by Sydnie MacElroy
[Colquitt house]
>On three, Leo and Martin stood up and fired below the >sill, Martin going from left to right and Leo doing the >reverse. They soon heard cries of pain from within and >saw the two men standing up, ready to let loose another >volley of bullets at them when the men were shot from >the side by Zenya, standing at the van and covering Leo >and Martin.
>Without a word, Zenya went into the Colquitt house with >Leo and Martin following close behind.
Zenya barged into the house with only slightly less caution than was called for, on into Jessie's room, kicked the guns away from the fallen men and checked for pulses all before Martin and Leo made it into the room, even though they were less than ten feet behind her.
"They got the computer turned on," Martin said. "Didn't have a chance to do anything to it, though."
Zenya ignored him for the moment. She looked at Leo and pointed at the bed. "Sit." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Martin jump slightly at the command and glance her way.
"Yes, ma'am," Leo said, trying and not quite succeeding to be completely serious, a fact which only served to make Zenya madder still. He sat down.
Zenya pulled the back of his shirt up, a bit rougher than necessary, and checked his wound. "Must not feel as bad as it looks," she said. "It's a miracle. The stitches held. At least, the ones on the outside did." She stepped away from him, seeing the 'I told you so' look on his face, and turned to Martin. "What about you?"
"Still in one piece." He touched a few keys on the keyboard. "There. This'll only take a couple minutes."
"What are you doing?" Zenya glanced at the screen, then away when she sensed Leo step up next to her. She gave him a small smile so he'd know he wasn't off the hook quite yet, but that she'd forgive him if he could prove that he deserved it.
"I e-mailed a copy of the program to myself," Martin said. "Never hurts to have a back up."
"Speaking of which, we ought to get out of here in case one of these guys had a chance to call for help."
In the two or three minutes it took to send the program, Zenya noticed a few things, not the least of which was that time seemed to pass much slower while standing in a room with two dead bodies. She also noted that apparently no one had called the sheriff, in spite of all the gun fire and the fact that there was a body in the middle of the street. If they had, there had been plenty of time for a cruiser to get there. And when she looked out the window, she noticed a face peering out of a window across the street, but it was Leo who pointed it out.
"Someone's watching. Over there."
Zenya nodded and Martin glanced casually out the window. "She was in the parking lot at the strip mall," Martin said.
"Helping with the cows," Zenya asked.
"Just watching. We're done here," he said, shutting off the computer and reaching behind it to disconnect the cords.
"Good," Zenya said, turning to Leo. "I suppose you want to carry it, Mr. Invincible?" Leo didn't answer, but stepped past her and grabbed the computer. Zenya laughed softly when she saw him wince slightly, and threw his 'I told you so' look back at him. "Reckless macho jerk," she muttered, smiling, as she took the computer from him.
Leo shrugged. "I'm glad you're taking such satisfaction from my discomfort. Nice shooting, by the way," he added as they stepped over one of the bodies and headed for the door.
Martin led the way out and stopped suddenly in the doorway. With both Martin and Leo blocking the way, Zenya couldn't see what was going on until they took a couple of steps out onto the porch. The girl from across the street was now standing next to the van, not looking down at the body in the street, or at the trio of agents. She was watching the two boys next door, who were playing a game of basketball as if nothing was going on. As they were standing there, a door opened further up the block and another girl came out onto her lawn, waved to the girl by the van and started toward her.
Leo and Martin had their guns drawn, but held down at their sides since no one was making an aggressive move. Zenya set the computer on the ground next to the door and followed suit, following them a few steps into the yard.
"What the hell," Martin mumbled as the second girl joined her friend next to the van and two started laughing about something.
Leo shook his head. "I don't know, but they don't seem interested in us."
Zenya took a step back toward the door. "I'll get�" was all she managed to say before the computer exploded, sending shards the plastic case raining down on the yard. For a fraction of a second, Zenya froze, eyes riveted to the explosion just as had happened once before, and she could almost imagine that she saw a face through the smoke and fire, before Leo tackled her and pulled her to the ground. A moment later, forcing herself to take a deep breath, she peered over his shoulder and saw that Martin was just getting to his feet and the four kids visible nearby were going about their business as if nothing had happened.
"You two all right," Martin asked.
"I think so," Leo said, while Zenya just nodded. They disentangled themselves and got to their feet, and only then did Zenya realize she was still holding on to Leo's hand, though she didn't remember grabbing it in the first place.
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NRPG:
The clean up continues. :)
Jeff: Nothing like a close call to make the fight seem insignificant. ;) No hurry with the story. I really just couldn't remember if we'd settled on who was doing the rewrite.