“I said get in the school. NOW!”
His face was angry but Alex could also see a flicker of fear pass through his eyes before they went wide in shock. Lisa had stood up when he passed her. She came up beside him and stuck the barrel of her gun into his armpit when he raised his arm to point at the school. She didn’t even hesitate when she pulled the trigger. The guard staggered sideways and flopped to the ground. They all heard the shot, but it wasn’t as loud as it should have been because the barrel had been pressed against his body.
Alex and Emily looked towards the school with panic, afraid the guards there would be running towards them but they were surrounded by all the women and kids they were trying to herd into the school and not one of them turned in their direction. Alex let out a breath of relief and turned back to her group.
“We’re good. They didn’t hear it. Throw your garbage bags on top of him and let’s go!”
The woman and girl were staring with big eyes at Lisa in shock. Emily had to shake the woman’s arm to get her to refocus.
“Hey, snap out of it!” When her eyes came to rest on Emily, she explained, “The men at the farms are free. That’s them doing the shooting out there. We need to know how many guards are here at the school.”
“They’re free? My husband and son? They were at…”
Emily cut her off. “Lady, we need to move! How many guards?”
It was the young girl that answered her. “There were six when we started work this morning.” She shot a glance at Lisa. “There’s five now, I guess. I don’t know where the rest are.”
Emily nodded and sent the girl a quick smile. “Good, okay, we need to move. You two head to the back of the park to the fence. There’s a spot that has been cut. Go through it and find a house to hide in. Don’t come out until the shooting stops for at least an hour. GO!”
The girl flashed a fast look back at the school before yanking on the woman's arm and pulling her away, deeper into the field. Alex, Emily, Dara and Lisa, who had hidden her gun again moved quickly towards the school. They saw the last group of captives disappear through the door and only one guard left standing outside. He turned from the door and scanned the yard before catching sight of the four of them. His face was filled with a scowl and he used his shotgun to motion them forward before scanning the field behind them for anyone else.
There was only the five of them left outside the building that Dara could see, and the door to the school was closed. She barely whispered “I’ve got this one” to the others. As Alex and Emily passed the guard, Dara who was next in line, pretended to stumble and just like Lisa had, brought the gun she had hidden behind her back around and pressed it hard against the guard’s chest before firing. It would have worked perfectly except that he had his finger on the trigger of the shotgun that he was pointing in the air and he spasmed and pulled the trigger. The sound of the shot was huge and the girls looked in horror at each other as the guard lay dead at their feet.
Alex broke first and grabbed Dara, “Doesn’t matter! There’s four left. Hide your gun, Dara. We go through the door looking scared and panicked. Cry if you can!” She turned to Emily who had her hand on the door and nodded.
Emily pulled the door open and they all put on scared expressions. They ran inside and had only gone five feet before another guard rounded a corner and aimed a rifle at them. All the girls dropped to the floor and held their hands up. Their terrified expressions made the guard discount them as threats and he re-aimed this rifle at the door they’d just come through while yelling at them.
“What happened? Where’s Johnny? I heard his shotgun go off!”
Alex took the lead and said in a pitiful voice,
“I don’t know! He was holding the door open for us and he shot at something in the field. We just dove in and the door slammed behind us.”
She put enough whine in her voice that the guard shoved her out of the way in disgust and headed to the outside door. Alex spun away on her knees and took a quick look down the hall for more guards. When she saw it was empty she spun back around and pulled her gun from under her sweater. She steadied her breathing and lined up her shot. The bullet went straight to its mark through the guards back and destroyed his heart, killing him instantly.
As soon as he fell, Dara, Emily, and Lisa were on their feet and pulling Alex up. She stuffed her gun back into her waistband and they pelted down the hallway. When they got to the corner they slid to a stop and peeked around it both ways. There was no one in sight but they could hear people crying and making noise to the left.
They pulled back from the corner and Emily looked at the others.
“They’re in the gym.”
Dara nodded. “Makes sense. There’s no windows in there so it’s a good place to lock them down in. Three guards left if no one else came. What do we do now?”
Lisa shrugged. “We go to the gym.”
Alex shook her head. “They’re going to notice us just strolling in through the main doors. Not only that, our moms are in there. As soon as they see us, they’ll give us away. They won’t be able to help it. They think we’re in California!”
“Okay, so we don’t go in through those doors. We use the girl’s locker room to go through to the gym. The door from there leads to the small hallway where the equipment room is. We stay low and just slip around the corner and into the crowd. It sounds pretty noisy in there so if anyone we know spots us, we just try and shut them up fast.”
The girls looked at each other in consideration before Alex finally shrugged.
“Okay, I got nothing else so let’s go for it. Flying by the seat of our pants seems to be working so far!”
Dara snorted, “Yeah, as long as we don’t get shot in those pants in the next few minutes!” Her face turned thoughtful. “The last three guards aren’t all going to be in the gym. They’ll have at least one or two guys at the front of the school keeping watch. Should we split up?”
Lisa started nodding.
“I should go in the gym. We know my mother isn’t in there to give me away,” she said with a trace of bitterness.
Emily gave Lisa’s arm a pat. “I’ll go, too. Dara, your Mom and brother are both in there so you have a bigger chance of being recognized. Alex, out of all of us, you’re the best shot so if you can take them out from a distance, do it. Lisa and I should be able to get close to whoever is in the gym with all those people as cover.”
They were all in agreement, so after quick hugs they split up. Emily and Lisa went left towards the girl’s locker room door and Dara and Alex went right, farther into the school as they made their way towards the front entrance. Alex found it surreal to walk through the halls of her high school with a loaded gun hidden under her shirt. It made her so mad that buildings like this that were supposed to shelter and care for students had been turned into a prison. She only hoped that one day it would go back to what it was intended for.
Cursing from the front of the building had the girls slowing down and moving even more cautiously. They heard a deep hard voice bark out an order.
“God damn it, I can’t see anything from here! Go check the south side and see if you can find where that shooting’s coming from!”
A second voice chimed in, “You got it, boss! Do you think it has anything to do with the guys not coming in with the workers this morning?”
The first voice was harsh and aggravated when it replied.
“What do you think, dumbass! Of course it does! If there’s shooting in town that probably means the farms and roadblocks aren’t under our control anymore! We need to keep those women and kids locked down to use as hostages. After you look on the south side, go check on Johnny and the other guys and make sure they have everyone in the gym.”
Alex pointed down the hall to the south to Dara and the girl nodded and took off as quietly as she could. They now knew where the last two guards were and Dara could surprise the one leaving the front of the school. Alex flattened herself inside a doorway to a c
lassroom as seconds later one of the guards came down the hall and walked towards where Dara had just run to. Once he was past and had turned a corner she sneaked out and quietly moved towards the front entrance where they heard the two guards talking. She was halfway there when she heard hard footsteps heading in her direction. She swore at herself for not having her gun out and ready as she threw herself into another doorway and crouched down with her head tucked down. There was no way the guy wouldn’t see her so she went with the scared victim routine and hoped she would get a chance to surprise him. Alex knew the only reason any of this had worked so far was because these jerks underestimated a bunch of teenage girls and saw them only as hostages. She also knew that their luck couldn’t last forever and prayed that it wouldn’t run out in the next few minutes.
“What the hell! What are you doing out here? GET UP!” were the words yelled at her, followed by a big boot kicking her in the leg.
Tears of pain welled up in her eyes from the kick and they helped with her cover story when she whimpered, “Please don’t hurt me! I didn’t know what to do!”
Alex looked up at a very tall man with a shaved head and the coldest grey eyes she had ever seen. His face was blank with indifference as he stared at her and she felt her skin crawl. There was nothing human in his look.
“Get up and get to the gym.”
He reached down and hauled her up and off her feet with one hand and Alex was shaken by his strength. He started to turn away from her with his big hand still clutching her arm when the sound of two gunshots rang out from the back of the school. They were closely followed by another shot from down the hallway where Dara and the other guard had gone.
Boss’s face was still indifferent when he turned back and dragged Alex towards the front entrance. He spoke calmly and almost to himself.
“Change of plans. Looks like the party’s over in this town.” He gave her arm a brutal yank as she tried to slow him down and sent her a dark look.
“Move it, girl! You’re my ticket out of here.”
When they got to the front doors of the school, he pulled Alex in front of him and wrapped one of his big arms around her upper chest to use her as a shield. He scanned the parking lot and road for movement before pushing the door open and stepping out with Alex in front of him. They made it down the big front steps and into the parking lot before men started popping up from behind cars and in between houses across the street. They were all pointing guns at them.
Alex could barely breathe from how tight the man was holding her and she pawed at her sweater to reach the gun she had in her waistband. The Boss had a shotgun in his free hand but all he could do was point it at the men standing in front of him because of the way he was holding Alex. When he bellowed at them to back off, she finally caught the hem of her shirt and got it raised enough to get a grip on the handle of the gun and out of her pants. That’s when time seemed to slow down.
Just as Alex pulled her gun and pointed it down and back at Boss’s leg, Cooper broke from behind a parked car and ran towards them, yelling her name. He had his assault rifle up and was looking for a shot when she pulled the trigger. Her bullet hit Boss in the knee and the arm around her throat let go and flew wide. Alex dropped to the ground and rolled away from the raging man who brought up his shotgun and fired. At the same time he fired, almost every man facing him pulled their triggers and Boss was hit by at least eight bullets, killing him where he stood.
Alex didn’t see him die. Her eyes were glued to the sweet boy with the bad reputation who had just been shot in the chest. Their eyes held each other and she saw love and regret and pain in his before he crumpled to the ground.
Chapter Sixteen
Time sped up. Alex launched herself to her feet and sprinted towards Cooper’s fallen body. She fell to her knees and was stripping her sweater off in seconds. Her chest was heaving with sobs and she was chanting the word "No" over and over again as she balled up the sweater and pushed it hard against his chest. Alex fought the person who pulled her away but went limp when she saw Dr. Mack take her place. He had a duffle bag that he was pulling supplies from and his hands were a blur as he fought to keep the precious blood from leaving the boy's body and save Cooper’s life. She was being held from behind, much like Boss had held her as a shield but there was no threat in the hold, only comfort. She realised that it was Josh holding her when she heard him curse under his breath.
Alex tore her eyes away from Cooper and the doctor when she heard her name being called frantically. Her gaze swept past Quinn and David and she saw her father limping towards them with a panic-filled face. When he spotted her, his face changed to one of relief. Before he could come any closer the front doors of the school were thrown open and a huge flood of women and children came pouring out. Alex saw families come together with tears and laughter. She knew she should be happy about the town being free but found herself looking away and back down to Cooper. Dr. Mack had covered his chest in gauze pads and was wrapping it in place. He leaned back and looked around the crowd.
“I need to get this boy to my office! I need a stretcher!” he yelled out to be heard over the noise of the happy crowd.
“MEDIC! We need a medic here!” rang out and had everyone turning to find the source of the voice.
Josh’s arm dropped away from Alex and the curse he let out was full of bitterness.
“Son of a bitch!”
He stalked to the soldier that had called for a medic and started screaming in his face.
“WHERE WERE YOU? Why weren’t you here before? Cooper…my friend…where were you!”
More soldiers were walking up behind the first one and military trucks were turning onto the street a few blocks away. One of the soldiers raised his weapon and pointed it at Josh, barking for him to step back but the one who had called for a medic raised his hand to stop them. The soldier didn’t know what had happened here, but he could see the anguish on this young man’s face. It was a look he had seen again and again as their relief convoy had moved through town after town since the pulse had knocked the power out. He put his hand on Josh’s shoulder and squeezed it in comfort.
“I’m sorry. We tried to come as soon as we could. We have surgeons who can try and help your friend.”
The anger drained from Josh’s face and he started to cry. He was shaking his head as he turned and walked back to his friends with tears pouring down his face. Alex opened her arms to him as he mumbled,
“It’s too late. You’re too late.”
Alex knew he wasn’t just talking about Cooper. He was talking about what they’d been forced to do to free their town. It was something that they would have to carry with them forever.
Dara, Emily, and Lisa made their way through the crowd and joined them. There was nothing any of the teens could do as soldiers ran up with a stretcher and carried Cooper away with Dr. Mack hot on their heels. Alex watched them go and shook her head at the irony of the Canadian Army showing up after a bunch of kids had done most the fighting. She just prayed that their presence meant that Cooper would be okay and their town could get back to some semblance of normal.
A small body came barreling through the crowd and threw itself at Dara. Her little brother Jake almost took her off her feet as he wrapped his skinny little arms around her. The look of love and relief that crossed Dara’s face was heartwarming and she just closed her eyes and raised her face to the sun. Josh had gotten control of his emotions and joined the pair. Jake beamed a smile his way.
“Josh! Your mom and sister are so cool! They’ve been taking care of me!” He turned back to Dara and his smile dimmed. “I don’t know where mom is. She never came to stay with us and the bad guys.”
Dara cupped her worried little brother’s face.
“Don’t worry about that right now. We’ll find out where she’s later.”
She shot a look over his head at Josh and he nodded and turned to scan the people around them. He didn’t have to look very far to see his dad, mom, and
sister, Sofia, in a group hug. His trademark grin flashed across his face for a split second before he teared up again and joined them for his own family reunion.
Quinn was surrounded by his grandparents, and Anna Dennison kept reaching out to touch him, running her hand through his hair and then grasping his hands.
Alex saw Emily with her parents and she had Lisa with her. She smiled when she saw Emily’s mom pull Lisa into a loving hug. She searched the crowd for her own family and found her mother sobbing into her dad’s chest. Alex threaded her way past David and his mom and little sister who were crying and smiling and holding each other in a tight little huddle. Alex’s dad saw her coming over her mom’s head and the love on his face helped to fill some of the emptiness she was feeling inside after seeing Cooper shot. When he turned Alice Andrews around so she would see her daughter, her breath caught on a gasp and she lunged at Alex.
“My baby girl! My brave, beautiful girl! You’re here, you’re safe. Oh, Alex…I was so scared I had lost you!” she said in a voice choked with emotion as she held her tight.
When her dad wrapped his arms around both of them, Alex closed her eyes and let the weight of the last six weeks go. For that moment, she let herself be a little girl safe in her parents’ arms again.
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
Two days had passed as the town and its people tried to put the pieces back together. Families were reunited and loved ones lost were mourned. There were meetings held and new leaders were nominated as they tried to put together a plan to survive in this new, powerless world. The soldiers gave them news of what was happening in other places. There were many decimated cities and towns and a lot of people had died but they also brought news of communities coming together trying to rebuild. In Alberta, the pulse had stopped a hundred kilometres north of Edmonton. The small population to the north had taken in refugees and was working around the clock to send working parts south. It would take decades to fix and replace all that had been lost to the pulse and the world would never be the same.
STRANDED: Box Set: Books 1-6 Page 59
