Republic of Omisha

Chapter 48: Clay

  He hears the commotion and calls on his receiver to call for assistance. Three guards show up in less than a minute. He leaves one to guard Liam and takes the other two along with him to check out what's going on.

They round the corner in time to see Eliza strikes down. She falls on her hands and knees. Clay lifts his gun and shoots Ekon and Steven on the spot.

It stings to have shot Steven. He had been one of his closest friends, but he chose the wrong side and Clay had to stop him.

The only two left standing in the hall are Helena and Karma. Karma starts toward them until Clay and the guards train their weapons in her. She freezes and lifts her hands. Helena lifts her hands also, but slower.

He tells his guards to shoot them if they move. Then he lowers his gun and walks over to the bodies on the floor, making sure that Karma is far enough away that she couldn't grab his gun even if she wanted to.

He first checks Hendrix and Ekon, no pulse. He lets out his breath in relief.

Next to him Lay Lance. He's lifeless just like the first two. Clay isn't happy with his death, but he doesn't feel grief. He didn't know him personally, but he was their last hope for a rescue plan. Their plan and quite possibly the human race has just died with him.

Then he turns to Valerie. The back of her skull cracked on impact to the concrete floor. A pool of blood surrounds her pale, lifeless face. Dead.

He holds his breath as he checks Eliza's pulse. He's hopeful, but scared. She can't be dead. Can she? He strokes her cheek and is overjoyed to find that she does have a pulse.

Soon more guards arrive on the scene. They take away the bodies and stabilize Eliza in a medical room. That's when it hits him that he will have to tell Eliza of Valerie's unfortunate death when she wakes up. She may already know.

Karma and Helena are locked in separate cells and put under twenty-four seven surveillance.

He hears the beep of the machine that monitors her heartbeat. He concentrates on the steadiness of her pulse. There is also a machine that is feeding her oxygen, but he finds that sound unnerving.

Clay sits on her gurney and stokes her hand that he placed in his palm. Will she wake up? She has too. She's the only one in the world that means anything to him. Nothing else in the world seems to matter except that Eliza is alright.

Suddenly a deep exhale breaks her shallow breathing pattern and Clay's eyes are drawn to her face.

A grin breaks across his face. She's alive!

He feels her hand close around his. Then he watches her eyes partially open and flutter open and close a few times before her large pupils dilate to the light overhead.

"Hey, I'm glad your awake. You scared me." Clay says in a soft, calming voice.

Eliza's eye brows furrow. "My head." She murmurs and tilts her head to one side. She seems to be thinking before she asks. "What happened?"

Clay freezes. How much should she know now? He's not going to lie to her, but he wants to protect her as much as he can. What would she want? She would want him to be blunt, especially at times like this. Time is of the essence. There's no time for delays.

He sighs, dreading what he has to say. He clears his throat and begins. "Steven and Ekon attacked you. I don't know how the fight started, but none of them escaped."

"So you captured them?" Her voice sounds meek.

"Some."

Eliza meets his gaze and nods in comprehension.

She swallows and asks, "how's Valerie?"

Clay takes a shuddering breath and shakes his head. He breaks eye contact. He can't bear to see the sorrow on her face.

He leaves temporarily to bring her a steaming bowl of chicken noodle soup. He props up her pillow and helps her sit up. She is too shaky to hold the bowl or spoon in her own hand so he does it for her.

It's also clear by the way she moves her head and tenses her eyebrows, that she is fighting a headache. That's not unexpected. She has a swollen lump on her head from being hit with a gun.

Clay doesn't leave her bedside until she has fallen back to sleep. Now it is time for him to return to his role as leader, but he was Eliza's second in command so the responsibility has fallen into his lap.