“Freeze! Stay where you are!” The cop slowly walked towards me, gun in hand, pointed directly at my chest. I squinted as he blinded me with his flashlight, my heart pounding faster and faster. I’d never been caught before. More cops would be coming soon, I had to get out of there quickly. Suddenly, my partner Alex stepped behind the cop, and shot him in the back without hesitating. “Let’s get out of here,” she said as we headed toward the getaway car. I felt a pang of guilt in my chest, as I looked back at the cop bleeding onto the pavement. I should have tried to stop her. We never kill cops. Alex was letting her fiery emotions get out of control; something needed to be done. I shook the thought out of my head and decided to focus on the task in front of me. Alex pulled her black hair away from her face as she sat down in the car. “Did you remember to get the money?”

“No,” I replied sarcastically, “I thought I should just leave it inside the bank.” I lifted the black duffle bag and placed it in the back seat. Police sirens in the distance grew louder. “Drive Steven!” Alex yelled. I slammed my foot on the gas pedal, trying to evade our pursuers. We sped through the city, weaving our way through the maze of cars, while making quick and unpredictable turns.
“Bang!” A bullet whizzed by and shattered my side view mirror. “Get down!” I shouted. Just when I thought we managed to get away, the cops were still closing in on us. Another bullet made its way into the rear window. Glass flew everywhere. I winced as I pulled out a few shards of it from my arm. Alex opened her car door and leaned out the side, gun in one hand, while clutching the inside of the car with the other. She held on tightly and fired back at the cops while I drove. The first bullet fired skimmed the edge of their car and had no impact on the police’s speed. The cops moved closer, and were only a few yards behind us. Alex seized the opportunity and shot two more bullets at them. Air hissed as it escaped from their tires. “I’m out!” Alex cried. I had a spare gun hidden in the trunk but there was no way I could access it now. There were still two more cars further behind us. I glanced at Alex, the cops red and blue lights were reflecting on her worried face. Just up ahead I could barely make out a thin gravel road leading towards the woods. It was risky. The cops were just around the corner and the road was a dead end. But maybe we could make it on foot. It seemed like the only option other than driving a few more hours and running out of gas. Without notice, I sharply turned left and headed down the ominous trail.
“Steven?!” Alex yelled. “What are you doing? They are going to see us!”
I turn off our headlights to conceal us under the blanket of night. We drove further down, away from the main road.
“Don’t worry,” I assured her, “They won’t find us.” From the corner of my eye, I saw that the blue and red flashing lights stayed on the main road, driving past us.
We got out of the car and grabbed the duffel bag stuffed with cash. It felt slightly heavier than the last time I picked it up.
“Let’s divide it now, it will be much easier to carry it.” Every so often I could hear the distant hoot of an owl or the occasional snap of a twig, suggesting we're not alone. “Hurry up,” I said impatiently. Alex reached into the trunk and took out two smaller backpacks for us. She rubbed her ice-cold hands together and started grabbing her share of the cash. As we get to the bottom of the duffle bag I spotted a spare gun and an extra case of bullets. But it wasn’t my spare gun. Alex quickly grabbed it and aimed it at me.
“Don’t move,” she warned. “Toss me your bag.” My hands shook as I lifted the backpack off the ground and tossed it in her direction. “Alex, you don’t have...” Suddenly, I felt a searing pain in my left shoulder. I fell to the ground, making the injury worse, and let out a loud groan. Alex was gone.
Pain. It was all my mind could register. I sat up and addressed my wound. The blood leaking all over my shirt was a dark red color. “Good,” I thought to myself, “it didn’t hit any arteries.” I ripped off part of my shirt and tied it around my shoulder, trying to prevent anymore blood loss. The world around me was spinning rapidly as I stood up. I was losing too much blood, but my stubbornness kept me going. “The gun,” I suddenly remembered. Stumbling back towards the car I opened the trunk and retrieved the weapon. Trees started to sway as I moved as swiftly as I could. Large tree trunks and ditches kept on tripping me, but I kept moving, with only my flashlight to guide the way. Suddenly, I noticed a small, quick movement about twenty yards to my right. “Alex,” I muttered. My pace quickened; I was only a few yards behind her, but she hadn’t noticed me yet. “Don’t move,” I said almost mimicking her tone. She slowly turned around, eyeing my gun. “Steven…”
“You’re dangerous,” I stated, “you’re like a fire, constantly out of control.” Alex started to reach for the gun tucked in her belt, but it was too late. Regretfully, I pulled the trigger. I watched as my friend, my partner, slumped lifelessly to the ground. Grabbing both of the cash-filled backpacks I walked deeper in the woods without looking back.