Chiron Academy

Chapter 21.2 Wyatt's Time To Shine

Wyatt pushed off hard from the ground, willing his legs into a sprint. He had to get to them soon. They had to be in cover as soon as possible. If he were even a single second too slow, a bullet could end them. The bullets had stopped but that didn't stop them from starting again any minute.

He reached Sally first. She looked frozen in shock. Her only movement was from the jagged breaths she took. Her eyes were locked to the ground, as if stunned. She looked like how Mariah would have looked if she was asked to give a speech in front of the whole school.

He threw his arms around her small frame, picking her up off the ground. She struggled a bit, but she was small enough he was able to hold her without too much trouble.

Wyatt could feel the blood pound in his ears as he carried Sally back to his cranny behind the dumpster. He put her down as carefully as he could, but her comfort was not his first priority right now. Her eyes were filled with silent tears. He knew he should say something to her to calm her down, but there just wasn't time.

"Stay here," he said simply before running back out into the exposed alleyway.

William was leaning up against the brick wall, his milk crate seat lying uselessly on its side. The pom pom on his hat was still blowing chill wind. His mouth was moving, muttering words Wyatt couldn't quite make out. His eyes were darting about wildly, but they didn't really seem to be seeing anything.

Wyatt threw one arm around William's chest, not quite as tight a grip as he would have wanted because of the thickness of William's coat, and tried to pull him back towards Sally.

But William did not budge. He jerked himself back against the wall and was absently pushing away Wyatt's hands.

"Get away..." William muttered. "Let go of me..."

Sensory overload. Wyatt had seen it before but they did not have time for this. Again he scanned the rooftops for the shooter. Each second ticking away was raising their chances of getting killed.

Wyatt made another attempt to grab William's collar but the guy kept pushing his hands away.

Finally, Wyatt grabbed both sides of William's face, forcing his roommate to look directly at him.

"William," he said, pulse still pounding," we need to move. If we do not, we will be shot. We need to go for cover now. Do you understand?"

Above them, the sound of close gunfire erupted again, drowning the alleyway with noise. William tried to look towards the shots, but Wyatt held his head still.

"Nod to me if you understand. We need to move."

William gulped, biting his lip, before nodding.

Wyatt grabbed a handful of William's puffy coat and pulled. Luckily, this time the boy complied, staggering after Wyatt down the alleyway.

Dragging William down into a squat position behind the dumpster, Wyatt took a moment to appraise their condition. He didn't see any blood anywhere; both seemed pretty unscathed except for their obvious shock.

That was good. Now that these two were out of immediate danger, he was now free to deal with the shooter directly. Though first...

"Do either of you know where Mariah is? Did you see her run off?" he asked.

William mutely shook his head. Sally thought for a moment, her hyperventilating breathing slowing as she focused, and pointed a shaking finger down the alleyway in a direction away from the shooter.

Wyatt nodded slowly. Luckily, one of them had had the sense to actually run when the shooting started. She must have legged it almost immediately for him not to notice her sprinting away. Even Wyatt had needed a moment to gather senses. Mariah was once again revealing herself to be surprisingly canny at being a crime fighter.