by B D Grant
I’m still trying to breathe when I stumble over to Mick. I pull it together when I see Nikki on the ground. She’s pale, not breathing. Her jacket is open, exposing a blood-covered shirt. Then, Boston pronounces what I’m putting together, “She’s dead.” He takes his hand off her neck from checking her pulse. He lifts her shirt to show a bullet wound to her abdomen.
Mick begins weeping with her bloody hand in his. “She should’ve been at her emergency location, not out looking for me,” he cries.
The girl followed us around like a bad smell but I feel a flood of pain for her. I always thought of her as an annoyance. But she was brave and persistent when it came to Mick. She didn’t let things get in her way like other people would have when it came to getting what she wanted. I respected her for it.
I rest one of my hands on Mick’s back while still using the other to protect the area Boston kicked. “What was she telling you?” I ask.
Mick is shaking. I interpret it as him sobbing since I can’t see his face but when he speaks I realize he’s shaking from anger. The forced control is evident in his voice. “She kept saying the same thing, “Run, Mick.””
He closes Nikki’s eyes repeating what she told him. “She wouldn’t stop saying it.” He places her hand over her chest. He freezes a second when he hits something on her side. “What the…” He pulls her jacket farther back exposing a gun on her hip, tucked into her pants.
“Who in their right mind would give her a gun?” Boston asks as Mick takes it out of her waistband. “Here,” he says, handing it to me.
I hold the gun in my hand looking at it as if it contained acid that could seep onto my skin at any second. I know he’s giving it to me because I got the best marks our of all of us at our last shooting range competition but I really don’t want it. “We need to get out of here,” I tell them.
“I’m not leaving her,” Mick says, painfully.
He stands up and with Boston’s help, he picks Nikki up. He carries her body toward the field while I keep an eye out for anyone else coming over the hill.
Jessica’s face drops seeing Nikki’s limp body in Mick’s arms. “They’ve already gotten on campus?”
Accusingly, Mick asks her, “Who are they?”
Jessica’s immediately defensive. “How am I supposed to know?”
She watches as Mick lays Nikki’s body by the fence surrounding the field. “We should get to our locations. They’re going to need our help.”
I look around. I can’t see any faculty or students around. We’re the only ones not at our emergency locations from the looks of it. It's only the four of us now.
“Nikki’s dead, Jessica and I am not going to leave her!” Mick screams.
I block him from moving in her direction. “We all know you’re hurting right now, Mick. We are too,” I tell him, cautiously.
Jessica steps sheepishly back from his red-eyed glare. “I’m sorry, Mick,” she says, looking for Boston or me to come to her aid.
I don’t try to justify her lack of sympathy. Nikki didn’t have the gun in her hand; it wasn’t even visible. Why would anyone shoot her?
Boston stands silently beside Nikki.
Jessica looks at all of us regaining her resolve. “She’s probably not the only one hurt. The ones that are still alive need us and we’re not doing anything for her by staying out in the open where we could taken down.”
She’s right. “What are your location points?” I ask Mick and Boston.
“Stage three building with Jessica,” Boston says.
We look at Mick. “Mine changed shortly after Kelly got here. I’m assigned to be backup at the barn.”
I look around again. We haven’t seen anyone pass us going to the barn. The woods are the only way anyone going to the barn could get past us without being seen. I walk closer to Jessica. “We aren’t splitting up. We have better odds in a group.” I glance at Mick hoping he knows by odds I mean less likely to be shot when whoever killed Nikki finds us. He isn’t fazed by what we’re saying though and continues to stare at Nikki’s colorless face.
Jessica paces around with angst looking between the field and the hill finally saying, “I’m not staying out here—,” she falls silent as something catches her eye. She crouches down causing everyone to look in the direction she’s staring. “There was something, something moved just there,” she points to the left of the hill. She takes off running in the opposite direction down the fence line. “Come on!” she yells over her shoulder at us.
She’s running the wrong way if she’s looking to find shelter in the field. She doesn’t go around the corner when she makes it to the edge of the fence. She’s running for the wood line past the field. I look from the field next to us to the woods. It would be easier to hide among the trees than in the bleachers or trapping yourself in the small building connected to the field where our locker rooms are located. I look at the hill where Mick and Boston are still carefully watching. I bring the gun up, ready for whatever is on the other side.
Mick protests when he sees me with the gun raised, “No, it could be another student.” He blocks my aim at the hill. I step in front of him.
“If that’s the case I won’t shoot,” I tell him.
Boston is covering Nikki’s face with his jacket. “We need to get out of the open,” he tells us. Jessica’s already in the trees making exaggerated motions with her hands for us to follow her. I turn back to the hill to see someone emerging on it through the smoke farther to our left than what Jessica had showed us. The smoke drifting in from the other side of the hill makes it hard to tell if the guy is one of ours or not. What I can make out is a large weapon.
“He’s armed!” I say raising my gun at him.
Mick continues to protest, “No, that could be a student.” He pulls me back as theguy looks to be doing a sweep. With the smoke surrounding him he might not be able to see us like we can see him.
“They wouldn’t give a student a gun that big,” I say seeing the size of what he’s holding. He steps back some. The increase in distance turns the gun into a distorted blob “Come on!” Jessica yells. She’s running back to us from the woods.
Things slow down for minute. Jessica is running to us, I’m aiming the gun at the guy, the guy on the hill hears Jessica. He turns his gun in her direction. Someone, I think Mick, says my name when I take my shot. Jessica freezes, realizing I’m shooting at someone. Everything around me speeds back up. She skids to a stop like she’s sliding to home plate. She looks in the direction I fired, then takes off back to the woods. I didn’t shoot the guy. I don’t know if he’s the enemy or not. I couldn’t see him clearly so I shot the ground, inches from his foot.
“Run!” Mick yells.
“I’ll cover you,” I yell back. The guy doesn’t look to see who’s shooting at him; he dives over the hill yelling something of his own I can’t make out. I take off after Mick and Boston. I catch up with Mick quick but I feel like I’m being weighed down from the recent injury to my crotch. Boston really picked the worst time to do that. I’m going to get him back the first chance I get.
I’m waiting for gunshots to go off behind me. I keep looking back, but I don’t see anyone coming after us. We get to the woods where Jessica’s waiting for us. “Great shot, Kelly. You didn’t even graze him,” she says.
I’m too out of breath to deal with her. Thankfully, Mick quickly stands up for me. “He just saved YOUR life! The gunner was aiming at you. We couldn’t tell if he was one of our people or not.”
Jessica gets in my face as I’m still trying to catch my breath, “Next time you better shoot to kill anyone that’s pointing a gun at me or any of us,” she says, far more upset than happy that I just saved her life.
“What’s the plan?” Mick asks.
Boston answers first. “We could go to the barn like we planned.”
They begin discussing our options. I start thinking about Anne. She’s in the middle of it on campus. “I have to find Anne.” I look at the g
roup, ending on Mick. He nods knowing all to well of my concern.
“Okay, stage two’s don’t have too many—” Jessica begins but Mick cuts her off.
“She was watching stage one kids so she would’ve been at their building when the alarms went off.” Boston’s keeping an eye on the open land between the field and the campus while we talk. “Most stage one students have to go to the marsh for evacuation,” Mick says.
“Guys, look,” Boston says, pointing excitedly across the opening between us to the field. The wind has changed causing the smoke to shift with it.
I squint my eyes. “I can’t see anything.” There’s nothing there.
“The woods, across from us,” he clarifies.
Jessica steps closer to Boston grinning, “I can see them.”
“Are those students?” Mick asks.
“Oh, now you see something but when there’s a gun pointed at you it’s a different story,” I complain to the back of her head. She turns around as if she’s going to get in my face like earlier but I have another plan.
Boston squats down saying, “I think so. I count four kids; two might be close to our age, male. You think they know how easy it is to spot them?”
Jessica’s messed up this time. I push her into the nearest tree. Her back hitting the tree makes a ‘thud’. “You owe me a ‘thank you’,” I tell her. The guys might be ignoring us but Mick knows what’s going on behind him. I can feel him working on me, trying to soothe my anger.
“Should we follow them? They may know what’s going on,” he asks Boston.
I’m not really too mad at her, but I need to let out some steam. The only reason she was in danger was because she was coming back for us. I allow Mick to use his ability on me. With his help, the little anger I have subsides. No sooner is the anger gone that it’s replaced when Jessica tries to put me in a headlock once she’s regained her balance.
Boom! The ground shakes beneath us, a lot harder than last time. I instinctively drop to the ground. So does Jessica. We’re crawling over each other to look around Mick and Boston to see what happened.
A part of the fencing and a big section of the bleachers have collapsed on the field by the spot we left Nikki. I don’t see any movement nearby to know what or who did it. “Did ya’ll see who did that?” I ask the guys. They both shake their heads.
Mick looks over at me, “Some kind of explosive,”
“Duh,” Jessica says, going to stand by him.
He cuts his eyes at her as he finishes talking, “but no idea who detonated it.”
Smoke is pouring out of the debris. It’s blowing over the hill again creating an eerie sight. If that’s what happened on campus I don’t want to know how many were caught in the middle of it.
“I’ve made a decision,” I say stepping back, deeper into the woods. “We’re going to the marsh. If Anne was with the kids then she would go with them to the marsh.” I start running south, where the marsh meets the back of the wood line surrounding the school. I don’t wait around for the others to figure out what they want to do. I go.
I stay deep enough in the tree line that I won’t be seen like those kids running in the wood line across from us. I wonder if any of them got hurt. No, I need to focus on Anne. She’s my only concern. I hear the others running behind me without hesitation. In that moment I’m proud of my friends. They want to help just like I do and helping Anne and the other kids safely evacuate will be the best use of our time.
The thick underbrush filling the woods slows us down. We would be there in no time if we could run flat out and not have to fight the plant life that keeps grabbing my ankles.
Jessica’s making growling noises while she struggles with the underbrush. “Anyone have a spare machete? My legs are bleeding from Kelly walking us into every thorn bush there is.” I look at her legs. They’re covered in a mass of tiny cuts from the knees down.
“What did you think would happen running through the woods in shorts?” Mick asks her.
She huffs, “Oh, forgive me for dressing for the weather and not a mass attack on our school. If I wouldn’t have been talked into accompanying you guys I would be inside, at my location.” Her whining is starting to bug me.
Mick comes back with, “You wanted to tag along. We didn’t talk you into anything. All of us have pants and jackets on.”
That’s not exactly true now since Boston’s jacket is with Nikki. Jessica carefully avoids a large spider web on a low-lying limb. “If you had legs like mine, you’d show them off too.”
I’m beginning to think I should’ve let that guy on the hill take his shot. There’s silence for a couple minutes before she starts complaining again, loud enough for all of us to hear, “Stupid…Dag nab it!” but quiet enough as to not give our location away.
I’m getting more aggravated with her than at the plant life slowing us down. I finally stop walking, causing the line of stage threes behind me to also stop. I turn around looking at Jessica. “You can leave. We don’t need you if you’re going to get on our nerves the entire time. But, we all know you won’t leave, so just shut up.”
She glares at me in return. She doesn’t challenge me, just glares. Maybe Mick’s helping to keep the peace because we don’t charge at each other even though that’s clearly what we want to do. She doesn’t break eye contact with me as she leans down, wiping fresh blood from her legs. She pulls her socks up as high as they’ll go. I look away at first when I catch a glimpse of her arms as she’s pulling up her sock. Her forearms have small cuts scattered over them too. Boston would have no doubt already offered her his jacket if he still had it. I take my thin jacket off and surprise everyone when I offer it to her. I think she would be more receptive to me trying to punch her judging by the time it takes for her to accept the jacket from me.
“Thanks,” she mumbles, rolling the jacket sleeves up once she’s put it on to keep them from interfering with her hands.
“Stop being annoying and I won’t take it back.”
“Be quiet you two, listen,” Boston whispers at us from his position at the back of the line. He and Mick haven’t said a word since we’re stopped. Now they’re squatting down like they’re expecting someone. Jessica and I instantly do the same.
It sounds like kids are in the woods with us, due to the lack of silence on their part and the occasional giggling. Someone chastises them causing the noise level to drop. They must be moving fast because they are quickly moving out of hearing range. I stand up whispering, “The woods must widen right here for us not to have seen them.”
“They’ve got to be on some kind of a trail too since they’re going so fast,” Boston adds.
Mick throws his hands in the air saying sarcastically, “Of course there’s a trail. How else would they be able to move that many kids through dense woods to the marsh?” He looks behind him to Boston. “Did Mr. Know-It-All not know something about our school for once?”
“Do you think I would go through this on purpose?” He asks, showing Mick his cut up arms. “The only time I’ve gone to the marsh since leaving stage one was years ago and I came from the other side of campus.” He points out to the opposing wood line to his right.
“Calm down guys,” Jessica says, kind of smiling, probably because normally it’s us Dyna that they’re trying to keep calm, not the other way around. “We’ll get to the trail and follow it the marsh.” She turns, walking deeper into the woods. This time I follow her. Mick and Boston head up the rear.
It’s empty when we get to the trail. Maybe they’ve already gotten all the kids to the marsh. Nonetheless, any sound has me paranoid that we may not be alone in the woods. Someone else is in the same mindset, “Do you think they’re only attacking from the North side?” Mick asks.
“Sshh,” Jessica tells him.
I whisper, “If they are than they would have split up once they got on the campus to cover more buildings.”
The trail ends as the underbrush clears up some. We spread out and are finally a
ble to run, weaving through the tall trees to the marsh. Guns shots coming from an automatic weapon go off in the direction we’re headed to. We all slow to a stop. I’m at the head of the group once again as we crouch down.
“It’s the woods,” Boston tells us, “It can make you think you hear something from one direction when it’s really coming from another.”
None of us believe what he’s saying. We all know, even Boston, that the shooting is coming from around where the stage one’s evacuation site is.
My gun is still out and ready when Mick breaks the silence. “Nikki’s sister is a stage one.” He runs up behind me. I’m not expecting it when he grabs the gun from me and then takes off toward the evac site.
I can’t believe it. He just took the only gun we had. Boston, Jessica, and I look around at each other each of us in shock.
“We aren’t going back now,” Boston says. More gunshots ring out followed by shrieking. All three of us take off after Mick. I run faster than Jessica and Boston, pushing ahead, but I don’t reach Mick. Ahead of me, I can make out someone too short to be Mick running toward me. I don’t see any weapons but I ready myself none the less positioning myself at an angle so I that I’m no longer such a big target. I do with as little movement as possible not wanting to draw attention to myself since he may not be alone. He stops dead in his tracks as soon as I move. He looks in my direction then behind him.
“Please, I didn’t see anything, I swear,” he says, panting hard.
I really need to accept that a guy my size doesn’t blend in to surroundings. Boston and Jessica catch up to me. “I’m on your side, I promise!” he says, watching me. He looks to his left and right for a way out. I lower the gun and then slide it in my back waistband. His face relaxes a little looking around at Jessica and Boston. He side steps closer to Boston’s side where I’m thinking he’s determined is his best chance to get away. I run at him before he can take another step. His face turns into that of terror just before I throw him to the ground.
“What are you doing? He’s a student,” Boston says, trying to separate me from the boy.
