gone in an instant

three

Song: Hurt by Christina Aguilera

I went back to working after that. It is still hard, because I know she hated my job. At least she understood I was born into it rather than choosing it for myself. I sit at my desk, glaring at the surveillance cameras from that night. I played them back so many times I can name the exact times events occur.

At 2:44:32 the glass in our kitchen breaks and multiple men climb in. 2:45:02 they shoot down five of my men. 2:45:58 the shoot out begins. I remember this exact moment the day it happened. I had her wrapped in my arms in our bed. She was the one to wake me up after hearing the gunshots. The fear on her face angered me, I quickly got dressed and grabbed my gun off the nightstand.

"Stay here." Some of the last words I said to her.

"Be careful, I love you." She said. I never said it back.

2:47:23 I see myself on the tapes, emerging from our room. I nailed two of the men immediately, but realized more men piled into our home. My men quickly come out from their rooms and other positions and call for back up. Fear rises in me as I notice more of my men falling. I reload my gun and move down the staircase, Gabe by my side.

2:51:47 the cameras from outside our house show two men grabbing my baby from the window to our room and throwing her from the second story. I pause the tapes and finish my glass of whiskey before moving on.

3:02:43 My men and I won the battle, but little did we know what we would see just outside our house. I remember feeling overjoyed in the moment we killed the intruders, a smile held on my face as Gabe and I stepped outside, but we froze when nearly a dozen of our members, including her and my parents kneel in front of the enemy. That's when I died inside.

Song ends at 1.33