Fort Oakley | Part One

23 | This Ain't Over Till The Freaks Are Dead

4 March 2022 - Friday

Gunshots were still echoing into the night air, although they were coming less and less. 

I hadn't stopped running since Yvonne was dragged away, but I didn't seem to be going anywhere, because every turn I took looked the same as the previous one. 

''Charly!'' I come to a stop, breathing heavily as I looked around. ''Charly!'' someone called again.

Jacey.

I listened to him calling my name once more before I turned in the direction his voice seemed to be coming from.

And then I started running.

After a minute, I stumbled into the meadow, weak from the blood I had been losing from the cuts on my stomach. 

I spot a figure crouching in the long grass, a smaller figure only partially hidden behind him. ''Jacey,'' I call weakly. Jacey's head whips up and when he spots me, he runs toward me.

''When I started hearing the gunshots, I thought the worst, so I...'' He stops talking when he sees the cuts Elvin gave me.

''What did they do to you?'' He asks in a pained whisper as he wraps his arms around my shoulder.

''They were preparing me for a ceremony. And they killed Teri. Right in front of me,'' I sob, the moment Elvin stabbed his sister playing on replay in my head. 

''Who-'' Jacey doesn't get to finish his question, because the sound of a gun being shot echoes into the air, and it doesn't sound as far away as the rest of the gunfire. 

Jacey pushes us forward to where Mason is hiding with my backpack, and he pushes me down into the long grass, hiding us from whoever was coming toward us. 

Another shot rings into the air, and then Jacey jerks back. 

''Jacey?'' I whisper, moving in front of him. He was clutching his shoulder, his eyes closed while he tried to breathe evenly.

''Are you hit?'' I ask, and he nods. ''Look in the backpack,'' he hisses out, teeth clenched together.

I drag the backpack towards me, quickly zipping it open. There wasn't much in it, only some medical supplies and some water.

And the gun Vance gave me.

I take the gun and spin around to where the shot came from, squinting my eye to try and see anything. 

Willa walked into the meadow, looking around the open space, her gun aimed in front of her. 

I wouldn't be shooting her to kill. I wasn't a murderer, and Willa was all her father had left. As much as I now believed her father was part of The Order as well, he really was a good man, and I couldn't take his daughter away from him. 

And so I tried to aim for the hand that was holding the gun. I fired, and missed.

Willa turned in our direction when I fired the gun, and she was looking right ut as, although I didn't think she was seeing us.

Our cover in the grass wouldn't last long since Willa was slowly making her way forward, but we had another advantage. 

I knew this meadow like the back of my hand. I knew where the grass was longer and where there was dips in the ground. I had navigated it at night a million times before, so to do it now would only be more nerve wracking since I could get shot.

And so I started to move away from Jacey and Mason, keeping low to the ground. When I was a safe distance away from them, I aimed again, and this time, I didn't miss.