by E S Richards
“Of course, what is it darling?”
Amy sat on the edge of their large bed, waiting for her husband to come into the room. The bedroom was freshly decorated, brand new curtains and carpets put in following their move into the city a year ago. They’d nearly finished all the redecorating now, just the guest bedroom to finish and then everything would be perfect. Almost everything.
“Are you all right?”
Amy looked up as Len walked toward her, the sight of her husband putting a wide smile on her face. She was so lucky to have him. He treated her like a real lady, holding open every door and surprising her with flowers on his way home from work. She was so thrilled to be with him. It had been hard moving so far away from her parents, but when Len was offered his dream job in Chicago they just couldn’t turn it down. Plus she could see how happy the job made him and that made it all worth it.
“I’m good,” Amy smiled up at her husband, reaching forward and taking his hand. “Sit with me?”
Len perched on the bed beside his wife, staring into her eyes with adoration. The love the two of them shared was so blindingly obvious it was hard not to imagine them being together forever. Everything about the couple seemed to fit together perfectly and everyone who met them could see it.
“What is it?” Len questioned his wife again, slightly confused by the situation. “Is something wrong?”
“No, don’t worry,” Amy reassured her husband as she looked into his eyes. “Everything is fine. Better than fine actually; everything is perfect.” She paused, holding Len’s hands and letting the smile widen across her face. “We’re going to have a baby, Len. I’m pregnant.”
***
If Amy could’ve made that moment last forever she would have. Remembering it now brought tears to her eyes. That feeling of pure happiness, of sheer joy was something she had never known she could feel. To have a tiny baby boy growing inside of her and the man of her dreams sitting by her side was perfection.
The memory felt too personal to share though, too precious to tell to the man she’d only known for a day. Instead Amy looked down at James by her side and stroked his hair. It couldn’t be put into words how much love she felt for her son or how much purpose and pride he gave to her each and every day. James was the reason she was still standing and, as she locked eyes with her son, she knew she could continue to do whatever it took to keep him safe. Looking into her son’s eyes Amy spoke, her voice barely above a whisper.
“The best day of my life,” she paused, “was the day I found out I was having you.”
Chapter 18
Dixon could feel the helicopter picking up speed as it started spinning out of control on its path to the ground. He could almost see the pilots in the cockpit as they frantically battled against the various switches, pedals and levers, trying to guide the Osprey to the ground. The momentum from the broken engines could be felt throughout the bird, the rear tail propeller somehow causing it to spiral out of control. All Dixon could do was hold on and pray that they would make it out of the bird alive.
The alarm blared louder and louder as the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey continued to lose altitude and they sank lower in the sky. The lives of everyone on board and countless others on the ground below now sat in the hands of the two pilots. Even the third pilot on board couldn’t do anything, the bird shaking too much for anyone to leave the safety of his or her seat.
In what could be his last moments alive, Dixon thought of Mary. He wished they both weren’t so frightened of what would happen if they made their relationship public. They were adults and had been dating for a long enough time to speak out for themselves. Dixon loved her so much and he wanted to tell everyone. He wanted to be able to show her off on his arm and go out with her in public. Life was too short for secrets.
Life was too short for a lot of things. Perhaps even that conversation.
“Impact in thirty seconds!”
“Prepare to bail out!”
Corporal Lawson shouted into her headset, although the sound cut to static as it struggled to carry through. She could barely be heard over the noise of the Osprey, loud enough for all the soldiers on board to understand what was happening. Dixon estimated they’d have a matter of seconds from when the bird landed to clear the vehicle. He’d seen a couple of Ospreys go down on his first tour and could still picture the metal helicopters as they were consumed by giant balls of fire. The designs had been modified since then, but Dixon still knew they wouldn’t last long. With the engines blown, things were going to heat up real fast.
“Fifteen seconds!”
The pilot’s voice just reached Dixon as he continued the countdown to impact. Due to the lack of windows in the back of the helicopter, Dixon couldn’t tell where the bird was going to land but knew if it were at all possible, the pilots would’ve steered them away from danger. It was truly ironic that they had been sent out on a scout mission, their purpose to offer the city aid and yet they were simply going to make things a whole lot worse.
“Ten seconds!”
Looking across at Farley, Dixon could see the fear in his friend’s face. He tried to smile to her, tried to reassure her to some extent, but she knew as well as he did exactly what was about to happen. It could be the last time Dixon looked at his friend and he did so with sadness in his eyes.
“Five… Four… Three…”
What was going to happen to Washington? What was going to happen to the world? The bigger picture spun in Dixon’s head for a second before he squeezed his eyes shut and pictured the people he loved most. His parents. Mary. Even if he went down with the Osprey, he hoped and prayed that they were safe.
***
“Move! Move! Move!”
“Run soldier! Get out!”
Dixon snapped his eyes open and willed his body into action immediately. As a trained soldier, he was used to flying into battle at the flick of a switch and escaping from a helicopter was no different. His eyes quickly glanced around the bird and he could see part of the metal had bent inwards over the cockpit, trapping the pilots inside. A few fellow soldiers were slumped forward in their seats, either knocked unconscious or killed from the crash, he couldn’t tell.
It wasn’t his job to wait around and find out either, Dixon knew he had to get out of the belly of the bird immediately, before the engines exploded and destroyed the whole thing and everyone inside it. He sprinted for the door which Corporal Lawson was tugging open, another soldier by her side who Dixon didn’t recognize.
Leaning forward, he offered a hand, the three of them working together to force the door open. A fourth pair of hands joined a second later and finally the group of them managed to force their way out of the bird. But they weren’t safe yet. Immediately Dixon broke out into a full-speed sprint, tearing forward and as far away from the Osprey as possible. He’d made it about fifteen meters when a huge explosion sounded behind him and a wall of heat and fire flung him to the ground, his helmet smashing into the concrete below and shrouding him in darkness.
***
“Wake up, Private.”
Dixon’s eyes fluttered as he heard the sound of Corporal Lawson’s voice, her stern orders weaving their way into his brain. He scrunched his face together and winced as he waited for the ringing in his head to subside, the bright sunlight outside blinding him for a moment. There was no time to waste though and within seconds Dixon was staring the Corporal in the face, pleased to see someone else had made it out of the Osprey alive, even if it was that woman.
“Reporting for duty, sir,” Dixon spoke once he had cleared his head, pushing himself to his feet from the ground where he lay. “What…”
Dixon didn’t need to finish his question as he looked down the street where they had crash-landed and saw the giant ball of flames that was incinerating their helicopter. There was no chance of rescuing any survivors from the wreckage, the miracle that they had gotten out in time almost unbelievable. But who else had made it out? Dixon remembered four of them working to
get the door of the bird open. Where were the others?
Spinning around he couldn’t stop the wave of relief that flooded over him as he saw Farley standing over a soldier he didn’t recognize, fashioning a makeshift sling for his arm. With Corporal Lawson standing so close by Dixon didn’t want to disobey orders or break rank in any way, but he couldn’t stop himself from walking forward and clapping his friend on the back. He was so pleased she had made it out alongside him, although he spared a thought and a moment of silence for his other friend Croft and the many others who had been trapped inside the Osprey.
“Good to see you out alive, Farley.” Dixon smiled as his friend finished fixing the other man’s arm, the sling made from torn pieces of uniform. “You as well,” Dixon nodded to the man, not able to see his name or rank.
“Enough chit-chat!” Corporal Lawson’s voice sounded from behind Dixon and he spun around on his heel immediately, falling into line beside Farley. “Daniels, Fowler. Make your way north and see if you can pinpoint our location. Farley, you’re with me, this way.”
Dixon saluted alongside his friend and the soldier with the broken arm, now identified as Fowler. They turned in unison and started walking north up the street, Dixon’s eyes scanning the area for any sign of where they might have landed. Washington was a big city and he knew the crash landing of a helicopter like the Osprey wouldn’t have gone unnoticed. Cautiously, he unfastened his military issue 9mm Beretta pistol from its holster and held the gun steadily in his hand.
***
“Stop! Put your hands in the air!”
Dixon raised his weapon and pointed it towards three men, each of them stuffing their pockets full of money and jewelry from a high-end Washington store. The windows had been smashed open and glass lay in shards in the street and the first few feet of the store. Fowler raised his pistol beside Dixon, pointing it at the three men as they froze.
“Put down the jewelry and step out of the store.” Dixon spoke firmly, his voice wavering slightly in front of the three men, each of them much bigger than he was. He was used to dealing with politicians and hostile soldiers overseas, but battling his own countrymen in his own city was a new experience for him.
“Chill, man,” one of the thieves spoke, emptying his hands and putting them behind his back. “Take it easy.”
“Keep your hands where we can see them!” Fowler shouted immediately, taking a step forward glass crunching under his combat boots.
“Easy, easy,” the same man in the store spoke. “We don’t want any trouble.”
“Yeah,” another of his associates joined in, stuffing stolen jewels in his pockets and moving his hands behind his back. “Relax, guys.”
“Don’t make another move!”
Fowler inched forward again and Dixon could see out of the corner of his eye that his finger was hovering over the trigger of his pistol. The last thing he wanted was a shootout in the middle of Washington, the sounds of destruction echoing out from every corner of the city.
Before Dixon could make a move to defuse the situation, the three men all suddenly drew weapons of their own from behind their backs, raising them and pointing at Dixon and Fowler.
“Why don’t you two fellas move along?” one of them said. “I’m sure there are other people who could use your help more than us.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Fowler immediately bit back. “Lower your weapons immediately.”
Dixon’s eyes scanned the area around him, looking for somewhere to take cover if bullets started to fill the street. He’d never worked alongside Fowler before but he had a feeling his fellow soldier wasn’t making the situation any easier. He seemed trigger-happy and was probably still running on adrenaline from the helicopter crash. Holding his pistol in his left hand, Dixon could already tell that wasn’t his main shooting arm and his arm was shaking slightly as he stood.
The three men in the jewelry store looked to one another for a moment, the one in the middle curving his lips slightly into a smirk. “All right,” he spoke slowly, “we’ll put them down, see?”
The man raised his gun above his head, pointing it at the ceiling while his other hand also rose, palm forward as if in surrender. Before Dixon could take a step forward he fired his weapon into the roof of the store, causing dust and ceiling tiles to fall around them.
“Take cover!” Dixon shouted as more gunshots rang out, the three men having no true intention of surrendering. Dixon dove to one side, landing roughly on his shoulder but quickly rolling and ending up in a crouch behind a parked car. Looking over the trunk he could see Fowler had taken cover on the other side of the store, but a bloody wound was forming in his left arm—his good arm.
The three men had scattered in the jewelry store, each of them hiding behind a knocked over display or the counter. There was no other way out of this, Dixon realized as he raised his 9mm and took aim at the men inside the store. His first bullet smashed another pane of glass, sending more shards into the air beside one of the jewelry thieves. His second landed squarely in the man’s chest, the criminal dropping to the ground and ceasing his fight almost instantly. Dixon heard a cry ring out from one of the other men in the store and ducked down quickly as bullets started pinging off the car he was hiding behind.
“Cover me!”
Fowler’s call carried over the gunfire and he looked across to see the soldier holding his pistol unsteadily in his left arm, firing wildly into the store. Edging slightly further toward the hood of the car, Dixon stuck his head up and joined in the fire fight, providing Fowler with some cover from the other side. It was two against two now and even with Fowler injured, Dixon knew their training should give them the upper hand.
No sooner had the thought entered his head when he heard a grunt from Fowler and saw the man dropping down to his knees, another bullet striking him in the left shoulder. Two more loud shots rang out and Dixon watched as his fellow soldier took both bullets in the chest, his body falling backwards and landing with a thud on the ground.
Suddenly the air was quiet as Dixon stared at the man in uniform. There were still two opponents in the store front and now he was definitely outnumbered. Checking his magazine Dixon counted the bullets and braced himself to open fire. He’d just survived a helicopter crash; surely this wasn’t going to be how his life ended.
Chapter 19
“Run!”
Harrison’s shout pierced the air as five gang members suddenly appeared in front of the zoo gates, firing semi-automatic weapons wildly towards the four of them. Len veered immediately to the right, following Harrison as the prepper threw his body behind a novelty visitors sign, holes cut out of animals’ faces for tourists to pose as a lion chasing a zebra.
Angelo and Vanessa ran the other way, the group of them scattering as they tried to find cover. Len heard Vanessa scream as a bullet caught her in the back of the leg, causing her to trip and fall to the ground. He watched as Angelo kept running, not even turning back to try and help the poor women as a gang member fired another bullet into her torso, silencing her screams once and for all.
There was no time to stop and mourn for the woman though, the flimsy piece of metal Harrison and Len hid behind quickly being dented with bullets from the AR-15 rifles clutched in the gang members’ hands.
“Return fire!” Harrison shouted as he poked his Glock out of one of the man-made head holes in the metal and started firing off rounds back at the men with shaven heads.
“Get them before they take cover!”
Len sprang into action, adrenaline pumping through his veins as he flicked the safety off the 9mm Harrison had given him earlier and started peppering bullets back at the gang. Two of them fell immediately, although Len couldn’t tell whether it was a result of his reckless shooting or Harrison’s precise aim. He kept pulling the trigger though, letting bullet after bullet explode out of the pistol until it clicked empty.
Ducking back down below the metal, Len held the gun in two hands, unsure what to do with it
. Harrison had briefly shown him how to reload his weapon, but Len didn’t have any ammo and his mind couldn’t remember even the first step he’d been shown.
“Here,” Harrison shoved his own Glock into Len’s hands, taking the 9mm from him and quickly and efficiently ejecting and reloading the magazine. Len stared at him in awe for a second before remembering what was happening and carefully edging his head back up to look through a hole.
Four bodies lay on the ground near the zoo’s gates, one of them Vanessa’s. Len couldn’t see where the two remaining gang members had moved to, but as Harrison stood up straight beside him and started firing, he followed the older man’s direction. A shout filled the air and Len watched a man fall to the ground, his closely shaven head almost glistening in the moonlight.
“By the trees,” Harrison hissed to Len, the zoo falling silent for a brief moment.
The quiet wouldn’t last long. All the other gang members would have been alerted by the gunfire and would now be heading in their direction at full speed. Even Len knew that meant they would shortly be surrounded, the cover provided for them from the novelty sign only good in one direction.