LITTLE RUNAWAY // Benson Boone x OC

Fourth of July

[Jailah's P.O.V.]

Sirens blared, glass shattered, people screamed. The combination still wasn't loud enough to mask the constant echoing of gunfire. I watched innocent people fall to their deaths on the steaming pavement. Piles of lifeless bodies laid everywhere. It seemed that every which way I went, I was sprinting past lifeless bloodied bodies. It was a sight that not even the blindest eyes would forget. A sight that I surely would never forget for the rest of my life.

My mom, father, and little brother all sprinted right beside me. Our breathing became erratic as we tried to find the closest exit point within the mobs of screaming, panicked people. Anywhere to escape this monstrosity. The sirens, the gunfire, the screams. God, those screams. They echoed through my entire being. It was the sound of hundreds of innocent lives being stolen by an evil, cynical, monster.

The retched feeling clung to my body when suddenly all sense of my awareness vanished at the sound of my mother's piercing scream. She fell to her knees and reached up to her oozing chest wound. She gasped for air in an attempt to cling to any sliver of life. She fell to her side allowing her final exhale to escape her now lifeless body.

My father crouched down and hovered over my mother's limp body, "Jailah! Run! Just run! I love you guys!" My father screamed with tears streaming down his flushed cheeks. With the most hesitation I'd ever felt I clutched my brothers clammy hand in mine and raced through the crowds with tears clouding my vision. I was losing my family. The only people I had known my entire life like the back of my hand. I'd lost my mother right before my eyes. And most likely soon to be my father.

My brother and I continued sprinting as fast as we could. Not even daring to look behind us to see if our father had left our mother's side. Suddenly the grasp my brother had on my hand loosened as he collapsed to the ground.

"Jailah!" He screeched as he peered up at me from the ground, his breathing heavy from physical exhaustion. I lifted him to his feet expecting him to stand but instead he fell right into my chest.

"I can't carry you!" I cried as I hovered over his fatigued frame.

"Just leave me!" He bellowed.

"I'm not just leaving you!" I screamed. Gunshots continued to fire. It'd been like this for almost five minutes now. I just prayed that some miracle occured. A miracle powerful enough to revive all the lifeless bodies that surrounded me.

With the left over courage in me I somehow mustered enough to heave my brother into my arms. For being a ten year old he was significantly heavier than I expected. I was in the midst of sprinting when a bullet whizzed past my ear, missing me by mere centimeters.

I weaved throughout the mobs of people. Not daring to look back afraid if I did that I would fall over and heighten the chance of getting injured. Just when I thought I had made it far enough away from the shooting my brother's leg was pierced by a bullet. He let out a scream of agony. Tears fell down my cheeks as I continued to run. Bullets whizzed past my face and missed me by hairs. I took a glance down at my brother's ghostly pale face and saw that he had started to lose consciousness. His eyes were fluttering open and closed.

Frantically, I searched for a place to provide some silver of shelter from the oncoming flying bullets. Luckily, I found shelter behind a truck trailer and immediately unfastened the belt from his waist. Propping his leg up on my own I began to create a makeshift tourniquet using the belt. He winced at the painful sensation but I really didn't care. As long as it provided more time for him to survive. I couldn't lose another person in my family.

"Clarence, are you okay?" I asked, his eyes fluttered open and shut as he looked up at me. His head lolled to the side as he fought off the ending of his life, "Clarence, look at me!" I panicked eagerly grabbing his face before shaking his body. Without a second wasted I heaved him over my shoulder and began running towards safety once again. This time though there was actually a safe place and that was an ambulance and other emergency vehicles lined up.

My feet pounded into the hard pavement faster than they had been before. As selfish as it was I didn't care about anything else other than getting my brother the medical care he needs. To put it simply, Clarence was my pride and joy. I always wanted a sibling whether it was a sister or brother I didn't care. Him and I spent all our time together. He played baseball and hockey while I stuck to the more artsy side of things. The closest I had ever been to doing an actual sport was walking and occasionally going for a jog here and there.

With trembling legs I finally reached one of the ambulances. Clarence was hoisted off of my shoulder and onto a gurney. I was immediately ushered into the back of the same ambulance that Clarence was wheeled into. The EMT looked directly at me, "Are you his sister?" He asked somewhat breathless.

I nodded, "I-I don't know where my dad is. Is-Is there anyway to find that out?" I asked silently praying for an answer. My prayers went ungranted when the EMT shook his head side to side.

"I'm sorry," he apologized as he hastily began attending to Clarence's withering state. I reached for my brother's hand and gently rubbed my thumb over the side of it.

My mind raced back to the sight of my mother's lifeless body as my father's desperate voice screamed at me to run. It was all a blur, just a fragment of one of the most traumatic experiences of my life. A memory tragic enough to send a chill down my spine and make the hairs on my body raise.

Suddenly, I was brought back to the harsh reality by the sound of a beeping heart monitor.

"Heart rate's dropping!" One of the other EMT's called out. My eyes fluttered up to the machine that contained multiple numbers on it that all meant different things. The one that stood out to me was the '35'. That one was Clarence's heart rate. The number stuck out like a sore thumb as it plummeted to a 24 then to a 16. Then...to zero. A flat line formed. I wished in that exact moment that my heart had done the same so I wouldn't have to live with the memory of this day.

Tears pricked my eyes...I didn't want to believe it. Believe that yet again I had witnessed another life become stripped of its purpose. In the silence I sat staring at the loose grip Clarence still had on my hand. I gave it a final squeeze and shut my eyes.

I had learned two things today. One: You're never safe even when you think you are. And two, well, I learned that it's best to not keep your heart so open. To keep it closed off so you don't get damaged. So, when you lose something you love so dearly it doesn't hurt as bad. That's what I learned.

And I intended to stick to those lessons.

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Hope you enjoyed this one!

Idk when the next chapter will come out but we'll see.