Drowning • Billy Hargrove

Chapter 22

I look at the man in fear.
"No." I simply say.
"Huh?" He asks, confused.
When I was young, dad taught me a move on what to do if you were ever at gunpoint. Of course, I never thought I'd actually have to use it, but I'm glad I payed attention.
I grabbed on to the gun and attempted this trick. Thankfully, I was successful.
The gun was now in my possession and I was safe.
Just for fun, I pushed the guy, causing him to loose balance.
I took the opportunity to sprint over to Billy.
"We have to go." I say, grabbing his hand.
"What's going on?" He asks.
"Long story. Hold on to this." I say, passing him the gun.
"What the fu-"
"Murray!" I yell, finally seeing him.
"Kate! What are you doing here?" He asks, sounding extremely worried.
"We were just here then dad sent me over to you. What the hell is going on?"
He sighs. "Russians are opening the gate and now they're after us with guns."
"Is this one of their guns?" Billy says.
"Yes!" Murray yells. "Where did you get that?"
"One of the Russians pointed it at me, I took it from him, though." I say, as if it was nothing.
"What! When?" Billy asks.
"That doesn't matter. Who's Smirnoff?"
"Smirnoff is Alexei. This is Alexei." He says, pointing to a man in a white collared shirt and glasses.
Alexei waves at me and smiles.
"Hey, I'm Kate Hopper." I say.
Murray translates it. "He's Russian. He was one of the guys opening the gate but don't worry, he's with us now."
Alexei starts speaking to Murray.
"What did he say?" Billy asks.
"He was asking if Kate is Jim's daughter."
Suddenly the two of them break out into fits of laughter.
"What did he say now?" I ask.
"Alexei is just in a little disbelief that you are Jim's daughter. Since you two look nothing alike." He says through laughter.
Billy starts to chuckle. "The man has a point."
I start to smile.
"I'm going to go get a corn dog. Stay here and make sure he doesn't run off."
I nod my head and look at Billy.
"Why are we babysitting?" He says, seeming a little annoyed.
"We're not babysitting." I say, looking over at Alexei who just smiles at us, oblivious.
Alexei was carrying a stuff animal in one hand and he had a slushie in the other. I point to the stuffed animal and smile.
He starts speaking but I couldn't understand him. The only word that I could understand was Waldo.
"Is his name Waldo?" I say.
Alexei looks back at me and nods his head.
"Waldo." He says, beaming ear to ear.
"That's cute." I say, knowing he couldn't understand me.
I begin to look around and I see Karen coming off the ride with her daughter and husband.
"I'll be back." I say to Billy running off to speak with Karen.

"Hey Kate! Good to see you!" She says.
"Hey! Where are the kids?"
She thinks for a moment. "They were at my house, then they went to Lucas's, then Will's. You know how kids are! They're all over the place." She says, smiling.
"Okay thanks." I say, walking away with absolutely no information.
A balloon pops from one of the games, startles me.
"Alexei!" I hear Murray scream, running over to Alexei.
Billy was also at Alexei's side, staring at him in shock.
I run over to them. Billy looks at me, as pale as a ghost.
"Alexei stay with me!" Murray says.
I look down to see a gunshot in the middle of his abdomen.
"Oh my God." I say.

Murray and Billy help Alexei stumble out of sight.
"I'm going to get help, come with me." He says grabbing Billy. Murray translates it and Alexei nods.
"It's going to be okay." I say.
I'm no doctor, but I've seen on tv shows they apply pressure to the designated area. So I take off my jacket and push hard on his abdomen.
Alexei groans in pain and grips his stuffed animal. He looks at me with tears in his eyes and grabs my free hand. I hold it back and squeeze it.
"Oh my Gosh! Alexei!" I can hear Joyce yell.
He doesn't respond back, he just slowly startles to close his eyes.
"Alexei!" Murray says, clapping his hands in his face.
He opens his eyes and looks at Joyce. She smiles at him. "It's going to be okay." She says with tears in her eyes.
He smiles back and closes his eyes. His whole body goes limp and he lets go of my hand. His chest no longer falls up and down anymore, it just stays put.
"Oh my gosh!" I say, looking at him.
"Alexei! Alexei!" Murray screams.
"Holy shit." Billy says from behind me.
"We have to go!" A new voice says. I look over to see that my father finally showed up.
"We can't leave him!" I say with tears streaming down my face.
"We have too." He says.
"No! That's inhumane!" I scream.
He walks over to me and looks at me. "Kate, we've got to go now! Or we'll all turn out like Alexei."
"We can't leave him!" I say again. I don't know why, but I felt so connected to the stranger I just met.
Dad looks up at Billy and nods. I feel a pair of hands wrap around my waist and he picks me up.
I give in, knowing that Billy was stronger than me.

"Where are we going?" Dad asks.
"It said on the walkie talkie a bunch of kids were at the Starcourt Mall. I don't know if it's your kids or-"
Joyce cuts Murray off. "It's definitely our kids."
"Who the hell do they think they are?" Dad asks.
In the headlights we could see a guy standing in the middle of the road.
"Are you trying to get hit?" Dad yells at the guy.
The man was dirty and sweaty. He had blood all over his arms and face.
"I'm just trying to get people to come with me!" He finally says.
"Come where?" Joyce asks.
"To a better place." He says, creepily laughing.
"No thanks! We're just fine here!" Murray pipes in from the backseat.
"What if I leave you with no choice?" The man says.
"It's them." Billy says, whispering in my ear.
"It's who?"
"It's what I was." Billy whispers.
The man sticks out his hand and starts choking dad.
We all scream.
Billy fiddles in his pocket and pulls out the gun I gave him to hold onto. He shoots the man right in the chest, causing him to let go off dad.
"Oh my God." Billy says, his hands shaking.
"Drive!" Joyce and Murray yell in unison.
He steps on the gas pedal and quickly gets away from that possessed person.
"What the hell just happened!" Dad yells.
"Uh, long story."