Gone in an instant

Chapter 15: Monday 3, 6:30 PM

“Good. You can keep your gun but we are going to re-equip you. Come with me.” He led me into the Helicopter. There was a small room in the back. He handed me a White T-shirt, a light, black hoodie, and black jeans. “You can get changed in here.” He said, then he left the room and closed the door. I got changed and sat all of the SWAT equipment on the floor. Then I stepped out.

“Good. Chose one knife, one hang gun, and one rifle or shotgun. You can also use the MP5 you have instead of one of our guns.” He opened a closet that had several large knives several pistols, and several rifles and shotguns. I grabbed the first knife, it was about 6 inches long and had a red handle. I grabbed the small case for it too. Then I grabbed a pistol, it was an M9. I grabbed the shoulder holster for it and put that on. Then put the gun in it. I also put the knife in the holster under my other shoulder. I decided to stick with my MP5. “I-I'm keeping m-my MP5.” I told him. He handed me a backpack that contained several bottles of water and some other assorted supplies, along with several extra magazines for the M9 and MP5. I hesitantly took it and put it on.

“Alright, you're set Josh. Once you have complete your challenge climb to the top of the mountain right behind me. We will be waiting at the peak for you. Good luck.” And with that all of the men piled onto the helicopter and began taking off. I went back beside the stairs to the roof and picked up my gun. 'Maybe I shoot down the helicopter?' I thought, but then I decided not to. If I didn't take it down then my family would die and even if I did I don't how or where to even start looking for my family. I picked up my gun and I was about to walk down the stairs when I remembered what had happened to the SWAT team. Seeing all of them after that explosion was sure to be gruesome, but what if someone was still alive. I decided to go down.

I began walking down the stairs, going around a corner I saw them. The sight was gruesome beyond words. I'm going to save you your last meal by not describing the sight. It was terrible. Knowing people were evil enough to do something like this deeply saddened me. I turned away and knelt on the ground, trying to get the image out of my head. I began walking back up the stairs, but not before saying one last goodbye. I turned and looked each of the men in the eye, or face, or head if they were turned away, and said somberly, “Thank you. Thank You so much. Goodbye, noble men. I will never forget you.” And with that I turned and began walking up the stairs. I wiped a tear from my eye. I reached the top and I began walking along the edge of the wall. Looking for a ladder or something to climb down on.

I gazed down to the field. I could almost see the play again. The score was 20-17, just 30 seconds remained in the game and we were down. Coach called a play called “White Viking”. We lined up in the white formation. I lined up in the slot and looked across the Line of Scrimmage at the line-backer who was covering me. I had gone up against him several times. He wasn't as quick as me or fast as me, and I repeatedly had gotten off of his press-coverage with ease. I looked at the clock, 27 seconds left, then I looked at the down marker, 3rd and 5 from the 19 yard line. I looked back to center and awaited the snap. There was complete silence. The players were silent, the coaches were silent, and even the fans were silent. Then the center snapped the ball. There was an explosion of movement and the grunts and groans of the line-man could be heard. I ran five yards straight at the Line-backer across from me, as soon as I reached him he put his hands out to slow me. I smacked his hands down and pushed him back a little, as I did this I cut sharply to my left, towards the sideline, I was wide open. I could see the ball floating through the air, a tight spiral. It floated just above the line-backers outstretched hands, barely grazing his fingertips. It hit me perfectly in my chest. I cradled the ball, holding it in my left arm, away from the defense as I sprinted up the sideline. Our wide-receiver was blocking his man but the safety was closing in, I stopped on a dime and the safety flew past me, smacking me with his arm. I cut back inside my blocker as the corner got pushed out towards the sideline. Now I was in a 10 yard foot race with a line-backer who had come over to help. He ran just next to me, he was just out of tackling range. I was at the 5, 4, 3, he dove after me and I dove too, stretching the ball out. I landed two yards in the end-zone and he landed on my leg. I looked towards the referee who was standing a few yards away, he had both arms extended straight above his head. Touchdown. The roar of the crowd was deafening. I could almost hear it. I was smiling now.

But my thoughts were interrupted by a gunshot and a bullet whizzing just a few feet above my head. I jumped back, startled. I laid on the ground, crawling away from the edge. Then I crawled to another area that appeared to have trapdoor. 'I can't believe I didn't notice that before!' I thought. I tried lifting the latch but it was locked tightly. I stood up, crouching as low as possible and shot the latch right off. Then I lifted the door open. A ladder extended down about 30 feet into what appeared to be the end of a hallway. I climbed down. I was right, it was a concrete hallway that led to the press-boxes. I ran down the hallway and down a flight of stairs. I encountered another locked door at the bottom of those stairs and I again shot the doorknob off. I ran out of the building, passing a few janitors, but no security guards or anyone like that. I ran right outside, opening the door. I was on the opposite side of the stadium. I ran. I just ran into the city as fast as I could. I tried to stop the tears from pouring down my face. I ran to a lonely park. I sat on a bench and still tried not to cry. But I couldn't stop. It wasn't even like I didn't expect it. He had abandoned me and given me up to the police. I still couldn't get over it. My Dad had just tried to kill me.