There wasn't another word spoken the rest of the way home. It was weird to say that, but that is exactly what the WTIX was for us now. It was home. It was our home. It was our job to clean the building, make sure there was plenty of food on the table, and to make sure that everyone inside was healthy and happy. That is why we went to such great lengths for Sam. He wasn't healthy. He was sick. Very sick. It was our job now as his family to do whatever we could to make sure he was going to make it.
We pulled up to the building and exited the vehicle. At that point, everything was fine. Everything outside was quiet and calm and everything inside seemed to be fine too. It was dark and during the night we only left a couple of lights on inside the building. We opened the back door and started pulling the bags out one by one.
"Hey," Jack grabbed me from behind.
"Yea?"
"Can I talk to you for a second?"
"Yea, what's up?" we stepped over to the side of the van away from the others.
"I don't know what the hell you were thinking," Jack said as his eyes focused on my mouth that was once occupied by a medical mask, but was now freely breathing the air.
"Frank was about to lose it. I don't know...I had to make him a believer. He has a son."
"I understand that, but now you realize that if you start to get sick, we've got to..." he didn't finish.
"I know."
He patted me on the shoulder and we went back to grabbing the rest of the equipment.
When we had everything, we turned around and saw that all the lights in the building were off. They were on seconds before but were now gone. The entire building was dark.
We slowly walked through the first set of doors. They were now nothing but an open frame and shattered glass from when Cameron shot it. I swiped my card and opened the door. Everything was darker inside than it was outside. The moon provided some light outside, but once the roof blocked the moon out, it was damn near pitch black
We went through the third set of doors and couldn't see much. There was some glow of moonlight through the side windows, but the interior of the building was dark. There wasn't a light on above us; the appliances in the kitchen weren't on. Nothing was on.
"This is your place?" asked Frank. He pulled his son closer to his body.
"This isn't how we left it," Emily said.
"What the hell's going on?" Jack asked.
"I don't know."
"Hey, guys!" Emily shouted.
"Shh," I whispered to her. "Is there a flashlight in one of these bags?"
"I brought one," Jack said. He pulled it out and flipped it on.
"Over there," I said pointing in the direction where the three stragglers were tied up.
They were gone. Only the cord and wires that once tied them to the pillar were there. There was some blood by the cords but no signs of a struggle. It looked like the blood from their wrists from being tied so tightly.
Jack and I pulled out the guns that we had tucked away in the back of our pants. Simultaneously, we both made sure that the safety was off and that it was loaded and ready to fire.
"You go that way with Emily. I'm going to stay here with Frank and Reggie and make sure that nobody tries to leave."
Jack nodded and made sure Emily was okay to walk through the dark. She nodded and they both took off down the hallway. They turned the corner and I could only see the reflection of the light for so long.
"Frank, there is something I have to tell you. Your brother, Cam, and his friends broke in here last night and took us hostage."
"What did you just say to me?" he was in disbelief.
"They pulled their guns on us but we were able to overpower them. We tied them up to that pillar and were going to let them go when we knew they meant us no harm."
"Why didn't you tell me back at the hospital? You knew this whole time!"
"Lower your voice. I know. And I'm sorry, but I needed this equipment and I thought if you knew, you wouldn't let us take this stuff back. I was going to let you take them back. I trust you. I didn't trust him."
"Well, where are they?"
"I don't know, but they are in here with the rest of my people and if we don't get these lights back on...someone is going to get hurt."
"So, what do we do?"
"I don't know."
I looked around the lobby, but could only see so much. There was the cord lying on the ground, the gun in my hand, and that was about it. I wasn't going to go walking through the building in the dark. I wasn't going to take any chances with a young boy at our side. Then I spotted the main phone that Nancy the secretary used.
"That's it."
"What?"
"You're going to use the intercom system to talk to Cam. If they're still in here, you get them to come to the front of the building to meet us. We'll turn the lights back on and everything will be okay."
"Okay," Frank ran to the side of the phone. "What do I do?"
"There should be an intercom button," I continued to scan the room making sure that I was ready to shoot if someone tried to attack.
I heard the speaker click on and the intercom system was activated.
"Ca... Cameron, it's your brother, Frank. I'm here with a man named Kurt and his group. If you can hear me, you need to come to the front of the building. If you can hear me, do not hurt anyone. These people are good. They helped us. They're helping Reggie. Please just come out here and surrender whatever it is you're doing. I," he was interrupted.
"Frank? Frank, is that you?" I heard from the darkness.
I braced myself. Ready to shoot if it was a distraction for an attack. Cam came walking out from the shadows with his hands in the air. He looked like he was in a little bit of shock. Like he never expected to see his brother in a million years. The other two weren't with him, but I felt that Frank's announcement made the situation safe again.
I grabbed the phone from Frank, "Whoever is close to the generator, turn the power back on. Everything is fine. Scott, if you can hear me, find your way to the generator and turn the power back on."
Frank and Cameron met each other a few steps away from me. They wrapped their arms around each other and embraced in a strong hug. Frank was much bigger than Cameron, which was a sight to see because Cam was a big guy in his own right.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Frank asked his younger brother angrily. "I told you guys to get supplies and hurry back. I didn't tell you to take a group hostage. What the fuck are you doing!"
"I'm sorry. We thought they might have supplies."
Frank pulled him in for another hug.
"I'm sorry, Kurt. I'm very sorry about all of this," Frank said to me. I simply nodded to him.
Then the lights turned back on. It took a couple seconds for the lights to get back to their full brightness, but once they did, everything was back to normal.
One by one everyone started coming out of hiding. Travis and Jenny were the first, then Heather, followed by Barry and Janet. I held my breath for a moment not sure that I was going to see...and then she came out from the sales area. Haylea's face lit up when she saw me. She ran over to me and jumped into my arms. I could feel her entire body weight come off the ground. I lifted her up higher and kissed her heavily on the cheeks and the lips.
Jack came back around the corner with Elyse. I already knew, without asking, that Emily was back with her husband, Sam, making sure that he was okay. I nodded to Jack and waited for the rest of our group to come out of hiding.
But then...
We all heard a scream.
A loud scream that was straight out of a horror movie. It echoed in the halls and made the hair on my arms stand up.
Without hesitation, Jack and I took off running down the hall toward the area the scream came from. When we got to the Master Control area, we walked through the glass doors and looked around. We didn't see anything, though.
The Master Control area had three departments. There was the South station that had three channels from N
ew Orleans and Miami, there was the North station that had two Indy channels and one D.C. channel, and then, finally, there was the prep room where we made sure all the programming was ready for air.
There was nothing in the South area. We went through the next door and once again nobody was in the North station. When we went into the prepping area I could feel my throat drop down into my chest. I felt my body give out and had to hold onto the wall so that I wouldn't crumble to the ground. Jack seemed to be doing stronger than I was. He remained on his feet, but his eyes and his jaw told a different story.
Kneeling in front of us crying like a loud baby was one of the stragglers, Pete. At his side was a sharp piece of equipment. I don't know exactly what it was, but it was sharp and made of metal. It was covered with blood.
Lying in front of him, motionless, bloodied, dead, was the body of Joe Stewart. He was the kid's English teacher. Blood continued to pour from his neck. Poured from a wound that was identical to the shape of the edge of the sharp piece of metal. His eyes were still open, but he wasn't moving. He wasn't breathing.
Behind them stood Joe's best friend and co-worker, Molly. She fell to her knees. I couldn't see her face because her hands were covering, but I could hear her cries. I could see her body shaking.
XXXVI
Jack Scoville
"O h my God!"
I heard Haylea scream from behind me. The others looked on from behind the glass that separated the Master Control area from the rest of the building. I stared in horror at this dumb fucking kid kneeling over the dead body of one of our own. It looked like he stabbed him in the neck. It was a deep wound. It probably killed Joe instantly it was so deep. And he had the fucking nerve to cry about it. He wasn't a man. He was a stupid kid that had no purpose to be around anymore. He wasn't going to live a normal life like most kids did. He had no purpose.
I pulled my gun and cocked it. I put my finger on the trigger and pointed at him ready to pull the trigger without hesitation. I wanted him dead. I didn't want anyone to have to look this fool in the eyes. I straightened my arm and got the barrel of the gun aimed directly between his beady eyes.
But the force of Kurt's body knocked me back against the wall. Luckily, I had the composure not to pull the trigger when I felt the blow or else I probably would have taken Molly's head off. Kurt stuck his elbow underneath my chin. Not high enough to choke me, but low enough on my chest that it just kept me pinned against the wall. With his other hand, he grabbed me by the wrist so I couldn't do anything with the gun. His eyes were big and energetic like I'm sure mine were.
"What the fuck are you doing?" I asked him.
"What are you doing!"
"Putting a bullet in this fucking kid's head."
"What's that going to accomplish? Just put the gun down."
I shoved him back with all of my might and broke free from his grip. I lifted my gun, again, but Kurt stood in the way.
"Get out of my way, Kurt," I said to him. I could hear the anger in my own words.
"Jack, don't do this. Nothing good is going to come of this. Don't ruin one life by taking another. Just give us time to think about this."
"No! All you do is think! You're always thinking and it's getting people killed. We should have kicked them out! We should have sent these fuckers outside, but you didn't want to. Remember! You said we needed to sleep on it. You said we needed to think about it! Now look! Joe is dead because of this fucker!"
"Jack, I made a mistake. I know that and I'm sorry. Mary, I'm so sorry, but taking his life won't do us any good. You want to take them outside? You want to send them on their way? Go! Let's do it!"
Inside my head I could feel my brain being pulled in two different directions. I didn't want to turn into the monster that I feared I was becoming. It was one thing to leave Nick alone to die, but to take a life in front of everyone that was watching was another. I didn't want to do that. But I also didn't want to seem weak. I didn't want to back down from this little punk.
"Shoot him," she said softly from behind Kurt.
Kurt turned slowly and I stepped to the side to see Mary staring at Pete. Her eyes were filled with a deep, red rage.
"Shoot him!" she shouted.
That was all the encouragement I needed. I pointed the gun and readied my shot. Again, Kurt stepped back in front of my aim.
"I'm going to accidentally shoot you if you keep doing that."
"You might as well! What's stopping you? If you shoot him, we might as well pass around the guns and pick each other off one by one. Here want mine?" he held his weapon out to me. "Here? Anyone?" he looked around to see if anyone wanted it.
"Joe is lying there dead. Right behind you. Because of this guy!"
"Then we send them on their way. No food. No water. No supplies. No car. We just send them. Let God decide their fate."
"There isn't a God anymore, Kurt. Where is your God?"
"We can't kill them," I heard that annoying voice from behind me. The one that sounded like it should have come from a fourteen-year-old boy and not a middle-aged man. I turned around to see Dan with that stupid look on his face. He tried so hard to be angry and tough, but all I saw was a look of constipation. He was uncomfortable being demanding. It didn't suit him well.
"You sure you want to get involved with this, Dan?" I waved the gun around in the air so he would take notice of it. I think I subconsciously noticed the rest of the group at that moment. I didn't notice it enough to actually stop what I was doing, but I was scaring everyone. My antics and the look in my eyes brought fear into everyone else. Like Kurt said, we might as well pass the gun around and shoot each other, I think they thought I was going to shoot Dan.
"There is a better way to do this. We're not killers. We're just normal people. He's just a kid," Dan said.
"A kid? He's a killer, Dan! Do you see this? Do you see Joe?"
"Yes! But what's killing him going to do? Just let him go!"
I took a few steps toward Dan and lowered my voice into a dramatic, intimidating whisper, "You want to shoot him, Dan?"
"No."
"You want to hold this gun and feel the power, Dan? I bet you do. You'll never guess what it feels like. I feel like I can do anything. No fear."
"Jack," Kurt said.
I turned around and didn't have time to notice Kurt's fist flying toward my face. It connected directly on the left side of my face. His knuckles cracked against the hard bone of my cheek. I could instantly feel the pain shoot through my face like a vibration of agony. It was a good hit. Good enough to knock me back onto one of the tables in Master Control North. Kurt quickly pulled the gun out of my hand while I was still feeling the effects of his punch.
"Why don't you go take a walk and cool off? We're not killing anyone. Go walk it off!"
I reached up and placed the tips of my fingers on the spot that hurt the most. I checked it to make sure I wasn't bleeding. I didn't want to keep my hand up there too long. I didn't want him to know I was in pain. Never rub where it hurts because it just shows weakness. I put my hand back to my side and looked him in the eyes.
Things were going to be different after this. Kurt was still trying to live by the government’s judicial system. I realized that it was up to us to be the judge, the juror, and the executioner. Sending them outside, putting it in God's hands wasn't going to do us any good. We needed to take care of things while we had the chance. Kurt was never going to see it that way. That is when I realized that things needed to be changed. Sides needed to be taken.
XXXVII
Haylea Meyers
A s a reporter, I had seen a lot of things before. I'd been to the scene of hundreds of robberies and dozens of murders, but I had never seen anything like what had just taken place inside the WTIX building. Being in front of the camera, with police all around the scene, it was never a big deal about what was going on. It was my job to get to the bottom of the story and report the facts for the audience. I would read them line-by-line and have no fee
lings about it.
After a while, I learned that I couldn't let my emotions get the best of me when I was reporting a story. Most of the news is sad. It's kidnaps and deaths and if you don't put up a guard, it can be very depressing to work in that area. It's just like being a doctor. Doctors are surrounded by death every day and if they let it get to them it will affect their job and they will be surrounded by even more death. I quickly learned that when I walk out of the WTIX doors, I needed to leave everything inside the building. Never take anything home with me.
This was nothing like reporting the news. Seeing Joe's dead body lying in front of all of us was enough to make me want to vomit. I felt my stomach immediately begin to feel queasy. Seeing someone that I had grown to know and respect made it so hard not to get emotional. I wanted to bash in Pete's brains just like Jack did. As much as I love Kurt and as much as I always want to take his side, I don't think Kurt was thinking. Jack should have put a hole between his eyes and none of us should have thought twice about it.
While they argued about whether or not to pull the trigger, I stood there silently. Jack, Kurt, Dan, and Molly all put in their two cents and I didn't say a word. I felt sick to my stomach, but not because of Joe's body but because I didn't speak up and defend my husband...my fiancé. I should have said something.
A few minutes later when everyone had calmed down a notch or two, not much but enough to have a normal conversation, I wanted to speak up. I had no idea what to say, though, so I wasn't going to be the first to speak up.
We tied Pete's hands behind his back with the same cord that we had used to tie them up. We put our three guns on the counter and away from everyone. Even Kurt gave his up so that at that moment, there was nobody in control of the situation. Frank all stood between us and Pete and the other two so that nobody made any quick reactions and knocked Pete's head off.
"Does anyone have any thoughts?" Kurt asked the entire group.
Well...most of the group. Heather was in the back putting Molly to bed. She was hysterical and had spent the last couple of minutes screaming at Pete and at Kurt. She was part of the reason that everyone was getting riled up. The moment Kurt and myself were able to calm everyone down, she would start screaming her head off and it would start another argument.
Dead Last (Vol. 1): Dead Last Page 18