Closure

18. The Leap

I stood up. My face was shadowed in darkness.

"If you don't want more people to get hurt, I suggest you stop trying to disobey me," the Doctor recommended.

I stood still. In silence.

"Not going to talk, are you?"

A short pause.

"Don't worry about Michael, no one will care to look for him."

"You're a murderer," I said through gritted teeth.

"He was a traitor," Doctor Davenport defended himself.

"YOU'RE A MURDERER!" I turned to him as I raised my fist.

Doctor Davenport held up his hands to cover his face. And for the first time since I'd met this villain, I saw true fear in his eyes.

"TANNER STOP!"

I quickly turned around with my fist still raised.

Immediately after seeing their faces, I dropped my fist.

"Anne May.. Darcy..?"

Both girls stood next to each other in front the doorway with their napkin dresses. Darcy had a pistol pointed at Doctor Davenport.

"Don't you dare fucking move," Darcy threatened the Doctor.

He was utterly speechless.

"Tanner!" Anne May cried out. She ran to me, arms outstretched and pulled me into her warm embrace.

She snuggled her head into the space between my neck and shoulder. I hugged her in return, hot tears sliding down my face.

"Your head," she murmured, as she gently touched my head. I lifted my hand and felt my head as well. That's when I noticed that it was wrapped in a bandage. No wonder it felt heavier than usual.

Anne May's vision shifted to something behind me.

"T-Tanner..." she started trembling. "Michael?" She pulled away and walked to his translucent blue corpse.

She gave out a horrified yelp and fell to her knees. "No no no no..."

I knelt down beside her and hugged her with all my might.

Her sobs were muffled against my chest. I pressed my head against her shoulder and cried, too. We swayed left and right in an attempt to sooth each other and ourselves.

"You better let us go right now, you asshole!" I heard Darcy scream at the Doctor.

"Yes yes as you wish!" Doctor Davenport pressed a button on the table next to him.

Suddenly, the lights turned red and alarms were sounding everywhere.

"Fuck!" I cursed. I stood up with Anne May still holding onto me.

The old man let out an evil laugh.

Darcy attempted to shoot him, but missed and hit a cupboard full of beakers instead. The impact sent glass shattering everywhere. Doctor Davenport had disappeared.

"We have to get out of here," Anne May woke us from our shock.

"Where do we go? This place is a fucking maze!" I panicked.

"CALM DOWN! I know the way," Darcy yelled.

"Just follow me." She ran to the double doors, but they were locked. She pressed a code into a keypad, and they opened.

We ran out into the hallway with swirling red lights. I looked back one last time, vowing never to forget the young man who risked his life to save ours.

———

Darcy pushed us out through an emergency exit on the second floor.

"Stay low, this pistol isn't going to do much against those snipers," she warned.

I ran down the fire escape behind Anne May, with Darcy leading.

Something whizzed by faster than I could describe and hit the wall behind me.

We screamed and ducked. More bullets flew by. Darcy rolled down the remaining steps and told Anne May to do the same. Darcy looked up at me. I, for one, was too high up on the stairs to roll down. If I did, I had no doubt a bullet would hit me. It didn't matter that every bullet was missing me so far.

I inhaled sharply. I saw Anne May look up at me, terror on her face.

"Tanner!" She yelled, tears streaming down her face.

"Watch out!" I yelled as I stood up.

Their eyes widened as I lifted myself over the railing.

"YOU CRAZY MO-" I heard Darcy holler as I leaped off the side of the staircase.

I flailed my arms, unsure how to land. But by then it was too late to react. My leg was the first part to hit the concrete. I flew down, holding my hands out in front of me. It was to no avail because the impact sent me rolling on my side. Excruciating pain shot up my left leg. I let out a scream as I gripped it with both my hands.

"ANNE MAY! Get in the building!" Darcy ordered.

Anne May didn't listen. She ran to me and knelt down.

"What hurts?" She asked quickly.

"My leg my leg! FUCK I THINK IT'S BROKEN. SHIT SHIT SHIT," I couldn't stop the tears that rolled down my face. It just hurt so much.

"We have to drag him," Darcy said.

"No just run," I cried. "You'll waste time if you help me."

"Are you sure?" Darcy looked at my face.

I attempted to nod.

"Fuck that! We're not leaving you," Darcy grabbed my left arm, and Anne May took my right.

I screamed out in pain. I watched my left leg dangle while the two girls dragged me back inside the lab. My right leg was straight, but my left one was locked in a ninety degree angle. I dared not look closer.

We finally made it inside the lab. A blast of cool air hit us when Darcy slammed the metal escape door shut.

"Tanner, can you move your leg?" Anne May asked me gently.

"I- I..." I was afraid to.

"Try it," she said.

I took a deep breath and stretched out my left leg. I moaned. I could feel every tendon pulling against their will.

"Better hurry it up, I hear footsteps. Lots of them!" Exclaimed Darcy.

I gasped, taking short breaths. I grabbed my leg with both hands and pulled again. I screamed internally, not wanting to reveal our location to those hunting us.

As much as I tried, my leg wouldn't snap back into place.

"Fuck," I muttered while shaking my head. "I can't do it."

I glimpsed at the hallway and saw shadows among the flashing red lights.

"They're coming!" Darcy hissed.

She took my arm and so did Anne May. They dragged me through the corridor on our left. Never had I felt so useless.

"Shit, someone else is coming our way. Anne May, take Tanner into the room," Darcy nodded to an opened doorway.

Anne May obeyed and dragged me into the room. There were lots of classic laboratory tables, the black kind. She took me behind one in the back of the room. Anne May kneeled and we peeked our heads out on the side to see Darcy walking in.

She pushed the door closed. It wasn't one of the automatic sliding ones. Before she could close it all the way, the door flew open.

I heard Anne May gasp. Darcy fell on her back and looked up. There was no one else but Ruben standing in the doorway.