Make My World Go Black

Chapter Seven

"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!" A little girl cries when the sounds of bullets stop, the rest of the women and children crying beside her as they smell smoke from above their cellar doors.

Back at the church, there's a moment of silence, before Goodnight is on his feet to make sure no one else decided to get up, "They're reloading! Stay down! Stay down!"

"Get down!" Billy ordered.

Faraday considers to stay low before he hears high-pitched screaming from a nearby building and he starts to get up. "The children," he states before he goes running out, not ever looking back. Billy stands just outside the doorway again to provide him cover, shooting at any stray Blackstone agents with his rifle, Faraday also shooting them as he runs off to help Sam with the children.

"Get down against the wall, come on!" Vasquez orders from inside the church.

"Hey, Goody!" Billy tosses up a rifle when he turned away from the door to notice Goodnight had climbed up onto the steeple.

Goodnight catches the gun while heading up the stairs that lead up to the church bell, "Let's go, Billy!"

Faraday makes it to the General Store and practically rams into the door in order to get inside, a panicked look on his face as he looks around. He sees the fire slowly starting to spread from the corner of the room, and then he sees the cellar door, yet to be touched by the flames. But the sight that really made his blood run cold was Sam kneeling down and trying to shake Matilda awake, who was knocked out cold with blood running down over the left side of her face.

"Tilly!" Faraday kneels down beside her, cupping her face while glaring up at Chisolm, "What happened?!"

"The Gatling gun went off and she fell and hit her head while we were taking cover."

"Tilda!" Faraday snapped, staring down at the unconscious form, glaring with intense concern, "Come on, wake up! Open those eyes for me, darling. Come on, Matilda!"

There was a soft noise and Miss Persuasion's eyes fluttered open, squinting in the smoke and flames while her ears ring from the sounds of war outside. She groans in pain, but tried to force a smile, "Is that my name I hear, Mr.  Faraday? I must be dead."

The Irishman broke into a laugh all the while Sam was desperate to get to the cellar underneath the floorboards.

"We gotta get these kids outta here." He rushes to the cellar door, opening it up to instruct the women and children to come up, "All right, everybody, come on."

"Everyone, up the stairs."

"Quick, quick."

"Quick, quick, quick."

"Be careful."

Faraday lifts Matilda up onto her feet again and forces her to lean against the railing of the porch. He brings out his gun to provide cover as the kids start pouring out of the building, all heading in the same direction.

Scanning over the dead bodies, such as Gavin, Horne takes the injured Teddy to a safe place, "Can't walk. They got my leg, sir."

"Schoolteacher, what are you doing up here?" Goodnight says as he spots Josiah taking cover within the steeple, Billy coming up the ladder not far behind him.

Josiah only shakes his head, "I want to stay."

"Come on, now, get outta here!"

"Wrap that leg!" Horne orders Teddy Q once he gets him inside a building, standing in the doorway while tossing him some empty guns, "Stop the bleeding! Find some ammo. You did goo-!" He was cut off by an arrow digging into the back of his leg, causing Horne to scream, "Shit!"