Clyde said at Russell’s back. “Looks like they’re bugging out. Be right back.”
Russell nodded, towering over Gold Chain with the Ruger trained at his skull.
“Damn, man. I think you broke my nose.” Gold Chain writhed on the floor, palming his face and rolling from side to side.
“You’re lucky that’s all that happened,” Russell shot back.
He glanced to the office, spotting Cathy in the doorway with her Smith & Wesson clutched in her hand and trained in his direction.
Max pushed past her legs, barking and inching toward them.
“You all right?” Cathy asked, limping her way toward him.
“Yeah. We’re both fine,” Russell answered, watching Gold Chain.
“Where’s Clyde? I don’t see him.” Cathy craned her neck, drawing closer to Russell and the groaning thug on the floor.
Max lowered to the floor, bared his fangs, and snapped at Gold Chain. The thug flinched, then rolled away, shaken and frightened by the large German shepherd.
“He went out into the hallway to check on the other two,” Russell replied.
Clyde rushed back into the office, winded. He hunched over and placed the heel of both hands on the top parts of his knees. “I’m too old for this crap.”
“You didn’t kill him, did you?” Russell asked, glancing over his shoulder.
“I didn’t kill him, but I did clip his shoulder, I think. Him and his buddy fled down the stairwell.” Clyde stood up straight. He pointed at Gold Chain with his spent .38 Special. “What are we going to do with him? We could clip his arm or something just to make sure he doesn’t think of coming after us again.”
Gold Chain removed his hands from his face, then held his arms up in protest. “Yo, man. That won’t be necessary.”
“Shut it.” Russell said, snapping at the thug. “Did either of you feel that tremor? It felt like something hit the building.”
Clyde stowed the .38 Special in his waistband, walked toward Gold Chain’s piece, and retrieved it from the floor. “I thought I heard something, but wasn’t sure what it was.”
“I heard it as well.” Cathy limped toward the cubicle close by and leaned against it, taking pressure off her leg.
“Do you want to take any more pain pills before we move on?” Russell asked, looking at her.
Cathy shook her head, then glanced at her leg. “Not yet. Too soon.”
Clyde ejected the magazine from the compact pistol, skimmed the rounds left, then slapped it back into place. “I’d say now would be a good time to move.”
“What are we doing with him?” Cathy asked, pointing at Gold Chain.
Max sniffed the thug’s arm, then trailed up toward his head.
Blood trickled from both of the man’s nostrils and the side of his lip. He rolled away from Max, who snarled and growled.
“I say we tie him up,” Russell answered, staring at Gold Chain.
Clyde pointed in the direction of his partner. “We could lock him in the room with his buddy.”
“Works for me.” Russell nudged Gold Chain’s side with his shoe. “Get up.”
Gold chain looked at Max, then up to Russell. He pushed up off the floor and got to his feet.
“Go on. Move it.” Russell escorted him over to the corner where Clyde hid. He shoved him inside the tiny space, then slammed the door.
Gold Chain pounded against the wood.
Russell didn’t notice a lock on the outside of the door. He grabbed a nearby chair and wedged it under the silver handle.
Cathy petted Max’s head as Russell made his way back over to them.
“Probably need to get back on the move before anyone else shows up.” Clyde pointed at the entrance of the business.
Russell tilted his head, then said, “Agreed.”
Clyde advanced to the entrance with Max trailing him.
“Come here.” Russell held out his arm, taking Cathy by her waist.
She draped her arm over Russell’s shoulders.
“You seem to be moving a bit slower,” Russell said, noticing her jerky movements and the grunts that seeped from her pursed lips. “Are you sure you’re able to keep going?”
Cathy favored her injured leg, but kept pace with Russell. “Yeah. I’ll be fine. This isn’t the worst pain I’ve ever been dealt. Just keeping going.”
Russell hated to see her hurting so much and having to trudge the dangerous streets of Philly, but he understood why and tried not to beat a dead horse.
Clyde stood in the hallway, facing the stairwell. He had Gold Chain’s piece and the flashlight trained dead ahead. “Is she good? We’ll have to take the stairs down again.”
“I’m fine,” Cathy snapped. “Just move.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Clyde advanced down the hallway, sweeping the corridor.
Max galloped toward the busted glass that littered the floor and hallway. A small, round mural of blood painted the wall. The darkness of the hallway concealed the red fluid that streaked down to the floor.
“Watch the glass,” Cathy called out to the German shepherd.
Max paused, sniffed at the glass, then trotted through the shards and after Clyde.
The busted pieces carpeting the ground crunched under Russell’s and Cathy’s bulk. What fragments of jagged glass that remained intact hung by a delicate thread.
Russell helped Cathy out into the hallway, then down toward the stairwell where Clyde and Max waited. The flashlight shone at the floor