Fracted (Book #2)

Chapter 2: Gravity and Bodies

"What do we do?" Sarra asked.
"I don't know, save them!" Ace shouted.
"Okay! Stop whining, at least boy up, Ace." Alice runs towards the girl falling off the building like a cheetah, as if she was the predator. She caught her on the right time and brought her to us so she could catch more fruits falling off the tree.
"Might as well just--" Zach said, stretching his hands out and let the ice crystals fly out of his palms. Three bodies fall and land smoothly on the circular-diagonal ice sculpture, slide. Sarra and Ace rushed to retrieve the unconscious bodies.
"I think this one's alive." Sarra drops him on the ground and pressed her ear on his chest. "Yep, still alive." Robert, Alice, Jackson, and Zach continued on catching the bodies.
"I see a clone!" Mom said, pointing her gun at the man looking out on the fourth floor window on the right. "Jess, get away from here as fast as you can. It's not safe to be out here-- hold on, is that a peircing?"
"No, no, no, I'm gonna stay out here and finish our mess. You get out of here!"
"You can't tell me what to do, I am your mother!"
"So do I and you never were because you never protected from anything."
"Jess Hartley Mckidd--" She said my full name, which is kind of embarrassing. Not that it matters now.
"Whatever, I got this!" I shoot the clone in the chest, he falls back, but more of their heads pop out of the windows. What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?
"Jess, barrier!" Jackson yelled, catching two little girls with both arms and releasing them gently on the ground. They ran to us, crying.
"Stay behind us, okay?" Sarra said, wiping off every tear that escaped from their eyes with her thumbs.
"Don't die, people, please don't die." I decided to form a half dome-shaped forcefield ten feet above the ground so the students would slide down safely.
The students cower against each other as the clones start shooting at us. There has to be a way for them to stop. One thing is for sure, I have to go inside, so I can prove to Leah that I am not her marionette prisoner. Not anymore.
"I'm going inside-- Jackson, how do I maintain this barrier?"
"Just clear your mind, don't even think or worry about it."
"Okay, thanks."
"Oh, Jess?"
"Yeah?" Jackson held his arms out and caught a four-year old boy.
"Be careful."
"Okay." I smiled and bolted inside.
"Jess!" Leah screamed for me. "Don't do this! Come back here right at this second!"
"Sorry, can't hear you. Too busy being responsible and being the son you will never have, and that's what I want!"
Kids lay on the floor, twitching helplessly. One of them managed to grab my ankle and said, "Help us. You're our only hope. Please surrender."
"Don't worry, we're gonna get you all out of here."
"Please help..." He coughed. "Please..." Then his head fell back as I knelt down and held him up to me. I checked his pulse, no beating. He's dead. I realize that he took multiple shots on his stomach and chest. I spot five girls, possibly quintuplets, hiding under the front desk near the entrance. I kiss his forehead and laid him down next to the wall, whispering to his ear, "you were brave. Great job, you're free."
"He sacrificed his life and we never even knew his name." One of the girls said. They were all identically blonde, except for the girl outside the table, who had a purple braided streak on the side of her hair.
"Stay put, girls. I'll take care of it." I ran straight to the stairs and directly to the fourth floor. When I reached the hallway, they weren't looking at me. Now's the time. I gaze into their stares after I shot four of them, so eager to harm. I see a dozen of them letting go of the legs of the students out the windows at the same time. I shoot them immediately. The clone at the other side of the hallway, which was a dead-end, pitched a knife at my direction, but I was able to dodge. The knife seemed to have bounce off the wall and end up on another clone's forehead.
I slipped down the carpeted floor and tripped two doppelganger, I shot countlessly the ones I can lay my eyes on, I notice everything. Moments later after shooting half of the majority, my gun felt empty and light. I toss it out and hit someone in the head accidentally, but I was happy he got hit and went unconscious. As I could only see approximately seventeen of them, I constantly hit all of them in places nobody would ever want to get hit on. Sucks for them, they deserved it. I wonder where the rest of the Seekers went, why is it only us and my classmates?
I performed a flying armbar on a clone, two more to take down. I struggled to squeeze the first one's neck with my forearm, but I did it effortlessly. I watched as the second one, who was hold a girl, who's the same age as me, out the window with her upper body down outside and her lower body dangling inside.
"Please don't drop her. Mr. André, please." I pleaded, sounding like a give-upper. My heart stopped suddenly, calmly.
"I like to hear you beg." He mockingly pouted as he spoke raspily with blood spurting out of his mouth.
"Don't... please." I whispered. "Please. I can't let them die. You can't let them die. Killing people won't make you any powerful or prosperous, it's just gonna kill you. Please just... surrender and everything thing will be fine."
Mr. André, the one I'm holding captive through headlock, the back of his head was as firm and hard as a boulder. It managed to make a hard impact on my forehead, he's a good headbutter, obviously. I fell back with my left nostril bleeding uncontrollably.
"Release her!" I said.
"Okay." He said with a sinister smile.