Redeemer

One small note, since Natalia and her friend were constantly speaking German throughout the movie I'm assuming the townsfolk speak it as well. I don't remember which part of Europe the boys were in. I know they were somewhere near Slovakia, that's about it. If one of you knows better please feel free to correct me because I failed Geography in high school. Also if I got the German wrong, please for the love of god tell me! I was using some cheap web-program to look up the words so I have no clue how correct they are.

Chapter 4

“Are they still behind us?”

Pax looked in the rearview mirror and growled when he saw the familiar black Mercedes trailing a few hundred yards behind them, as it had been for the past hour or so.

“Yeah, they’re still following us.” He grimly replied and turned his attention back towards the deserted road in front of them.

Josh bit his lip and pulled his legs up against his chest. The blonde was shaking heavily in his seat and mumbling incoherent words as he kept looking over his shoulder at the black car.

Pax glanced over in the passenger’s seat at him, his stomach tightening from the cold fear showing on Josh’s face. He could only imagine the thoughts and images running through his friend’s mind at the sight from the strange car.

A moment later he forced his eyes away and glanced in the mirror once again. The black car was still a good distance behind them and Pax had the disturbing feeling it was on purpose. That car could’ve easily over-taken them at anytime along the deserted road but it hadn’t. It was maintaining a good distance from them and it almost seamed like it’s driver was waiting for something.

Pax frowned and pressed a little harder on the gas pedal. When their car pulled too fair ahead, the Mercedes also sped up. Yeah, they were defiantly waiting for something...

“Fuckers.” Paxton growled and pressed down on the pedal again.

Predictably, the other car sped up and Pax slammed his fist into the steering wheel enraged. His eyes started scanning the area around the empty fields. Faint outlines of buildings could be seen over a small stretch of hills to his right and a small ray of hope washed over him.

“There’s a town over there. We can make it if I can find the damn turn off.”

Josh raised his head and eyed the hillside closely but didn’t say anything. His fingers where shaking and twisting against the fabric of the loose t-shirt he was wearing. Pax check the mirror again, his eyes narrowing into thin slits as the noticed the foreign car slowly gaining speed behind them.

He cursed and swept his eyes along the road in front of them, looking for a turn off or anything he could use to shake the bastards off their trail. Finally spotting one, Paxton gently let up on the accelerator as a plan slowly starting forming inside of his mind.

He let the car coast for a while, watching the speeding Mercedes in the rearview mirror and waited until their car passed the connecting road before he violently turned the wheel. The car jerked as it turned, it’s wheels grinding together as Pax directed it through the dirt and onto the second road.

Just as he hoped, his drastic maneuver confused the other car’s driver and bought them some time. Slamming his foot down as hard as he could on the peddle, Pax forced the car down the dirt road. The Mercedes regained it’s composer a moment later and sped after them.

The small shapes of buildings starting growing larger as they neared the outskirts of the town. The black sedan was still on their tail, it’s driver obviously growing irritated because it closed on them a moment later. Pax cursed and applied more presser to his foot. The car started growing jerky and the steering-wheel started vibrating in his hands, signaling the vehicle wouldn’t be able to handle it’s current speed for much longer.

(Come on you piece of shit, just hang on for a bit longer. We’re almost there.)

The car lurched forward as something hit it and Paxton saw the hood of the black car right behind them in the mirror.

“Fuck. Hang on Josh.” Pax yelled as he swung the steering-wheel to the left, forcing the car off to the side and back onto the road again.

The Mercedes retaliated by quickly moving behind them and ramming it’s front into their rear once again. The impact jerked both men around in their seats and Pax was barely able to keep the car in a straight line. His fingers immediately reached for the gun his lap but due to rate the car was speeding down the road he seriously doubted he could get a decent shot off and he didn’t want to waist his few remaining bullets.

A sign soon appeared on his left, Paxton couldn’t make out what it said but he was happier then hell to see it. The dirt road soon became cement as they neared the outskirts of the town and without warning or a reason, the Mercedes backed off and reduced it’s speed.

“What the fuck?” Paxton gapped as the black car slowly faded into a thin black shape as their car bolted away from it.

Josh turned his head and gazed through the back window at the retreating car. “They’re letting us go?”

Pax glared into the mirror and shook his head. “No. They’re just backing off.”

Josh shrieked a tiny curse and curled his arms around his legs once again. The car finally reached one of the town’s back roads and soon the Mercedes completely disappeared from view. Pax’s eyes were still locked on the mirror as they wound through the small streets until a large black blob moved into his vision.

He had just enough time to slam his foot on the brake before their car collided into a large delivery van parked in the middle of the street.

“Fuck.” Paxton groaned and pounded on the horn. “Move that thing dammit!”

He looked over his shoulder again and saw the dented hood of the black Mercedes slowly pull into view a few hundred feet behind him. His fist slammed against the horn a few more times before a man standing on the sidewalk waved angrily at him and slowly made his way towards his truck.

Pax whipped his head around and checked the black car’s position once again. It was getting closer, they were trapped!

“Shit. We’re gonna have to run for it.”

Josh whipped his head up in the passenger’s side. “W-what?”

“That car is right behind us and this fucker won’t move in time.” Pax said as tore his seatbelt off and once again looked through the back window. “At least on foot we’ll have a chance.”

Josh bit his lip and looked through the window as well. His eyes were full of fear and panic but he forced himself to nod.

“M’kay.”

Paxton glanced behind him and looked around for an opening. He found one, another car came into view at the intersection behind them and there was an open alley on Josh’s left. Keeping his eyes on the intersection, he reached for the gun and tucked it into his belt.

“Josh, when I say go, we’re gonna run into the alley over there on your left. Understand?”

“Yes...” Josh quietly mumbled as he undid his seatbelt as well.

Pax waited, the car had just signaled and before the Mercedes reached the intersection, it turned left in front of them.

“Go!”

Both men opened their doors and dashed towards the deserted alleyway in a low crouch. It was difficult for Josh to run with his injuries and fearing that his friend would fall over, Pax grabbed his arm and together they managed to duck behind the wall of bricks just as their cover was removed.

The sound of the Mercedes slamming on it’s breaks echoed from the street behind them and both men forced their legs to move faster. The alley came to a fork and Pax forced them to a halt as he tried to figure out which way they should go.

The alley was bordered by high brick walls with no windows or doors so there was no where for them to hide and due to the thickness of the bricks, Pax didn’t want to risk pulling his gun out. There only choices were the two paths.

Heavy footsteps soon echoed in the alleyway behind them and Paxton, not wanting to waist anymore time, grabbed Josh’s hand and lead them down the path to his right. Josh trudged along tiredly behind him but for the most part he was able to keep up with the other American despite the pain from his injuries.

The footsteps behind them halted and Pax could hear two men’s shouts vibrating off the walls as they conversed in German, trying to figure out which way the two of them went.

Eventually, the path they ran down led them to a crowed street and never in his life had Pax ever felt so happy to see a large group of people. Both men stopped to catch their breath briefly and Paxton glanced over his shoulder. Shadows appeared on the wall behind them and he tightened his grip on Josh’s and lead them into the populated street.

He glanced behind them at the alley’s entrance and sure enough, too large men dressed in black suits soon appeared from it’s depths and started scanning the crowd. One of them looked to be well over six feet tall with a shaved head, while the other was slightly smaller with black hair.

“Shit. Over there.” Pax whispered and quickly pulled them both to the side of a small corner shop.

They ducked down behind the shop’s extended window and watched. Their pursuers split up and started wandering through the street, pushing through the groups of various people. The heavy-set bald one started making his way over towards their hiding spot and Paxton felt Josh tighten his fingers around his hand.

“He’s coming over here.”

“Fuck.” Pax cursed and started scanning their surroundings for a place to hide.

A pair of large wooden doors a few meters away instantly grabbed his attention and Pax pulled Josh over towards them. He opened one and was about to cross the threshold when Josh froze.

“Josh come on.” He tugged on the other’s hand forcefully.

Josh shook his head and whimpered. “No.”

“Josh we don’t have time for this, come on.” Pax urged and pulled on Josh’s arm again.

“No, not here. Not again.” Josh wailed, his eyes watering as he stared at something above their heads.

Pax followed his gaze and felt a weight settle inside of his stomach. Judging from the foreign letters on the sign and it’s bright coloring, they were standing outside of the same bar Natalia and her blonde friend had taken them to after Oli disappeared.

He remembered that night clearly, something inside the last drink he ordered made him feel incredibly sick and stumbled around the bar for about ten minutes and thanks to extremely fortunate circumstances he ended up locked inside one of the storage closets. He awoke the next morning only to discover that Josh was also missing without a trace, like Oli...and all because of those fucking bitches.

Paxton snapped out of his thoughts and moved his eyes away from Josh’s quivering figure towards the busy street. The men chasing them were standing in the middle of the street looking it’s length up and down. The bald one moved his eyes towards the bar they were standing in front of and his gaze halted when he noticed the two Americans.

“Fuck. Josh come on, we don’t have a choice.” He urged and leaned closer, holding Josh’s hand in a reassuring way. “Nothing bad will happen to us this time, I swear.”

Josh blinked tearfully and lowered his head. Sensing his friend’s resolve drop, Pax pulled on his arm once again and sighed relieved when Josh didn’t fight him and quickly hauled both of them into the dark atmosphere of the bar.

A few heads turned when they entered by Pax ignored the question gazes and lead them through the bar. The front door jerked open and closed a moment later and over his shoulder, Pax could see the
burly frame of the bald-headed man scanning the area inside of the bar.

(There has to be a back door somewhere...or at least another fucking closet.)

He carefully maneuvered the two of them through the group of foreign drunkards towards the far end of the bar. With the large amount of people gathered inside the small building, it was fairly easy for them to blend in, even with their pursuer standing less then a hundred feet away.

Too engrossed with keeping his eyes on the man fallowing them, Pax didn’t noticed the small table in front of them until his knee painfully coiled with it. One of the table’s legs cracked and a few drinks toppled over.

“Shit.” Pax gasped and tried to grab the glasses before they made too loud of a noise.

He glanced over his shoulder and froze one again. The man was looking right at them! His eyes narrowed and he started muscling he way through the crowed towards them. Pax felt his heart move up into his throat and in a full state of panic, moved his eyes back and forth looking for an exit.

He spied a small hallway leading towards the restrooms and without a moment’s hesitation, both men bolted towards it, not caring they were bumping into people. The bald guy was hot in their trail as they dashed down th smoky hallway towards the storage rooms.

Josh’s breath was coming in quick harsh paints as he tried to keep up with the darker-haired American and soon he started coughing loudly.

(Fuck, tell me he’s not having an asthma attack right now!)

Sensing that his fear was correct, Pax halted and roughly pulled them both around a corner. Josh’s chest was heaving and he kept coughing into his hand. Paxton glanced around the corner and kept his eyes pealed for the bald man. The man skidded to a halt in the hallway a moment later and gazed up and down it confused.

Thankful for their moment of rest, Pax gently rubbed Josh’s shoulder and silently willed for his friend’s breathing to get under control. Naturally Josh didn’t have his inhaler on him so the best thing he could do was keep taking deep gulps of air to get his lungs under control. Fortunately, the loud music of bar was able to drown out his coughing. The man checked both ends of the hallway and eventually, he started down the path leading away from their hiding spot.

“Thank god.” Paxton sighed as a wave of relief washed over him. “You alright?”

“Think so...” Josh replied around a violent cough.

The blonde’s chest was still heaving dangerously and his voice was raspy but despite his shortness of breath, Josh slowly drew himself to his full height and signaled he was alright. Pax glanced around the corner again.

A short distance way was a black metal door marked exit and Pax took Josh’s hand once again. The blonde’s hands were trembling but they calmed once they felt Pax’s warmth. Pax checked around the corner again and saw the coast was clear.

He pulled on Josh’s hand and together they quietly walked towards the rear exit. The second Pax pushed on the door, a loud beeping sound filled the hallway.

(Shit. Should’ve guessed the door had an alarm.)

Over the ear-splitting sound of the fire alarm, Paxton could hear the sounds of heavy footsteps running towards them and soon the large bald man appeared at the end of the hallway. Pax groaned a long string of cursed and kicked the door open.

The back door opened to reveal another high-walled alleyway and both men sprinted down the brick pathway, a pair of heavy footsteps fallowing close behind them. The alley twisted and turned as they fallowed it’s path and soon sounds of cars and people reached Pax’s ears.

As they rounded the last corner another crowed street came into view and Paxton forced his legs to move faster. Josh’s hand was gripping his tightly as he fought to keep up with Pax’s pace. The bright sunlight radiating from the open street soon breached the alleyways shady corners as they neared it.

Then suddenly, Josh slid to a stop and Pax’s hand slipped from his grasp. The ground soon became smooth under his feet and just as he passed through the alley’s mouth and neared the street he heard Josh scream.

“Pax!”

He turned his head, his eyes roaming over Josh’s frightened face for a quick moment before something extremely hard and heavy slammed into his right side. His feet were pulled out from under him and the world spun around his eyes before he fell heavily against the cold, hard pavement.

A pained cry tore from his lips, sending small globs of blood from mouth against the ground as he tried to get his head straight enough to figure out what the hell just happened. A dark blue car was parked a few short feet away from him, the front of it’s hood was crushed in from what looked like a hard impact and smoke was rising from it’s dented frame. The driver fell out of it’s cabin a second later and started yelling frantically in German.

Pax’s vision was hazy and went dark a few times as he laid his head against the ground and moaned. His left arm stung painfully and he couldn’t even move his right. His head felt like it was just hit repeatedly by a hammer as did the rest of his battered body. A pair of trembling hands grabbed him a moment later and even through his battered state, he could easily tell they were Josh’s.

“Pax. Oh my god, please open your eyes! Pax.”

Josh’s voice started growing fainter and sounded like it was far away. He forced his eyes open and through his blurry vison, he could clearly see the burly frame of the bald-headed man standing in the mouth of the alleyway.

Panic started tearing at the inside of Pax’s chest and no matter how hard he tried, he wasn’t able to get his body to move. Oh god, he couldn’t run.

Fear started working it’s way up his spine and down his throat. He tried to get his head to turn but it was held against the pavement lightly by Josh’s hand. A groan emitted from his throat as he reached upwards and pushed Josh’s hands off of him.

“Josh g-go... run!”

Even though he wasn’t physically able to run away, Josh could at least. He pushed at his friend’s arms once again but to his dismay, they weren’t moving.

“Josh–goddammit, get out of here!” He yelled, his voice cracking from the blood working it’s way up his throat.

“He’s gone...” Came Josh’s frightened whisper.

Pax gently raised his head from the pavement and through the gaps in the crowd that had gathered around them, he could see the man slowly retreated into the alley’s darkness and out of sight.

(Thank god...)

Approaching footsteps sounded somewhere behind him and two men wearing white uniforms knelt down in Pax’s vison.

“Sind Sie in Ordnung? Können Sie mich hören?” One of the men yelled in German and then tried English when he didn’t received a reply. “Son, can you hear me?”

Paxton’s only response was a gurgled moan as he felt the world escape his grasp and turn black, sending him into a heavy, dark void.