The Gunman

Chapter 20: Peter

I watched Ellie, as she sat on the back of the ambulance. Her face was stretched back in fear, even though she had gotten out. Anna was still in there, I knew it, and she knew it. I didn't know either one of them all that well, but I was still worried. Anna wouldn't be able to stop the gunman; she would die if she tried. I knew that.

The guilt would be overwhelming if Anna was among the dead. I had the chance to save her, but I didn't. My mother wasn't there yet, neither was my step-dad. I could run back in, they'd never know I had ever come out. My shoulders slumped as I realized I had to go back in, or I'd never forgive myself.

The cops were surrounding the school, a huge perimeter. I stood there, and searched for a way through them. It was then, that a man approached me. His eyes were red and puffy, from all the crying he had presumably been doing. I didn't know this man, but he stood there, staring at me hopefully.

"Do you know if my son is alive?" He asked me, which caused me to flinch. This was the first person to come up and ask me that, and I just stood there, dumbfounded. I didn't know who he was, much less who his son was.

So, I asked him, "Excuse me, who are you?" I looked at him, and the man just looked back at me with a sorrowful gaze. My hands clenched and unclenched nervously, what if his son had been Andrew? The body of his son would be lying in the middle of the classroom we had left behind, never looking back. Nobody thought twice of the dead classmate. Fellow student.

"I'm Paul. Paul Herwin, my son is Xavier Herwin. I need to know if he's alive. Please tell me if my son's alive." He was wringing a beaten up baseball cap in his hands, and I shook my head. I knew who Xavier was, everyone knew who he was, but nobody ever really talked to the kid. There had been something off about him for the past year or two, since seventh grade. He was a nice kids back then, always smiling and excited for something. Then, his best friend Travis died, and his next best friend Andrew beat him up. I had been on the sidelines of the fight, or maybe I should call it a beating. Because Xavier never lifted one finger.

Ellie had stepped in to shoo everyone away, and helped the kid. I had always regretted not stepping in, because since that day, the kid had never been the same. There was nothing anyone could do to change the past though, the damage had been done.

"I'm sorry sir; I don't know where Xavier is." I said and walked away, towards the cops. I stopped a few feet away, and then launched myself forward. The cops weren't expecting that, and they stepped back in astonishment.

I was past them. A few turned to run after me, but then decided against it because the parents then tried running in the open gaps. I ran back into the school, returning to the quiet halls. Anna was in there somewhere, in the death trap that was no longer safe.

I took in a deep breath, preparing myself for the terrifying trek through the halls. Back in the building, maybe it was the last time. Maybe it wasn't, like I had said earlier, nobody could tell the future. If they could, we would have never been in that position.