U.S. part 1
Alan stepped back slowly, but not too far.
His eyes stayed on Rae, sharp and watchful, while she tightened her grip on the gun.
Her shoulders squared.
Her breathing steadied.
Her jaw clenched with determination.
“I got it,” Rae said, licking her lips nervously. “Lemme try without you.”
Alan gave a small smirk, but there was pride behind it.
“Aight then. Show me what you learned.”
Rae lifted the gun again, both hands firm this time, elbows slightly bent the way he had shown her. She lined up the target, focusing hard like the rest of the world disappeared.
Pop.
The shot rang out through the abandoned lot.
The recoil jerked her arms back, but she held on.
Alan’s brows lifted.
“Well damn.”
Rae looked over at him. “What?”
He nodded toward the target.
“Look.”
She squinted.
Not a bullseye—but close enough to make her eyes widen.
“I hit it?”
Alan chuckled low. “You hit the damn chest. That’s what matters.”
A grin spread across Rae’s face before she could stop it.
“I told you I had it.”
Alan stepped closer behind her again, his voice dropping near her ear.
“Don’t get cocky.”
The warmth of his body brushing her back made Rae’s stomach flip, but she kept her face straight.
“I ain’t cocky,” she muttered.
Alan’s hands slid over hers again, adjusting her wrist just slightly.
“You leaning too hard on your right side. In real life, one bad angle get your ass killed.”
That made her expression shift.
The playfulness faded.
Because with Alan, lessons always came wrapped in truth.
Dangerous truth.
Rae looked ahead at the target, but her voice came quieter.
“You really think it’ll come to that?”
Alan went silent behind her.
For a moment, the only sound was distant traffic and the hum of summer air rolling through the empty industrial block.
Then he said, low and serious—
“I know it will.”
Rae slowly lowered the gun.
She turned to face him.
Alan’s face was unreadable, but his eyes… his eyes looked heavier than usual. Like he was carrying something he wasn’t saying.
“What you not telling me?” she asked.
“Rae—”
“No.” She shook her head. “Don’t do that. Don’t start acting all mysterious. You been on edge for days. You barely sleeping. You keep checking your phone. And now you out here teaching me how to shoot like war about to start.”
Alan looked away.
That alone made her chest tighten.
Because Alan never looked away.
“Alan.”
He exhaled hard, rubbing a hand over his mouth.
“Somebody been asking about you.”
Rae’s whole body stiffened.
“…What?”
His eyes snapped back to hers.
“At first, I thought it was random. Just street noise. But then one of my people told me the same black truck been circling your block all week.”
Rae’s fingers tightened around the gun.
“Who?”
Alan’s jaw flexed.
“I don’t know yet.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not lying.”
“Then why you look like that?”
Alan stepped in, taking the gun gently from her hand and clicking the safety on.
“Because whoever it is… they know your name.”
Rae’s face lost color.
A beat of silence.
Then—
A phone buzzed in Alan’s pocket.
He pulled it out, glanced at the screen, and his expression changed instantly.
Cold. Alert. Deadly.
Rae noticed.
“What happened?”
Alan didn’t answer right away.
Instead, he looked past her shoulder toward the far end of the lot.
Rae turned slowly.
A black sedan.
Tinted windows.
Parked at the mouth of the alley.
Engine running.
Watching.
Her heartbeat spiked.
“Alan…”
He moved fast, grabbing her arm and pulling her behind the concrete barrier.
“Stay low.”
Her breath hitched. “Who the fuck is that?!”
Alan reached behind his back and pulled his gun.
“They found us quicker than I thought.”
Rae’s pulse roared in her ears.
“How many?”
“Don’t know yet.”
The black sedan door opened.
Then another.
Two men stepped out.
Then a third.
All black clothes.
All armed.
Rae’s stomach dropped.
“Oh my God…”
Alan looked at her, voice low and controlled.
“Listen to me carefully.”
Her eyes were wide.
“If I tell you run—”
“No.”
“Rae—”
“I’m not leaving you!”
His stare hardened.
“This ain’t a movie. If I say run, you fucking run.”
The men started advancing.
Slow.
Confident.
Like they already knew how this ended.
Alan pressed the extra clip into Rae’s shaking hand.
“Can you load it?”
She swallowed.
“…Yeah.”
“You sure?”
She nodded, terrified but trying not to show it.
Alan gave her one long look.
Then, unexpectedly, he cupped her face with his free hand.
“If something happen to me—”
“Don’t,” Rae whispered, eyes watering.
“Listen.”
“No.”
“Rae.”
His voice cracked just enough to scare her more than the guns did.
“I should’ve told you sooner.”
Her lips parted.
“Told me what?”
The first shot exploded through the lot.
Concrete chipped inches from them.
Rae screamed and ducked.
Alan immediately returned fire—
BANG. BANG. BANG.
One of the men dropped.
The other two scattered behind parked cars.
Alan grabbed Rae and shoved her lower.
“Stay down!”
Her breathing came fast, panicked, hands fumbling with the clip.
Another round tore through the windshield of an abandoned van beside them.
Glass rained everywhere.
“Alan!”
“I got you!”
He fired again.
One of the men cried out.
But then—
A fourth figure stepped from behind the sedan.
Not a man.
A woman.
Tall. Slim. Long dark hair blowing in the wind.
She wore heels like she wasn’t standing in the middle of a shootout.
Rae squinted through the chaos.
The woman smiled.
Slow.
Cruel.
And lifted a gun of her own.
Alan saw her and went completely still.
His face changed in a way Rae had never seen.
Not fear.
Not exactly.
Recognition.
“No…” he muttered.
Rae looked at him.
“You know her?”
The woman called out over the gunfire, voice smooth as poison.
“Damn, Alan. You really thought you could hide my sister from me forever?”
Rae’s blood ran cold.
Her eyes snapped from the woman… to Alan.
Then back again.
“…What?”
Alan’s silence said too much.
Too damn much.
Rae stared at him in horror.
“Your… what?!”
The woman smiled wider and pointed the gun directly at Rae.
“Surprise, baby girl.”
Rae’s voice shook.
“Alan…”
He looked at her, guilt written all over his face.
And in that moment—
Rae realized the truth.
He hadn’t just been teaching her to shoot because the streets were active.
He’d been teaching her because his past was here.
And it had finally come to collect.
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