On The Run

Chapter Thirty Seven

When I realized that the only three people I truly cared about were all in one room with weapons threatening their lives, I let out a blood curdling scream. I closed my eyes and brought my head down still curling Riley under my body for protection. That's when I heard the shots. I don't know how many there were, and I knew I heard someone, or maybe two people screaming after the shots. But, I couldn't make out anything as I squeezed my eyes shut rocking back and forth with ringing in my ears.

Underneath me, Riley has stopped sobbing and is instead screaming. When I finally look up, I notice that there is only one person down and I can't make out who anyone is. Their faces all a blur as the shots made my concussion so much worse. 

 But in the background, I hear sirens wailing. My eyes start to blur even further with frustrated tears as I can't see who is hurt unless I move out of my protective hold. Instead, the next thing I see is a man in a uniform crawling towards me from the window, trying to avoid the gun fight. That's when I realize that the officers are afraid to dissolve the situation with Riley and I right next to the fight. When he gets close enough I try to give him Riley so that I can try to sneak my way out without the extra weight. As I know that if Steve sees me, he will shoot.

The officer grabs Riley and holds her to his shoulder with one arm, so he can maneuver back without having to get up. He makes a gesture telling me to follow him, so I shake my head and start behind him. He's moving slowly, making sure not to make any noises, and I tell myself not to look. If I look now, I might not be able to will myself to leave. But as the officer holding Riley continues on, I find myself falling behind. It wasn't that I'm not able to keep up, rather my body is refusing to move another inch without knowing. When I get close enough, I move my head to the left. I rapidly blink my eyes trying to keep my anxious tears at bay.

But the second that I look, I regret it. The loudest scream I have ever heard pierces out of my mouth as I see the scene in front of me. I notice the officer has made it out with Riley, so I collapse on the floor staring at the person on the ground.

Nick. The person that I told to help me, the person who was always there for me. He now bears a gaping hole in his stomach, gushing out way too much blood. It pours around him as he stares at me, blood now coming out of his mouth in attempts to say something. I don't even know what the others are doing as I stare at my dying brother. I try to crawl toward him, but he instantly jerks his head in protest. Taking his hands from his wound he gestures for me to leave. His hands dripping even more of his blood onto the floor.

I now see that Ty and Steve are no longer equally armed. Steve is on top of Ty, who is holding a gun towards him. They are both desperately fighting and I know that the gun is pointing in many directions. If I don't leave, there is a high chance that it will hit me, and Nick's injury will be for nothing.

"I-I love you!" I barely whisper, its not like he would be able to hear me over the other ruckus anyway. But, still I see him nod his head with the faintest of smiles before his head drops to the floor. Just then, as I let out another scream, I feel two hands pull me in the direction of the window. Being dragged along the ground, I feel the broken glass from the shattered window digging into my legs, and tearing my clothes. By the time I am dragged out, I am still sobbing holding the officer tightly.

"No, let me go!" I wail, even though I'm not fighting his grip. The pain has consumed me to a point where my body can't function properly. All I can do is scream and protest. Once we get far enough from the trailer, I am wrapped in a blanket and the officer who carried me from the scene is now in front of me trying to gain my attention. He sat me onto a medical stretcher and is waiving his hand in my direction, but all I am staring at is the little trailer that I can still hear shouts coming from.