by Jon Gerrard
Tom dove through the window behind Danny and Reed, hit the floor and tucked into a shoulder roll. He knew he wasn’t as graceful as Paige, but he was proud of the way he was able to roll quickly to his feet and begin sprinting away from the office in one smooth motion. Just ahead of him Reed and Danny were tearing into the center aisle between the towering metal shelves that filled most of the warehouse space. Further down the aisle he could see the shadowy forms of the rest of their group also madly dashing toward the front of the warehouse. All they needed to do now—
It was like getting hit in the back with a baseball bat. The forceful blow surprised him, throwing him off his stride and knocking his breath away. At the same time he saw a trio of small explosions erupt from his chest and he knew that he had been shot.
Tom stumbled as a wave of dizzying weakness swept over him. As the edges of his vision began to darken he felt himself falling and tried to raise his hands as he pitched toward his face. He landed hard, the side of his face striking the cement floor in spite of managing to get his hands up, and he momentarily lost consciousness from the impact.
When he came to his senses a moment later he found himself staring at the gray expanse of the warehouse floor, his cheek pressed to the cold, unyielding cement. He willed himself up but couldn’t make his body move. His limbs were like lead weights. Then he felt a burning sensation beginning to build inside his body. It was like three white hot rods had been driven through his chest. The burning feeling quickly built to an excruciating level. A spasm of coughing shook him then and he saw himself spit red onto the floor. He was dying.
He was surprised to realize that he wasn’t all that scared by what was about to happen to him. He just hoped the others could make it out safely.
Then he felt something grab his wrists. A moment later he was being dragged into the center aisle. He managed to look up and saw Reed and Danny dragging him by his arms, frantically trying to pull him away from the open window. His friends were trying to save him, even though he knew it was a useless gesture.
“Leave me,” Tom rasped weakly, before a new fit of coughing wracked his body. If his friends had heard him they ignored him.
“They’re coming through!” Danny said.
Reed let go of Tom’s wrist with one hand and stretched his arm toward a back corner of the room. “I’ll slow them down!”
After shooting Tom in the back, the guards chasing them had slung their rifles so they could climb through the open window. In their heavy boots and body armor, the guards were not as nimble as the younger teens, giving Reed the moments he needed to act.
As the first guard jumped down to the warehouse floor a boxy form lumbered toward him from a darkened corner of the room. A driverless forklift appeared out of the shadows and made directly for the guard who had climbed through the window. Although not especially fast, the forklift was massive and powerful. It knocked the guard down, rolling over and crushing his ankle when he didn’t move out of the way quickly enough. As the guard howled in pain, the machine pivoted, raised its forks and drove directly at the wall. A large crate was cradled in the machine’s forks. When the forklift slammed into the wall, it wedged the crate into the window opening, blocking it.
Angry shouts came from the other side of the window and there was a series of loud bangs as the rest of the guards who were blocked by the crate tried to shove the obstruction aside. But the combined mass of whatever was in the crate along with the forklift itself was far too much to be moved by mere human muscle.
Danny and Reed took that opportunity to haul Tom up and drape an arm around each of their shoulders. Moments later they were hurrying along the aisle carrying Tom between them.
“You need…to leave me,” Tom said through clenched teeth. His complexion was chalky and his lips tinged with blue. Every movement was sending waves of fiery pain lancing through his body.
“We’re a team,” Reed answered him, puffing with exertion. “And we don’t abandon our friends.”
“No matter what,” Danny added from his other side.
“You guys…are idiots,” Tom said weakly.
“Since you’re not in any condition to have a say in the matter I suggest you shut up and let us save you,” Reed told him.
Tom had used up the last of his strength getting those final words out. He had given up even attempting to walk and his feet dragged limply behind him. He was so weak by now that he didn’t even have the strength left to hold his head up and he let it loll forward. Although he feared for his friends’ safety he was overwhelmed by the fact that they were risking themselves to save him. He just hoped their grand gesture didn’t cost them their lives. Those were his final thoughts before the darkness took him and put a merciful end to his suffering.
Danny felt the change when Tom’s body went completely limp. “Tom? Tom!”
When Tom didn’t answer Danny looked at Reed, seeing his own worry reflected in his friend’s face.
“We need to hurry,” Danny said as they increased their pace.