Chapter Forty-five
Protect Melissa And The Children
7:25 P.M...
White smoke rose, engulfing the subway cars and the surrounding area, and all the windows were closed, and the front car's platform facing doors were the only ones open. Smoke floated in, filling the front half of the empty car as Melissa huddled with the children in the last car. Johnson squatted beside them and peered out a platform facing window. Silence hovered over them like fog in a graveyard, and it was eerily foreboding and concealed many horrors. The connecting door slid open with a squeal, and Kim entered hastily and shut the door. Johnson aimed his weapon at her, making sure she wasn't one of the Closers and quickly looked back out the window. He couldn't see past the wall of white and that made him on edge.
"This is the same tactic the Closers used at the stairs." He was angry over the loss of his men. "They made us believe they had been shot." He repeated the drama over and over in his head. "And we fell for it!"
Kim squatted beside a different window. "We'll be prepared for any trickery."
"Where's Kat?" Melissa asked.
Kim glanced at the front car. "She stepped out for a bit."
"Oh." Melissa sounded worried and said nothing more to frighten the children.
"No really," Kim said. "Katharine went to deal with the Closers, so she's fine." She faked a smile. "No worries."
Melissa believed her or at least, pretended to for the sake of the children. Melissa softly spoke to the children, "Did you hear that? Everything is going to be fine."
Kimberly's view...
I look to Melissa and the children and consider what Voice is up to. The Regulator sent me on this Closing and then sent the Raven and the Wolf after me like it was some sort of test. I consider that Voice is watching to see what I'll do. I pull on my left earlobe. If I complete my Closing and kill Melissa, will Voice cancel my Closing?
End Kimberly's view...
Johnson shifted his legs, cramping a bit in his squatted position as he glanced out the window again and said, "Yes, we can't fall for their trickery. We have to hold our..."
Large hands smashed through the window, sending shards flying, and the huge hands dragged Johnson through the window, cutting him on jagged pieces of glass left in the frame. Kim heard Melissa and the children scream as she shielded her face with her gun hand and leaned away from the clear projectiles. Johnson yelled before disappearing, and Kim stood and ran to the window. She couldn't see Johnson in the smoke. Kim would shoot, but she was afraid she'd hit Johnson and for now, she needed him to watch her back.
Kimberly's view...
Hades! Where's that woman? She left me alone with these people and... I realize I'm the only one with Melissa and the children and that there's no bodyguard to protect the Mark. Glancing at Melissa, I debate whether or not to complete the Life Closing I was assigned. If I do, I'll have to deal with that woman, and she might kill me for completing it no matter what she says about not taking a life. I don't want to get in a battle with her; I still need her.
Hades! The things I do for that woman and lately, I've been going against my nature.
I wave for the three and say, "Melissa, it's time." I move to the opposite side of the car and slide open the door to an empty sidewalk as I continue, "Take your children and run and don't stop." I step to the sidewalk and search the area over the barrel of my gun.
The smoke thins, and I see a clearing as Melissa and the children creep out to the sidewalk, and I order, "Go as deep into the subway tunnel as you can. We'll hold the Closers here."
End Kimberly's view...
Melissa lifted Bonnie into her arms and grabbed Chad by the hand, and they fled. Kim ran with them for about a minute, covering them as they ran through the thinning smoke.
"Don't stop," Kim reminded them before she ran back, reentered the side door, cautiously moved to the broken window, and glanced out. The smoke loomed, blanketing everything on the platform, and she couldn't see a thing, but she heard a scuffle. Kim opened the side door facing the platform, exited, paused, and listened, and she heard the men grunting as they fought each other and ran in that direction. She ran to where Nikolai and Johnson wrestled. Nikolai had him in a headlock, and Johnson's gun lay on the ground about three feet away from him as he struggled against Nikolai. Kim took aim.
"Shoot!" Johnson yelled through labored breath. "Kill him!"
"I don't have a clear shot," she yelled.
"Shoot!" Johnson insisted. "Shoot!"
She shouted, "For Ares' sake! Fine!" Kim fired.
The bullet struck the outside of Johnson's thigh, and he cried out in pain.
"Puck! You hit me!" Johnson yelled. "Setna's plight be upon you and your household!"
#2 Shades of Gray: From Moscow, With Love Page 54
