Highway Don't Care (Freebirds)

by Vale, Lani Lynn

  He lost me after that. My mind had slipped back into freak out mode. Part of it was excitement, but the other part was fear. I didn’t know how to handle a baby. I wasn’t married. I had an IUD somewhere in me that could possibly kill the baby, and I had to tell Gabe.

  Worst of all, I wanted my mother, and that was the one thing I couldn’t have.

  Ω

  “Thanks for coming, James.” I said to him as we walked into the training room.

  He parked himself to the side of the door and took in the chaos. The room was a flippin’ mess. A table was over turned; gauze strewn all over the floor and a bucket of ice sat leaking all over the floor at the center of the room. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this many people in the training room at once. The rest of the tables were occupied, as well as two of the chairs that lined the back wall.

  “What the hell is going on, June?” I asked.

  “That would be our lovely football coach. He got upset when they called practice on him. One of the players came up here to talk to you, but the only one here was Adrian and I. I called the athletic director while Adrian went to speak with the coach. The coach then came here looking for the player, but I’d already sent him home before he got here. Adrian went to the ER with a broken nose thanks to the lovely coach, and here I am by myself with a shitload to do, hints why I called you.”

  “Alright, let’s get started.”

  We worked in companionable silence for the next hour wrapping sprains, splinting arms, and giving one boy an ice bath. James watched from his perch. His eyes never stopped scanning the area. He looked like he was lazily leaning against a wall, but I knew he could be lethal instantaneously if need be.

  “Alright, anyone need some ice?” I asked.

  Five hands went up, so I went to the far wall and filled up five ice bags. Just as I slammed the ice door down a commotion started up in the hall. I sighed, thinking at first it was just another fight that had broken out, but then there was the sound of gunfire and my blood ran cold. My eyes sought out James, but he was already gone, closing the door silently behind him.

  My heart was pounding, but a sudden rush of calm washed over me and I knew what I had to do. I heard another two bursts and cringed at the thought of James being out there by himself, but I knew if I’d had gone out there that I would have just been a distraction.

  “Everyone, I need you to get into the storage closet. I’ll be right behind you.”

  How we fit five injured people, June and I into that 6X6 storage closet, I don’t know. There was tons of junk piled into the corners, but I left them there because I didn’t want anybody to see the stuff lying outside and know that we had people in the closet. Once situated, I locked the door from the outside and closed myself in with the rest of the group.

  Pulling out my phone, I dialed 911.

  “911, what’s your emergency.” A brisk woman answered.

  “I am at Kilgore College. I’m an athletic trainer, and in the training room. There have been shots fired, but I have no clue how many are out there nor what’s going on. Five students, my assistant and I are locked in the supply closet in the training room.” I informed her.

  “Okay, stay where you are.”

  Duh. I wasn’t a dumbass.

  “My friend is in the gym. He just got out of the army, so he knows what he’s doing. I don’t know what he’s doing either, I just know that he was in here when the shooting started and isn’t now. His name is James Allen.”

  “Okay ma’am. Stay on the line.” I agreed but didn’t mean it.

  Ignoring her while hanging up, I quickly dialed Gabe’s number and listened to it ring three times before he answered.

  “Hey, baby.”

  “Gabe, someone’s shooting in the gym.” I said without preamble.

  “Get into that supply closet-” He said before I interrupted him.

  “I’m already there. I have six other people with me. James went out the door and I haven’t seen him since. I’ve heard a total of four shots so far. It’s been seven minutes.”

  “Okay. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Stay where you are. Turn your phones on silent. Don’t come out no matter what; I’ll let you know when it’s safe.”

  “Okay. I love you.” I whispered.

  “Love you too, baby.” He said gruffly.

  I had a bad feeling about this. Super bad. Nothing good was going to come out of this, I just knew it.

  Ω

  Gabe

  “Listen to me!” I roared at the dumbasses who were about to go into the gym without having the first clue on how to handle it. “I’ve been in that gym hundreds of times. There are over ten hallways. It’s a fucking maze. You won’t be able to just bust in there like bulls in a china shop. You need more of a plan than what you have. I have a man inside; I also have my fiancé inside. This is not going to happen.” I fumed.

  “I don’t really care who or what you are. You have no authority here. None. Now go back behind the yellow tape before I arrest you.” The cocky little cop said.

  I wanted to beat his head in with my foot. He was the first on scene, and if I hadn’t gotten here as quick as I had the little fucker was going to go in with his little band of commando cops and get everyone in that gym killed, as well as himself. He had no experience. He was twenty-two at most. His attitude sucked, and he wasn’t listening to me. It wasn’t often that I lost my temper, but right then I would have gladly put my fist through his face if it would get me to where I needed to go.

  “Listen to me. You have no clue what you are doing. I’ve done this hundreds of time. Longview SWAT is still forty minutes away, and unless you can pull a trained swat team out of your ass in the next five minutes we will be going in.” I seethed.

  It had been twenty excruciating minutes since Ember called me. Twenty minutes of no communication. I know I told her not to talk, but it was still no less concerning. Sam was nearly here from his Dallas parts trip, he’d just taken the exit for Kilgore off the interstate when I’d last spoken to him. It was as if he had a sixth sense because he didn’t stay in Dallas like he’d originally planned. He came straight home, not even taking his usual stop off half way home.

  The other members of our team were scattered around the campus looking for possible entry and exit points. They’d each arrived here on the heels of me; going in different directions disappearing as if they’d never even been there.

  “Gabe.” Sam said with a deep voice.

  Instantly I calmed. I wasn’t alone anymore. Having the man that saved my life on a daily basis at my back now cooled my temper down to a slow boil instead of that erupting volcano feeling I’d previously been sporting. I turned my back on the little prick and turned my attention to Sam.

  “For the love of all that’s holy, please tell me you have good news.” I asked Sam.

  “Yep. Luke here is taking over.” He said gesturing to his left.

  Luke was in black cargo pants, a black shirt, black boots, and a black gun vest. He was carrying a tactical shotgun in his right hand, and in his left, a microphone dangled. He gave me a steely nod and then turned his attention to Officer Prick.

  “Listen up, Gibbs. These men have taken shits longer than you’ve been a police officer. I’ll tolerate none of the bullshit I just heard you spitting. Go work the police tape. I don’t want anyone past it. Move.” He barked.

  Hiding a smirk, I regarded Luke and Sam.

  “I told her to hold off cell communication until it was absolutely necessary, or if she thought her life was in danger. Here’s a map of the hallways. I have eyes on the inside; I just have to get Jack to pull the feed up on his phone. The only place I don’t have them is the restrooms.” I said to them both.

  Sensing his need, or maybe just overhearing, Jack materialized at my right side. He handed over his cell phone that had the video feed on it and nodded briskly at Sam and Luke. There was no movement in any of the rooms. Not one single person was milling around, which meant that they’d moved t
hem into either the girl’s or the boy’s locker room, which is what I thought they would do.

  The locker rooms had no windows, it was large enough to fit a large group in, and there were two exits if needed. Obviously, the shooters did their homework. James appeared at the end of one hallway in clear view of the camera that he knew was there. He held up three fingers, flashed them down low, showed a fist, and then disappeared in the next instant.

  “There are three shooters. Boy’s locker room. Multiple hostages.” Sam informed Luke.

  Luke nodded, not arguing or questioning how Sam knew since we’d all seen the same sign. Luke may not have been able to decipher it, but since he was a smart fellow, he knew that we could. We spent the next fifteen minutes discussing how we would go into the building. Luckily, Elliott remembered to bring the earpieces, because now we would be able to hear and communicate what was going on once we entered.

  “Alright boys, you know what to do.” Sam said.

  We spread out to different entrances and entered the building soundlessly. Jack was my partner, and would help me clear each room, as well as watch my back, as we made our way to the boy’s locker room.

  With our guns in hand, we set out. The first hall we came to was the one that led to the gym. Once in the gym, Jack went low and I went high. With the bleachers stacked against the wall, the gym was one big open area, and it was immediately apparent that it was empty. If the bleachers were out this would have been a different ballgame.

  “Lock it.” I said to Jack.

  He immediately used the lock on the top of the door, turned the key, and then slid the key into his pocket once he was done. Hugging the wall, we made our way to the other door at the far side of the gym. Once there, we opened the door slowly. Lucky for us it swung in instead of out.

  “You’re clear for the next hallway, Gabe.” Luke said into our ears.

  “Copy.” I whispered.

  Easing cautiously into the hall, we locked the gym door behind us too. The reason we were locking the doors behind us was that we didn’t want to lose the shooters in the maze of rooms in the athletic wing. With the gates closed off that connected the athletic department from the rest of the school, we made it to where the shooters only had one-way out. If the shooters did run, we wanted to make it to where they couldn’t escape.

  “Alright, boys. Still no movement on any camera. I can see the boy’s room crack open every now and then, but nothing besides that.” Luke said into my ear.

  “Copy.” Sam said.

  “Copy.” I said.

  “Copy.” Elliott said.

  “I’ve got James coming up to your right, Sam. Try not to shoot him. Looks like he’s waiting for you.” Luke voice broke the silence.

  “Got him.” Sam said.

  We continued to make our way down the maze of hallways and finally stopped once we were at the training room door. Planting myself in front of the door, I watched the hallway as Jack entered the room using the key I’d had made when all the gang business started. Not that I’d thought I would be using it for this.

  “Clear.” Jack said.

  Easing into the room, I closed and relocked the door and headed for the supply closet. Lowering my weapon, I unlocked the closet door and swung it open while Jack covered my back. I wasn’t sure of what I would find, but never in a million years did this possibility cross my mind.

  I honestly thought that Ember would be just fine. I thought I’d get in here, and she would jump in my arms when she saw me. Seeing this young girl with the wide brown eyes standing behind Ember with a knife to her throat was the last thing I would have expected.

  “She fell for it perfectly. I was told if I came in here acting hurt, that I could be backup in case the others couldn’t get to her. Looks like they were smart to have a plan B, huh?” The little girl said.

  “Mari. You don’t have to do this. Drop the knife; I don’t want you to get hurt.” Ember’s voice quivered in fear.

  The little girl looked like she was standing on her tippy toes to see over Ember’s shoulder. She looked barely old enough to graduate high school, let alone be in college.

  “What about your kids?” Ember asked. “Don’t you want them to have a mommy in the morning?”

  “Shut up, bitch. I’ll be there for them in the morning, but you won’t be.” The girl snarled.

  “You’ve got about two seconds to get that knife away from her throat or I’m going to put a bullet in your brain. I don’t care how old you are, or how many kids you have.” I said calmly.

  I felt anything but calm though. Here I was watching while the woman I love has a knife up to her throat.

  The other kids that were in the closet huddled in on themselves. Each had their head down with their ankles and hands tied together with tape. How this girl managed to do this by herself and hold Ember hostage was nearly impossible.

  I also wasn’t stupid.

  “Sleeper.” I said to Jack.

  He must have been under the same frame of mind though because his eyes were already moving over the rest of the group.

  “Let the hostages go. You can keep me. Just don’t hurt my June bug.” Ember said pleadingly.

  June’s head snapped up and her eyes furrowed. She looked completely confused. I wasn’t though. She was saying bug because of the girl who was sporting a ladybug tattoo on her foot. Jack and I knew each other so well that when I shifted my gun from the one who had the knife on Ember to the ladybug girl, he never even questioned.

  Ladybug tattoo girl’s eyes went glacial once she realized we were on to her.

  The next instant was a complete blur. Knife girl went low with the knife. Ladybug lunged forward gun in hand, and two things happened at once. Jack’s weapon and my weapon discharged simultaneously.

  Two barks of our firearms discharging split the still air. One went into the heart of ladybug girl. The other went into the left side of knife girls head. Ember went down with startled cry, and everything returned to real time.

  Jack kept his weapon trained on knife girl who was still moving, and I went to Ember and lifted her up into my arms. One glance and I knew she was in pain. Standing her on her feet, I scanned her body and found the knife protruding from her left side just to the right of her kidney.

  “Stay still, baby. I know it hurts. It’s gotta stay there though, I don’t want to risk pulling it out without knowing if it hit anything vital.” I said to her.

  “Locker room cleared. Looks like the boys cut a fucking hole in the fucking ceiling and went out that way.” James said into our earpieces.

  “Need a couple of ambulances. Ember has a knife wound to the left side, I think it’s just in some fat, but I won’t be able to tell until someone can bring me a kit in.” I relayed.

  “Copy.” Luke said.

  “I don’t have any fat. You’re a butthead.” Ember said weakly.

  “That was weak, my dear.” I whispered into her hair.

  “Gabe, I have to tell you something. Don’t freak out. Okay?”

  Conversations that started with ‘don’t freak out’ normally didn’t turn out good. For Ember’s sake, I would try not to freak out though.

  “What, baby.”

  “I’m premmmmt.” She mumbled into my shirt.

  “What?” I asked confused.

  She lifted her face from my chest before whispering “Pregnant.”

  Seconds passed before it finally sank in with what she said.

  Sweet Jesus.

  “Did you just say what I think you said?” I asked.

  “Yes.”

  “How do you know this?”

  Before she could answer, the door opened and the boys filed in, along with the rest of the Kilgore PD, two firefighters, four paramedics, and Ember’s boss. One set of medics came to Ember, and another went to the girl on the ground. The other girl was most definitely dead. They only glanced at her. No other reason to stop. Her blood was lying in a pool under her body. It was slowly spreading outward, creeping b
igger and bigger by the second.

  “No casualties. I don’t know what the fuck the show was for, but I’d kill to find out. I feel like we’re missing something here.” James said.

  “We probably are.” I said to James.

  “If that one lives.” Jack gestured to the girl writhing on the floor under the care of the medics. “She’ll know more.”

  Ember’s boss, Mr. Dean, chose that minute to come up to Ember and see how she was feeling.

  “Ember, are you all right?”

  “Yes. It’s only a knife wound. I’m sure it’s not that bad. I think it only went in three or four inches.” Ember said with sarcasm dripping from every word.

  Mr. Dean was oblivious though. He gave Ember another once over and then said what he needed to say.

  “I hate to be the one to do this, but you are a liability at this moment in time. Until this is no longer a problem, you’ll be on unpaid administrative leave effective immediately. Your job will be held open for six months. Please get this figured out and come back as soon as you can, I really don’t want to lose you.”

  “I understand, Mr. Dean.” Ember whispered pain clear in her voice.

  Tightening my arms around her, I let the day’s events start to seep through, the ones that I have been holding in check since I’d first gotten Ember’s call.

  I felt tired. Tired of my soon to be wife and mother of my child being in danger. Tired of all the drama. Tired of the shittiness in the world as a whole. Just plain tired. I needed a break.

  Sadly, that was not in the cards for me right now. I needed to grow a pair and get my shit together. It was going to stop soon. I would make sure of it.

  Ω

  Ember

  “He hasn’t said a word to me, Chey Chey.” I said nearly crying.

  “Honey, just give him a few minutes. Being held at knifepoint by a psycho bitch all the while he watched is a little nerve wracking. I think he’s allowed to be a little scared.” Cheyenne said comfortingly.

  “What the fuck do they do around here, grow them virile?” Payton asked.