The Gift of Loot Chapter 29: Chapter 29: Only YOU Can Prevent Getting Trapped In a Bear Dungeon

Read chapter 29 of The Gift of Loot by Jack_Golightly on NovelPedia.

Thomas's adrenaline peaked, and for a moment it felt like he could see everything: the flash of guns, not only from the robbers pointing weapons toward him but further ahead. Three other robbers were lighting up the occupants of the first car. They killed them! They're going to kill me! A bullet pinged off the hood of his car, another shattered the windshield, and Thomas was punched in the chest. That was his first impression. It felt like someone had slammed him so hard in his chest that he was instantly winded. He involuntarily jerked the wheel, and the car skidded sideways across the road, though thankfully not parallel to the guy shooting at him. One tire hit the thin strip of dirt that made up the shoulder. More bullets struck all around him. No time to correct his car's angle. He'd have to pull forward, and he was being shot at. Thomas somehow clawed his seat belt off, grabbed his backpack, opened the passenger door, and ran. His hand had been covered in blood. Have I been shot? he thought frantically. Had that been the punch? He didn't know. In full flight mode, his mind felt completely disconnected. All he wanted to do was get away. "There he is!" he heard as he entered the trees. Thomas glanced back to see one of the robbers holding a handgun sideways at him. The man's eyes were a glowing neon blue. He was using a Gift. Thomas ducked behind a tree just as bullets ripped by. "That backpack is the fucking mother lode. Don't let him get away!" Thomas ran, or tried to. It felt like he couldn't get a full breath, and his entire chest burned. For a second, a comedy sketch flashed through his brain. Getting mugged? Throw a wad of cash to the side and run in the other direction. Easy peasy. It had been hilarious at the time, but the seconds it would take to pull his backpack to the front, dig in, and throw a bundle of crystals now seemed like a fatal amount of time. Plus, he wasn't sure he had the motor control to do any of it. His legs carried him forward, but his arms weren't swinging with the motion because... Because he had been shot . Thomas clamped down on his core. Healing energy flooded through him, and the next breath he took was a little easier; the one after that even better. He picked up pace, which was good because he could hear the crashing of people behind him. Thankfully, they'd stopped firing— Nope. A bullet struck a tree just to his right, exactly at head height. They're trying to kill me , Thomas thought, which was ridiculous because obviously , but a part of him was still incredulous. Less than three minutes before, he'd been just driving down the road, only keeping a lookout for drunks and maybe a deer in the middle of the road. There were definitely things he did not like about this new world. Thomas swerved and had to catch himself before he slid on a patch of pine needles. The movement jarred his chest muscles, and a flash of agony ripped through him. Yep. Something was not right there. Luckily, they'd hit his right side and not his left. That was probably why he was still going. Ruthlessly, Thomas demanded more from his healing core, and as he did, he felt a flicker from his healing sight. So, it didn't only work in dungeons. He concentrated and "saw" four men chasing after him, like hunting down a wounded deer. Christ, didn't they have anything better to do? Other people to rob? Other... evildoer stuff? Thomas's mind was starting to clear, and he spared a second to wonder if this had been a setup from the very beginning. Had one of the pawn shops tipped these guys off? No, they had the feel of a gang. Or maybe they were escaped prisoners, though he hadn't seen prison clothing. He had just been a random target until the guy with the freaky eyes yelled about his backpack. He probably had a Gift to identify valuable goods. Should he ditch his pack? No , Thomas thought. He had earned this loot. No one was going to take it away from him. Besides, unless they scored a headshot, he could heal. Or at le