Noah

September 28th 2013

It had been hell not to stop it.

Knowing that if I didn't put a bullet through this woman's skull, she was going to potentially kill dozens of people. Knowing that I had the power to stop it, but in reality, wouldn't.

The plan had been simple enough in concept. I had caught wind of a potential Ghost Courage attack and knew that the best thing to do would not be to stop it, but simply follow the attacker. They would hopefully lead me back to their group, and I would find out who was running the terrorist organisation.

I hadn't thought about how that would mean watching dozens of innocent people die, knowing that I could've stopped it.

A source who'd heard radio chatter about GC's attack had managed to get me a picture of the alleged gunner. I certainly didn't expect the person who I saw. A woman in her mid thirties, pretty, with blonde hair. Everything about her screamed 'I'm innocent', so I suppose that's why they chose her for the job.

The attacker was to go to a public area of Oxford Street and take out her AK-47. Her orders from there were probably somewhere along the lines of "Don't stop firing until you run out of bullets".

I followed her from when she got off the underground at Oxford Circus, careful to keep a safe distance, but not lose her in the bustling crowds. I also made sure that there was always cover nearby. I didn't know exactly where or when she was going to start shooting, so I had to be careful not to get caught up in it.

It was hard keeping up with her. I wasn't very tall, and neither was she, meaning that it was hard to keep an eye on her in the looming crowds. She was wearing very average clothes, but I knew that in her big gym bag was a weapon that would soon kill too many people.

I didn't even think about it. My mind was on the mission. I wasn't exactly sure how I was going to discretely follow her back to her hidey hole, and I was half-focusing on planning a route for every possible way she could go.

And then, she actually pulled out the gun.

I was so busy focusing on the possible routes out of there that I almost forget that I was about to watch fifty seven people get murdered.

She unzipped her duffel bag casually in the busiest part of the long street. I quickly registered the move and ducked around the corner of a shop entrance, earning strange looks from people passing by. Then, the firing started.

I only heard the first few shots before the sound was replaced by screaming and crying. The attacker seemed to be just spraying bullets everywhere. Cars swerved in the roads, some even climbing onto the curb in a vain effort to avoid the attacks. I was forced away from my cover and out onto the pavement.

All around me, men, women and children were lying, bleeding or dead. Some were crying or screaming, some were still, some begged for my help. There was nothing I could do though. Even as I crouched down to avoid the gunfire, there was the clicking of an empty magazine under the sound of panic and pandemonium surrounding me.

Before I could even really process what was going on around me, I was up and running towards the woman who'd just murdered dozens of innocent people. She had dropped the assault rifle and was quickly blending into the crowds of panicking people.

Keeping my eyes firmly on her, I started shoving my way through the desperate crowds. I was already having trouble keeping up with her, and the sound of police sirens taunted my ears. If the police turned up before I got away, I'd lose her.

She went straight through Oxford and to another part of London that I was unfamiliar with. As we left the area, she slowed down to match the pace of the other people strolling through the area. There was a lot of whispering and meaningful glances back in the direction of Oxford. Nobody paid either of us much attention, too busy trying to work out what was happening on Oxford Street.