To get caught up, you can read:
Max heard the back window on his side shatter and could, somehow in the back of his mind, register the impact of pellets on the body of the cruiser. He felt no pain and that was all the confirmation he needed that the round had missed. As Eddie TROMPED on the gas, trying to power the cruiser out of the shotgun’s line of fire, the gun roared again and the pellet impacts could again be heard on the cruiser’s body… but farther away this time; farther back toward the trunk.
As Max started to sit up enough to look out his window and see whatever he could, he was SLAMMED forward against the seat belt and then PUNCHED back by the air bag. Thankfully he wasn’t wearing sunglasses and he wasn’t so close that the airbag could do any seriously injuring harm, but it hurt just the same… a lot.
There was too much happening too fast. A guy in the road with a gun… shots fired… a sharp turn… acceleration… impact… seat belt grab… air bag deployment… Max felt overwhelmed for a few seconds. The voice in the back of his head – the one he’d learned to listen carefully to during his deployments with the Marines – was screaming at him that there was an imminent threat and he need to do SOMETHING RIGHT NOW. His thinking was fuzzy and his eyes were blurry though, and SOMETHING for now was trying to see clearly while he reached for the seatbelt release.
He heard a moan from Eddie’s side of the cruiser but couldn’t look to see what might be wrong right that moment. He NEEDED to see where the gunman was. Why hadn’t any more rounds been fired? Was he getting closer? Was he close enough to see his misses and taking more careful aim so he could fire more effectively? Max’s heartbeat was racing faster than it had in a long time and his mind was racing almost as fast. His thoughts weren’t clear enough to focus his actions beyond being able to see and getting out of the seatbelt. WHY WOULDN’T IT RELEASE? For a few panicked seconds he fought with the seatbelt and then he realized that he was straining against it with the weight of his upper body WHILE he was trying to push the release button. Can’t do both at the same time, he reminded himself, but he hated the idea of sitting back fully as he might be exposing himself further to the gunman.
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All of Season 1 of The Oceanside Chronicles, including officer survival notes and an alphabetical list of characters can be purchased as an anthology on Amazon.com via Amazon Prime.
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