I’d shot a gun next to her ear.
I said in a whisper, “Can I borrow you for a minute, ma’am? Real quick.”
Her reaction wasn’t comforting. Behind her bluish-green eyes, I could see her mind racing to make decisions. The muscles in her arms and hands and neck tensed.
I stuck my hand out again and motioned with two fingers for her to come.
The battle in her mind subsided, and she nodded and began to stand.
I knelt in the aisle so as not to be in anyone’s way and waited for her to collect her things. Watched her carefully.
Then she jerked at the belt holding her jacket too quickly, and I started for her. A couple screams erupted as I threw my hands at her, grabbing her shoulders. By then, I really hoped I wasn’t overreacting. My shattered ego couldn’t have taken it.
I caught a glimpse of steel as the jacket pulled away from her body. She had a gun. I pulled her backwards and she fell into the seat. Her hand came up holding a little Smith & Wesson, and it was coming toward me. I grabbed her arm and blocked any further motion, and she fired the gun into the ceiling.
The room turned to chaos.
I slid my right hand up her arm to the gun and ripped it from her grip, then stepped over the back of a seat to get into her row. I tumbled on top of her and fought her swinging hands and kicking feet. My hand went instinctively to her throat with my free hand, the other one still gripping the gun. The woman’s shirt had pulled up from her waist, and I noticed some kind of strange mark, like a branding, on the right part of her stomach. Funny, the things you notice in the frighteningly quick seconds of battle.
As I choked her into submission, a shot rang out, and blood splattered onto both of us. I whipped around as Ted collapsed to the ground.
“ Ted !” I yelled. At that point, I had no idea how bad he was hit, but it looked like a headshot. Things were moving to quickly to be sure.
What I am sure about is that my hopes of ever being the warrior I used to be were obliterated in those few seconds. A paralyzing sensation overcame my body, and my mind went to mush.
In a haze, I looked up. Another woman was there, holding a smoking handgun. She’d shot Ted and was now aiming her gun at the doctor. Fighting with everything that I had, using what I’d learned over the past year, I found some control. No one else was going to die.
The woman didn’t have time to pull the trigger again. I placed a bullet at center mass and her chest exploded. Her gun flew into the air as she dropped back against the table and slid to the ground.
“Stay down!” I yelled to the doctor, who was only a few feet away from me, lying on his stomach.
“Francesca! Where the hell are you?”
“Coming!”
Still holding the first attacker by the throat, I raised my head and looked around. Francesca was working her way through the last of the crowd as everyone fought to get out the door.
“Clear the room!” I yelled to her.
“On it.” She began to move from row to row, ensuring there was no one else waiting for the right time to take a shot.
That’s when I felt something wet dripping onto my arm, and the woman I was holding went limp. I looked down. She was drooling white foam. I felt for a pulse in her neck. There wasn’t one. She was dead.
“Ted,” I said, “you with me?”
He didn’t answer.
“Ted, you okay?” Keeping my eyes peeled for more trouble, I moved on my knees toward him.
Half his face was missing. No, he wasn’t with me, and he wasn’t okay . One of my oldest and dearest friends was lying flat on his back, unrecognizable, blood flowing out of his dead body. I’d seen his brother the exact same way, and I could have prevented both of them from dying. I could have fucking stopped it!
A waterfall of rage and confusion and delirium dumped on top of me, and it was almost too hard to handle. My hearing and vision went first. Then the muscles in my shoulders turned to rocks, and my fingers locked into the
I said in a whisper, “Can I borrow you for a minute, ma’am? Real quick.”
Her reaction wasn’t comforting. Behind her bluish-green eyes, I could see her mind racing to make decisions. The muscles in her arms and hands and neck tensed.
I stuck my hand out again and motioned with two fingers for her to come.
The battle in her mind subsided, and she nodded and began to stand.
I knelt in the aisle so as not to be in anyone’s way and waited for her to collect her things. Watched her carefully.
Then she jerked at the belt holding her jacket too quickly, and I started for her. A couple screams erupted as I threw my hands at her, grabbing her shoulders. By then, I really hoped I wasn’t overreacting. My shattered ego couldn’t have taken it.
I caught a glimpse of steel as the jacket pulled away from her body. She had a gun. I pulled her backwards and she fell into the seat. Her hand came up holding a little Smith & Wesson, and it was coming toward me. I grabbed her arm and blocked any further motion, and she fired the gun into the ceiling.
The room turned to chaos.
I slid my right hand up her arm to the gun and ripped it from her grip, then stepped over the back of a seat to get into her row. I tumbled on top of her and fought her swinging hands and kicking feet. My hand went instinctively to her throat with my free hand, the other one still gripping the gun. The woman’s shirt had pulled up from her waist, and I noticed some kind of strange mark, like a branding, on the right part of her stomach. Funny, the things you notice in the frighteningly quick seconds of battle.
As I choked her into submission, a shot rang out, and blood splattered onto both of us. I whipped around as Ted collapsed to the ground.
“ Ted !” I yelled. At that point, I had no idea how bad he was hit, but it looked like a headshot. Things were moving to quickly to be sure.
What I am sure about is that my hopes of ever being the warrior I used to be were obliterated in those few seconds. A paralyzing sensation overcame my body, and my mind went to mush.
In a haze, I looked up. Another woman was there, holding a smoking handgun. She’d shot Ted and was now aiming her gun at the doctor. Fighting with everything that I had, using what I’d learned over the past year, I found some control. No one else was going to die.
The woman didn’t have time to pull the trigger again. I placed a bullet at center mass and her chest exploded. Her gun flew into the air as she dropped back against the table and slid to the ground.
“Stay down!” I yelled to the doctor, who was only a few feet away from me, lying on his stomach.
“Francesca! Where the hell are you?”
“Coming!”
Still holding the first attacker by the throat, I raised my head and looked around. Francesca was working her way through the last of the crowd as everyone fought to get out the door.
“Clear the room!” I yelled to her.
“On it.” She began to move from row to row, ensuring there was no one else waiting for the right time to take a shot.
That’s when I felt something wet dripping onto my arm, and the woman I was holding went limp. I looked down. She was drooling white foam. I felt for a pulse in her neck. There wasn’t one. She was dead.
“Ted,” I said, “you with me?”
He didn’t answer.
“Ted, you okay?” Keeping my eyes peeled for more trouble, I moved on my knees toward him.
Half his face was missing. No, he wasn’t with me, and he wasn’t okay . One of my oldest and dearest friends was lying flat on his back, unrecognizable, blood flowing out of his dead body. I’d seen his brother the exact same way, and I could have prevented both of them from dying. I could have fucking stopped it!
A waterfall of rage and confusion and delirium dumped on top of me, and it was almost too hard to handle. My hearing and vision went first. Then the muscles in my shoulders turned to rocks, and my fingers locked into the
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