"Laurie, get sowhere safe—now!"
Luke spun and shouted while his body moved on instinct, shoving the still-stunned girl toward the corner.
"Clarice, protect the two of them. I'm going out to check."
He racked the shotgun, stayed low, and carefully peered outside.
Bang!
A bullet slamd into the doorfra, sending splinters flying.
"Fucking convict! Didn't think you had backup. Get your asses out here!"
A young, way-too-excited voice scread from outside.
More of these money-hungry lunatics.
Luke's temper snapped. He raised the shotgun and fired blind into the street.
"NMD, I'm a cop! Drop the gun right now and I won't arrest you!"
"Shit, it's the police—run!"
Panicked footsteps echoed.
Luke stepped out and saw two guys in baseball jerseys trying to bolt.
He didn't hesitate—fired another round right at their feet.
Boom!
Shotgun pellets exploded in the dirt inches from their toes, sparks flying.
Both kids dropped to the ground, hands over their heads, frozen in terror.
Only then did Luke walk over and cuff them together.
He glared down at them while snapping the restraints.
"You idiots fire first and ask questions later? Do you even know what the penalty is for shooting at a cop?"
One of the guys went white as a sheet and stamred.
"Officer, it's a misunderstanding! I saw that wanted guy run into the old house and thought you were with him!"
Luke's instincts lit up.
Normal people didn't run into an abandoned house unless they were desperate.
He pressed hard.
"Where is he now? What did he look like?"
The kid answered fast, voice shaking.
"Tall, sir. Really tall. Blue coveralls, covered in blood… and he was wearing a white mask! Like one of those blank mannequin faces with no expression!"
He shuddered like he'd seen a ghost.
"I swear I hit him—more than once! But he just kept running like it was nothing."
It was him. Michael Myers.
Luke marched the two trembling amateurs over to the patrol car, already making decisions.
"Sir, we didn't an it! We gave you a solid lead—can't you cut us so slack?"
"Save it for court."
Luke's voice was ice. He ignored their begging.
He waved Laurie and her father over and spoke to the dad.
"Sir, take these two idiots back to the station. You and Laurie stay there. Don't leave until you hear from ."
Myers had been spotted. No more civilians on the battlefield.
Laurie's father understood imdiately. He started the car and peeled out without another word.
Clarice stepped up beside Luke, pistol ready, eyes scanning every shadow.
"Luke… was that him?"
"Yeah."
They locked eyes and took off in the direction the kids had pointed.
Myers had taken several hits but left zero blood trail.
They found almost nothing to follow.
Just when Luke thought they'd lost him, another gunshot cracked nearby, followed by angry shouting.
"Soone else spotted Myers—hurry!"
They sprinted toward the noise.
When they rounded the corner both of them froze.
A huge figure in blue coveralls lay motionless on the ground.
Two separate groups of ard civilians stood over the body, screaming at each other about who got the kill and the hundred-grand reward.
"I dropped him! You all saw it—my shot went right through his chest!"
A burly guy in a leather jacket was spitting with rage.
"Bullshit! I hit his leg first and that's what brought him down!"
A skinny tall guy fired back just as loud.
Luke stared at the ridiculous scene, montarily speechless.
Then the two groups noticed the approaching cops and sward them.
"Perfect—cops are here. Let them settle this."
"Officer, you gotta back up. That convict was mine. These assholes are trying to steal the bounty."
Everyone started yelling at once.
Luke never took his eyes off the body.
Suddenly one of the corpse's fingers twitched.
"Everybody back—he's not dead!"
Luke roared the warning.
"What?"
The crowd went still for half a second.
In that exact mont the "corpse" exploded upward.
He grabbed the nearest leather-jacket guy, driving a kitchen knife deep into his stomach.
The big man's eyes lit up with pure ecstasy instead of fear.
He didn't even try to dodge.
"Haha! You're still alive! Perfect—this hundred grand is mine!"
He yanked a pistol free and unloaded it point-blank into Myers' chest while the blade was still buried in his own gut.
Bang bang bang!
Myers took every round, the impacts driving him backward step by step.
He used the dying man as a human shield and dragged him toward the narrow alley.
Everyone else froze, afraid to shoot and hit the hostage.
Myers vanished around the corner.
Once out of sight he dumped the useless shield.
The big guy lay in a spreading pool of blood, guts spilling out, but he was still whispering with a crazy smile.
"He's mine… my student loans are finally paid off…"
The sight didn't scare anyone away.
It only lit a fire under the rest of the bounty hunters.
"MD, this thing won't die! Everyone on him—I don't care if it takes a hundred bullets, we're splitting the money!"
"Deal. Even split."
They charged into the alley as one.
Only one guy stayed behind—probably the dead man's friend—trying to stop the bleeding.
Luke checked that the big guy wasn't dying imdiately, then he and Clarice took off after Myers.
Clarice was still reeling from what she'd just seen.
"First ti I've ever watched regular civilians hunt a serial killer. This is completely backwards."
Luke shook his head, face grim.
"Save the comntary. We need to catch up before these idiots get themselves killed."
Exactly as Luke expected.
Out in the open the numbers gave the bounty hunters the advantage.
But once Myers pulled them into the tight, twisting alleys, the terrain flipped in his favor.
All along the route Luke and Clarice passed more wounded civilians—arms and legs hacked off, screaming on the ground.
Myers was clearing his pursuers fast.
Luke shouted over his shoulder.
"Faster! Don't let him get away!"
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