DEAD: Darkness Before Dawn
Page 34
His thought must have been visible on his face, because Pennington’s grin faltered. He staggered back a few steps from Dakota, raising his hands to accent his defenselessness.
“Now see here, Detective!” Pennington was almost pleading. “Regardless of what you may believe, I would never shoot an officer of the law.” He straightened himself again, realizing the satisfaction Dakota derived from his groveling. “I have very good lawyers. They are more than capable of beating any charges that you can conjure up.”
Sirens began to wail in the distant background. Dakota decided to ignore the desire that gnawed at him. It would be more satisfying to put this man in an uncomfortable gray cell. Instead, he cuffed Pennington to a nearby pipe and rushed to his partner’s side.
“I’m here, buddy, just hang in there. Help is coming,” Dakota whispered.
Three squad cars arrived as well as an ambulance. Five uniformed officers, along with a pair of paramedics, rushed into the room where Derrick lay. Dakota rose to his feet, waving the paramedics over to him. He didn’t even notice the police officers as they ushered Pennington from the room.
The paramedics knelt beside Derrick and quickly went about the routine of attaching various monitoring devices, checking his vital signs. They hastily applied a dressing to the gunshot wound and made preparations to transport him to the ambulance.
“Hang in there, man.” Dakota grasped Derrick’s hand. He watched with a feeling of helplessness as the medics went about their tasks.
As they loaded Derrick onto the stretcher, Dakota looked into his best friend’s eyes; they were dull and lifeless. The sparkle of vigor that had shown in them only minutes ago was gone. The oxygen mask that covered his mouth and nose was splattered with flecks of blood mixed with saliva.
Dakota’s best friend and mentor no longer resembled the strong-willed, powerfully athletic man he had once known. He looked fragile and helpless. It was as if there was a total stranger lying on that stretcher.
As he followed the medics out of the office towards the ambulance, Dakota glanced at the man he held responsible. An officer was putting Marty Pennington into the back of a squad car. They locked eyes as Pennington looked out the window of the police car. For just an instant, Dakota thought he saw a look of consternation cross the man’s once impassive face.
A muffled voice grabbed his attention away from Pennington. It was Derrick. He was trying to talk, but the mask stifled whatever he was trying to say. Dakota leaned down next to his partner’s face to listen.
Derrick rasped something unintelligible, his voice labored to be heard through the oxygen mask.
“Don’t try to talk right now,” Dakota consoled. He glanced down as one of the paramedics cut away Derrick’s shirt. The blood soaked dressing was removed and replaced by a fresh one. Dakota noticed a small hole that welled with blood every time Derrick breathed.
“Just shut up and listen!” Derrick hissed.
“He really shouldn’t talk right now,” the paramedic cautioned.
“Promise me something,” Derrick ignored the warning, “promise that you’ll be there for Mona when the baby comes.”
“You’re gonna be okay.” Tears began to trickle down Dakota’s cheeks. “Just hang in there a little longer!”
“Not this time,” Derrick coughed. Blood splattered the inside of the oxygen mask. “It’s up to you now. You have to finish this one by yourself...no matter what!”
The paramedics hoisted Derrick into the waiting ambulance. Every movement evoked a response of pain from Derrick. Once they finished loading him, one of the paramedics climbed inside. Dakota climbed in as well. The other shut the door and hustled to the driver’s seat.
The driver put the ambulance into gear and flipped on the siren. As they rolled out onto the nearly deserted morning street, the driver radioed the hospital that they were on their way.
The short trip was a blur for Dakota. The attending paramedic worked furiously to save the injured detective. Within minutes, they were backing up to the emergency entrance. Doctors stood waiting at the doors for their arrival as they wheeled Derrick into a waiting trauma room. Dakota stared at the doors as they closed between him and his friend. He peered through a small window to watch the flurry of activity as doctors and nurses scrambled to save Derrick’s life.
Ten minutes passed before anyone emerged. A doctor pulled the mask from his sweat drenched face, his green scrubs smeared with blood, Derrick’s blood. He approached Dakota, his grim expression bearing the news before he could say it.
“I’m sorry,” the doctor shook his head, “we utilized everything in our power. All efforts at resuscitation failed. Your partner is dead.”
Those words echoed in Dakota’s head. He slumped to the floor in shock. Bringing his hands to his face, Dakota began to cry bitterly. His best friend had died, shot by an innocent man trying to protect a guilty one.
More Titles From May December Publications
The Ava Series by TW Brown
That Ghoul Ava: Her First Adventures
That Ghoul Ava and The Queen of the Zombies
That Ghoul Ava kicks some Faerie A**
The Dead Series by TW Brown
Dead:The Ugly Beginning book 1
Dead: Revelations book 2
Dead: Fortunes and Failures book 3
Dead: Winter book 4
Dead: Siege and Survival book 5
Dead: Confrontation book 6
Dead: Reborn book 7
The Fervor Series by Chantal Boudreau
Fervor book 1
Elevation book 2
Transcendence book 3
Providence book 4
The Highway to Hell Series by Alex Laybourne
Highway to Hell book 1
Trials and Tribulations book 2
The Immortal War Series by Suzi M
Nemesis book 1
Lamia book 2
The Tower book 3 coming soon
The Master’s & Renegades Series by Chantal Boudreau
Magic University book 1
Casualties of War book 2
Prisoner of Fate book 3
The Monster Squad Series by Heath Stallcup
Return of the Phoenix book 1
Full Moon Rising book 2
Coalition of the Damned book 3
The Zomblog Series by TW Brown
Zomblog book 1
Zomblog II book 2
Zomblog The Final Entry book 3
Zomblog: Snoe book 4
Zomblog: Snoe’s War book 5
Zomblog: Snoe’s Journey book 6
Special Editions by TW Brown
DEAD: The Geeks
DEAD: Vignettes
DEAD:Steve’s Story
DEAD: Special Edition Compendium 1
DEAD: The Geeks 2
DEAD: Vignettes 2
DEAD:Steve’s Story 2
DEAD: Special Edition Compendium 2
Zomblog: Compendium 1
Stand Alone Titles
Agape by Bennie Newsome
Cryptic by DA Chaney
Dakota by Todd Brown
Dead Men Tell No Tales by Jeffrey Kosh
Elena by Duncan Lloyd
Eat Wild, Eat Healthy, Eat Green by Donna Johnson
Five by Jeffrey Kosh
Goddesses of Lilith by Tracy Ford
Gruesomely Grimm Zombie Tales -1 by TW Brown
In The Arms of Nightmares by Robert Dean
Legacy of the Dead by RD Teun
Stories Around the Campfire with Uncle Eric by Eric Pollarine
The BoogeyMann by Bennie Newsome
The Book of Joseph by Erik Rise
The Exoterrestrials by TW Brown
The Post-Apacolyptic Cookbook by Donna Johnson
Whispers by Heath Stallcup
Whisper to a Scream by PS Turner
Anthologies
A Clockworks Orchard: Rivets & Rain
Chivalry is Dead – all male authors
Dear Santa
<
br /> Eye Witness: Zombie
First Time Dead
First Time Dead 2
First Time Dead 3
Four in the Hole
Fresh Blood
Hell Hath No Fury…all female authors
Midnight Movie: Creature Features
Midnight Movie: Creature Feature 2
Realms of the Undead
Say goodnight to the Bad Guy
Spiders
Vampires Aren’t Pretty
Wake the Witch - our charity anthology – 100% goes to Red Cross
Zero
Zombie: Lockdown
You can find our titles on Audio as well.
Find them on Audible.com
The growing voice in horror
and speculative fiction.
Find us at www.maydecemberpublications.com
Or
Email us at contact@maydecemberpublications.com
His blog can be found at:http://twbrown.blogspot.com
The best way to find everything he has out is to start at his Amazon Author Page:http://www.amazon.com/TW-Brown/e/B00363NQI6
You can follow him on twitter @maydecpub and on Facebook under Todd Brown, Author TW Brown, and also under May December Publications.
TW Brown is the author of the Zomblog series, his horror comedy romp, That Ghoul Ava, and, of course...the DEAD series. Safely tucked away in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, he moves away from his desk only at the urging of his Border Collie, Aoife. (Pronounced Eye-fa)
He plays a little guitar on the side...just for fun...and makes up any excuse to either go trail hiking or strolling along his favorite place...Cannon Beach. He answers all his emails sent to twbrown.maydecpub @gmail.com and tries to thank everybody personally when they take the time to leave a review of one of his works.