not throwing away my shot

Chapter 33 - It All Ends Now

{{LAST CHAPTER OF THIS BOOK, WILL BE WRITING A SEQUEL}}
TW: guns, shooting, blood, mild sexism, vomit. What a lovely chapter.
POV ALEXANDER
My whole body seizes to move for a moment as the gunshot rings in my ears, John protecting me instinctively as the shooter cries "Put your hands where I can see them. This is a robbery."

Screams and yells fill the once ambient air as people scramble to throw their arms up, me and John follow suit, heart pounding inside my chest. The shooter points his gun at a young couple as they empty their wallets with shaking hands, mumbling prayers under their breath.
"QUICKER!" The shooter yells, making me flinch with nerves, my chest heaving as it tries to keep a steady breathing rate.

I watch as a middle aged man makes a break for the door, quickly stopped by a piercing bullet with a deafening gunshot. I yelp and stagger into John as I watch the man sink to the floor, clutching his abdomen in pain.
"Holy shit" John hisses, grabbing me close to him as a wet tear drips down my cheek. I open my mouth to say something in retaliation but John quickly places his hands over my lips to hush me as the man on the ground groans in pain. I have to do something. I escape john's grasp and launch towards the slowly dying man.
"ALEX!" John cries, trying to hold me back
"STAY WHERE YOU ARE!" The shooter yells, pointing the pistol at me.

I swear my heart stops beating in that moment.

"He'll die if I don't help" I choke, pressing down on the man's wound to stop him from bleeding out.
"Do you want to join him midget?" He hisses, taking steps towards me, the barrel aimed dead in the centre of my forehead. My mind goes blank, like it's clearing room for the bullet that will surely lodge itself in my cerebellum.
"ANSWER. ME."
"N-no I don't want to die" i stammer
"Then get away from him."
"No I don't want to do that either"
"Tell my wife... tell my wife and beautiful children that I love them. She's called... Marie Jackson..."  the dying man mumbles making tears prick in the corners of my eyes. I can't save him. I don't even know where to begin. The best I can do is comfort him, give him his last wish.
"I will find Marie, I will tell her"
The man begins to spurt crimson blood from his mouth as he coughs, each breath getting weaker and weaker until... nothing. No heart beat, no melody. His grip loosens on me, his laboured breaths silencing. Dead.
"Alex please" I hear John whimper
"No john I'm not leaving him."
"Put the gun down sir" an oddly recognisable female chef comes out the kitchen with a small hand pistol, she instantly pulls the attention away from me.
"Don't make me become a woman killer" the shooter the laughs manically
"Don't you dare treat me different because of my sex" she hisses making me finally work out how I know her .

She's Maria Reynolds. Peggy's girlfriend.

With her makeup washed off, her hair tied back and in the panic of the situation unfolding its harder to tell, but it's definitely her. It's definitely Maria. In the exact moment the shooter's full attention is on her, John snatches me off the dead man and holds me tight in his arms.

"You're a stupid little girl" the shooter laughs again "I will not kill you. But I will kill that little parasite"

He turns the pistol back on me, an iron bullet travelling serenely through the air, not giving me a moment to react. I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory, is this where it gets me, on my feet, several feet ahead of me? I see it coming, do I run or let it be? If I throw away my shot, is this how you'll remember me? What if this bullet is my legacy?

I'm running out of time, I'm running, and my time's up.

I've got to throw away my shot.

I shut my eyes, waiting patiently for the bullet to pierce me, waiting for the pain, waiting for the end.

But instead John switches us round, spinning us like a pair of eloquent dancers as we collapse in a heap on the ground. A safe bundle of security. Maria grabs the shooter, holding him in a headlock whilst I shake violently. The shock intoxicating my body, I can feel acidic vomit trying to escape.

"ALEX ARE YOU OKAY" John cries, checking my body in panic.
"Y-yes I'm fine" I sob with relief "John I'm fine, I'm okay, I'm safe"
"Good" John grins weakly, suddenly wincing in pain as he clutches his chest, vermilion blood staining his pristine white shirt. "Shit" he laughs half heartedly  "I- I don't think I am Alexander"

And with that his eyes roll back into his skull as he goes limp in my arms.

This can't be happening.

"JOHN!" I screech, heart pounding "JOHN!"

{{TO BE CONTINUED...}}