The woman laughed slightly, seemingly amused at the exchange. Lauren began remembering things that her dad had told her over the years. She remembered him telling her that some people were just impossible to get through to. The oblivious ones, as he called them. They only saw things from one perspective and were devoid of compassion. This person was just one of those people.
Lauren said, “You can make another choice right here, right now—to live in peace with us, and us with you. If you can do that, you and your daughter are free to leave.”
The woman coughed and lifted the revolver into the air slightly, but didn’t point it at Lauren. Lauren’s finger was nested on the trigger of her rifle, ready to shoot her down if necessary. She truly did not want it to become necessary. She had done enough killing today.
“Look around you, girl!” the woman shouted as she began to become enraged, “look what you have done to us today! And now you ask for peace between our people?” She paused and shook her head violently. “No! There can be no peace—after this day, there will be no peace!” she announced with a maniacal grin. “We have just as much right to all of this as you do. We are sovereign citizens of this land. The only choice to be made is yours. You can give us what we want or we will take it. And, every single one of you, I assure you—will die.”
The woman raised the revolver, this time aiming it directly at Lauren. Lauren fired two quick shots at her without taking a second to aim. Both shots went unintentionally low and hit her in the stomach. The woman dropped the gun to the ground as her body bowed over, landing face first in the dirt outside the shed. Her daughter screamed and ran to her. The woman groaned loudly and rolled over, blood running from her wounds. When the little girl approached her, she grabbed her head and whispered something into her ear. Her daughter looked at Lauren with tears rolling from her eyes and then, slowly and methodically reached for the revolver.
“Sweetie, don’t do that,” Lauren pleaded as she aimed her rifle at the little girl. “I’m serious—don’t pick up that gun.”
The little girl did so anyway and Lauren began preparing herself to shoot her, even though every fiber in her soul told her not to. The little girl slowly handed the gun to her mother who took it, with her very weak and shaky hand. Lauren watched her diligently. She put the woman’s head in her sights and waited for what she was sure was going to happen. With narrowed eyes and a devious grin, the woman then took the revolver, deliberately placed it to the base of her daughter’s head, and pulled the trigger. Lauren shrieked as she watched the young girl’s lifeless body fall to the ground amidst a pink mist of blood. The revolver recoiled and caused the woman’s weakened grip to release it and it fell just behind her into the dirt and leaves. She closed her eyes and let her arm drop to the ground, not making an attempt to retrieve it.
“WHY?” Lauren screamed amongst a storm of emotional obscenities. “WHY?” she screamed again in a thundering voice as she walked up to them, her rifle at the ready. Her ankle stung her when she inadvertently put weight on it, but she didn’t care. It didn’t seem important to her now. She was numb—both emotionally and physically. A fire was burning out of control in her soul and she could feel an uncomfortable rage inside her begin to grow. Lauren was ready to empty the entire magazine of her rifle into the woman’s face after watching her senselessly murder her own child—having done so with a smile on her face.
“We do what we have to do,” the woman groaned, blood beginning to roll and bubble from her mouth.
Lauren began shaking uncontrollably. The anger inside her was exploding now. She flipped the safety on her rifle, screamed and soon, just dropped it to the ground. She fell to her knees and began to cry, almost hysterically. Tears began streaming down her face. She couldn’t help it anymore and just let herself go. Over the course of the past year’s events, she had grown so much and gotten so strong, but this was just too much to take right now.
Turn it into something else
“I can’t!” she wailed, in an attempt to answer her father’s haunting voice.
Her sobs had overtaken her. There had been so much killing today. She herself had done so because it’d been necessary. If she hadn’t killed them, they would have killed her and her family today. She didn’t like taking lives, but she knew she could eventually find a way to live with herself because of that fact. In these times, death was something she knew she had to learn to get used to, but a woman killing her own daughter in cold blood was different and too much to comprehend. It was the vilest thing Lauren had ever seen in her life. Through her sobs, she began hating this place. She hated what her world had become. The woman was right, there wasn’t any peace. There seemed to be no end to the horrors of this new world. They were free, but at what price? Would things always be this way? She wasn’t sure that she wanted to live in a world like this, if it meant seeing these things.
Hearing Lauren scream, Lee ran up to just behind her and gasped when he saw the scene. He put a hand to his mouth. He turned away, not able to process with what he was seeing. At first, he thought that maybe Lauren had shot the little girl, but the exit wound and the shiny revolver that laid near the shed told a different story. He tried to look back, but couldn’t. “Lauren, are you ok?” he asked, not knowing anything else to say.
Lauren hesitated through her tears and managed to utter the word, “No,” as she rose slowly to her feet.
Seeing that there wasn’t any danger and sensing Lauren needed her space, Lee decided to walk away. He was never very good at situations like this. He would go tell his brother what he had seen and let John handle it.
Lauren stood there for a while alone, her eyes darting back and forth from the dead little girl just a few feet away from her and her mother, whom she had shot twice but was still alive, taking painful breaths. One of her wounds oozed blood that was nearly black in color. Lauren had heard before that this meant the bullet had hit her liver, but wasn’t sure. The only thing Lauren was sure of was that this person would die soon and she wasn’t bothered in the least about letting the woman bleed out in front of her, no matter how long it took. Blood oozed from the woman’s mouth occasionally as she coughed. Her glassy eyes stared at the sky and she said nothing as she gasped for air. Lauren wanted her to suffer.
A few minutes had gone by and John walked up to Lauren, placing a concerned hand on her shoulder. Lauren didn’t even look at him. She didn’t want him to see her eyes right now. He unfolded a white sheet that he had brought with him and laid it gently over the little girl’s body. He closed her eyelids reverently before covering her face. John wasn’t known for letting his emotions get the best of him, but after seeing this, it couldn’t be helped. He allowed himself to cry briefly. Noticing that the woman was still alive, after hearing her death rattle, he said, “Lauren, we need to put her out of her misery.”
Lauren, who had managed to gather herself to just sniffles, shook her head in refusal. “No,” she uttered. “Fuck her. Let her die slowly. I want her to feel every second of it.”
John pleaded with her, but Lauren wouldn’t budge. After a few minutes of trying to get through to her, John relented and said, “I’ll be inside if you need me.”
After John walked away, Lauren looked to the sky as if to find answers there. She felt so lost right now in this horrible place. “I can’t do this, Dad,” she whispered. “Please hear me—wherever you are. I need you. Please come home. Can you just do that? I know you would want me to be tougher than this, but I just can’t and I’m sorry. I’m not a soldier…”
“No, you’re not,” Christian’s voice said as he appeared behind her. “But you are a warrior.”
Lauren turned to him, somewhat surprised to see him, and then turned away quickly. “I thought I was alone,” she said.
Christian walked up behind her and surveyed the scene. He counted at least twelve dead bodies before seeing the sheet that John had placed over the lifeless little girl. He looked at Lauren’s pale face, and then looked down at the woman who
had been gut shot and was bleeding out. Without any hesitation, he pulled out his Glock 19 and fired two shots into the woman’s chest, and one shot into her head. Lauren jumped at the sound of the abrupt gunshots, and then looked at him angrily. She began to shake again.
“This…isn’t who you are, Lauren,” Christian said softly. “You’re not an animal.” He paused and pointed to the dead bodies that lay near the shed. “These people—the people who attacked you…they’re animals. They lost what was left of their humanity a long time ago. Don’t let the fact that they lost theirs, influence you to lose yours. If you do, you’ll have nothing left truly worth fighting for.”
Lauren was taken aback by Christian’s actions as well as his words, but soon calmed herself down and began to take what he was saying to heart. She didn’t understand why, but he had a way of speaking to her that was calming and reassuring. He was like no one she had ever met before—almost. Christian moved beside her and patted her on the back as she began to cry again. As soon as the first tear fell from her cheek, she heard her dad’s voice from inside her once again.
Turn that shit into something else, L.
She wanted to heed his advice, but really felt like this situation more than warranted the tears. After all, wasn’t sadness, compassion, and sorrow a part of the humanity that Christian had just mentioned? After allowing herself to mourn for a couple more minutes, she wiped the tears from her cheeks and took a deep breath, exhaling slowly as her shaking subsided.
“There you go,” Christian said. “That’s more like it.”
Lauren smiled at him genuinely through her tears. It wasn’t so much a happy smile; it was more of an appreciative one. “I never even knew her name,” she said, barely able to get the words out.
Christian smiled and looked down at the sheet that covered the little girl. “Then we’ll call her Angel,” he said. “Her innocent life was taken from her too soon, but her pain is over. I’m sure she’s in heaven now—looking down at us.”
Lauren smiled slightly. “That sounds like something my grandmother would say,” she said quietly. As the seconds passed, an overwhelming feeling of comfort befell her, in spite of the gruesome scene that surrounded her. “Rest in peace, Angel,” she said.
Christian took another look around them, taking in the entire scene. He looked to the cabin and saw Norman and Michelle, pointing around the property and talking. Amidst the talking, he heard them laugh and saw them hug each other. John and Lee were standing near them, and he saw the brothers shake hands and give each other a one-armed hug. Grace soon walked over to them and began hugging each of them with a broad smile. At one time, she peered over her shoulder to the rear of the property with a concerned look but once she saw Christian and Lauren, she looked relieved. She smiled happily at him and waved. Christian nodded his head and smiled back at her, offering her a wave of his own. Amazingly enough, no one on their side had gotten hurt during this attack and he was thankful for that. He didn’t know if it would always be this way—in fact, he doubted it. But it was a good feeling to know that these people, his new family, had come out on top and unscathed.
In spite of what had taken place, Christian felt good being here. These people were Lauren’s family and friends, but they felt like they were now his family, too. They were members of a community that he was beginning to feel a part of. They had successfully defended themselves against an invading force. Today, they were survivors; in the complete sense of the word. They had won this battle and he was proud to know that he had helped them win it. He would do it again, if he had to.
Taking it all in with a feeling of pride, he turned to Lauren, who was staring off into the woods. He placed his hand on her shoulder and said, “I know you weren’t comfortable giving me information about your family and this place, Lauren. I guessed, from the words you used and the tone of your voice, how much you loved them and what you were willing to do to protect them. Looks like I was right. All things being equal, thank you for letting me come with you.”
“You’re welcome,” Lauren said with a grim smile. “Just don’t let me down, ok?”
“I won’t, I promise you,” Christian said. After a pause, he continued, “Up until the other day, I didn’t have a place to call home. I had no family. For some reason now, today, I feel I have both. And I have you to thank for that.”
Lauren nodded, but didn’t respond. This was as sincere as she had ever heard him. Christian, sensing something more needed to be said, gathered his thoughts quickly.
“I know that none of this is easy for you…but the things you did today were great things, Lauren. You protected your family today and defended your home. Your world is safer now because of what you did.”
“I guess,” she said humbly.
Taking his hand off of her shoulder, he pointed to the cabin and the others standing outside. Her eyes followed his finger while he looked at her eyes. “Your family, this place—all of this around us, this is your world now, isn’t it…”
Lauren glanced over at Christian briefly with a blank look before turning around, picking up her rifle, and hopping carefully back toward the cabin. As she reached the bridge, she stopped and turned to him.
“Yeah, this is it. What’s left of it.”
Epilogue
Lauren took a deep drag on the menthol cigarette she had lit a few minutes before. She still had the mini BIC lighter in her left hand and was rolling it in between her fingers while she breathed in the smoke and exhaled. She attempted to blow a couple smoke rings, but wasn’t quite able as she had never learned the art of doing so. Smoking wasn’t one of her favorite habits, but it provided her with a way to decompress, during one of her two fifteen minute breaks that she was allowed for every eight hours that she worked. It was quite warm outside, probably near eighty degrees and the sun shone brightly on the parking lot in front of her that was about half full of customer vehicles. It had been a very warm autumn Saturday and Toys R Us had been fairly busy that day; she guessed primarily due to the weather. Lauren had gotten the job a year before, and worked all summer long when school was not in session. She had just begun her junior year of high school. She had her driver’s license, a decent car, and a vision of what she wanted for her future. Her grades were remarkable, and even though academics came easy to her she worked hard, and felt that she was well on her way to a life of fun and independence. This part of her life was simply a stepping stone.
Not allowed to stand outside the front of the building while on the clock, per company policy, Lauren’s smoke breaks occurred on the east side of the building, where the trucks that kept the shelves filled with product backed up to the loading dock. Her view was not quite a notable one, just the side parking lot and a guard rail overlooking the road below. She inhaled a long drag and blew out the smoke from her nostrils, flicking the dead ash from her cigarette onto the ground. Pulling out her smartphone, she checked for messages and sighed loudly when she saw that there were none. Nothing from her school friends or even the boyfriend. She fumbled through the phone instinctively, opening a couple different social media apps to see if there were any waiting messages for her, and upon finding out there were none, pressed the button that turned the screen off and put the phone back into her pocket. She shook her head slowly and sighed in relative disgust.
The blue security door behind her opened. Lauren turned her head and noticed her best friend and coworker Madison had walked out. She smiled and Madison smiled back.
“Hey, hooker. Enjoying that cancer stick?” Madison asked.
“You know me, if it’s not one habit, it’s another,” Lauren replied, “It’s about all the pleasure I can get out of life at the moment.”
“It’s not that bad is it?”
“I’m not saying it is. But this working on weekends shit is for the birds, ” Lauren said, taking another drag from her cigarette.
“I guess you’re right about that, but we do need the money,” Madison pointed out.
“It would j
ust be nice to have more to look forward to,” Lauren said.
“Please. I would love to be in your position right now, Mrs. Honor student,” Madison began, “One of these days, you’ll be a college grad and you’ll have the entire world at your feet. Me, on the other hand…who knows? I’ll probably end up cutting grass and shoveling snow with my old man.”
Lauren dropped her cigarette on the ground and stomped it out. She turned to look at her friend with a stern eye. Madison curiously looked back, waiting for what was to come out of her best friend’s mouth.
“Your dad is a terrific guy and he’d do anything for you. You’re lucky to have him, Maddie. And so what, if you end up cutting grass. It’s a proud family business and there’s nothing wrong with working hard for a living. At least, that’s what my dad says.”
“Sure, Lolo. Coming from a man that doesn’t work hard,” Madison rebutted using her favorite nickname for her friend, “He’s got a great job.”
“Um… he used to when I was younger. Dad always had problems making money. He’s not educated. He’s just smart. He worked for himself and it was feast or famine those days. Yeah, he ended up getting a great career later on in life, but we were damn near dirt poor for a very long time,” Lauren said.
“I guess,” Madison said unconvinced. “I’m bored. Ready to go back inside?”
“Aren’t you going to take a break?” Lauren asked.
“Nope. Don’t need one.”
“Well…let’s get back to the grind then.”
Lauren put her arm around her friend and they walked back inside the store together. Once inside, they walked back to the stockroom and resumed pulling boxes of merchandise from the store room shelves and placing them onto a cart to be taken out onto the sales floor and fronted.
After diligently filling the cart, Lauren walked to the front of the cart and began pulling it out of the stockroom while Madison followed her, aiding her by pushing the near overloaded cart from behind. As they reached the double doors that led to the sales floor, all of the lights in the building went out. The rooftop air conditioners that normally could be heard rumbling above ambient noise levels were no longer operating. It was total silence, other than the customers talking quietly and scurrying about, with the occasional child’s voice asking questions. Surprised at this and the sudden darkness and silence that surrounded them, they stopped the cart and stood there for a second, as if waiting for the situation to return to normal, and lights to come back on.
What's Left of My World (Book 1) Page 32