As We Fall

by Jack Hunt

  All of them had no other choice than to make their way into the school and look for an alternative means of escape. Instinctively they headed for the exit doors only to find themselves pushed back by the staccato of gunfire.

  Lisa had been ahead of the pack when rapid fire unleashed.

  Her body looked like it was going through convulsions as multiple bullets entered her body and she finally collapsed.

  “No!” Mason cried out as he raced forward. He slid across the waxed floor on his side, to avoid the rounds peppering the walls above him. Orange flames crept across surfaces consuming everything in their path and enveloped the floors beneath windows, making it virtually impossible to escape.

  But Mason wasn’t thinking about any of that.

  He scooped an arm under her neck and touched her face. “Lisa.”

  “Mason. There’s no time,” Anna shouted.

  Time ceased in those following minutes. He recalled Chase appearing at his side, grabbing his arm and pulling him back. He remembered trying to fight him off and Chase asking him if he wanted to die. All of it was like a blur, a surreal dream state that didn’t make sense. One minute they were chatting in the gymnasium, the next, coughing and backing away from searing hot flames.

  Wood popped, and paint dripped and hissed, as the school quickly succumbed to the fire. Chase dragged Mason back until they were further into the school. The only area that didn’t look as if it had been consumed by the fire was the higher floors. Mason broke away from Chase and rushed back for Lisa. He scooped her up and hauled her away from the flames. He wasn’t sure why as he knew she was gone but leaving her there to be consumed wasn’t acceptable.

  “Give him a hand,” Anna said, seeing Mason struggle.

  Chase ran back and took a hold of Lisa’s arm and they carried her limp body up the steps. On the second floor they searched for a room that would give them access to the rooftop. Fortunately flames hadn’t yet reached the second level but it wouldn’t take long to be consumed.

  Meanwhile Sam managed to spin the Jeep out of the alley’s mouth into a parking lot by an alternative foods store. The Jeep jerked to a standstill and then the worst thing that could happen, did.

  The engine cut out.

  A shot of fear went through him as he struggled to get it started.

  “Come on, you bastard!” he yelled, turning over the ignition and glancing back at the approaching crowd.

  He had no other choice but to engage.

  The violent group of thugs charged forward as he pulled his rifle up, stuck it out of the window and fired warning shots at those closest. The rest scattered, fanning out in an attempt to escape or as, he soon would learn, to block him in from the rear and front. As he continued to unload, Amanda reached across and tried turning the key while he gave the accelerator some pressure. Suddenly it caught, and growled back to life. He’d already spotted a few with rifles and handguns in the crowd but they weren’t shooting at him, which made it clear they wanted the Jeep and weren’t going to risk destroying it with a stray bullet. Using that to his advantage he smashed his foot against the accelerator and powered forward heading straight for a group of six who stood defiant, convinced he wasn’t going to hit them.

  They were wrong.

  He beeped the horn as one final warning but they refused to budge.

  Sam had no other choice.

  He plowed the Jeep straight into them and felt the smack of the grill breaking bones and the bumps and crunches as heavy tires went over mangled bodies.

  That only incited them more. The back window was smashed as several bullets tore through — the crowd was no longer interested in the vehicle, only in killing them.

  Attempts to get out the windows were met by heavy gunfire. From what Anna could see there was one gunman positioned behind a vehicle, and another on the west side set back into the tree line. At first she couldn’t tell who they were because of the darkness but then another vehicle came around into view and she recognized it.

  “It’s them,” she said, whipping around. “The men from Rural Grove.”

  Mason was the only one not paying attention. He was holding his wife and muttering something to her. Chase peered around the window frame and brought up Mason’s night vision goggles. “Ah, man!” he said backing away and bringing a hand to his forehead. “We are fucked!”

  “Like hell we are,” Bobby said storming across the room. “I’ll hold them off here while you all go find another way onto the roof.”

  “No, we need to stick together and get out of here now, before this place collapses,” Chase said.

  Bobby wasn’t listening. He unloaded a flurry of rounds at the two guys below.

  There wasn’t any time to get into an argument and from the few disagreements she’d witnessed him having with her father, Anna knew it was pointless trying to convince him otherwise.

  Out in the corridor they made their way down to the west side of the building. It was getting harder to breathe. The fire might not have reached the second floor yet but the smoke and heat had, and it was thick. Anna wiped sweat from her brow as Chase and Mason carried Lisa.

  She wanted to tell him to leave her as it was only slowing them down but one look at his face and she couldn’t do it. As she peered out the window, she took the night vision binoculars from Chase and tried to get a bead on the guy who’d been firing at them from the west. He’d shifted position from his spot in the trees.

  At first she thought he might have gone to assist his pals attacking from the south side but the snap of bullets that sent glass into her face soon answered that.

  “That’s it.” Rage welled up inside her as she returned fire sending the guy running for cover. He ducked behind a bike shed and Anna motioned for Chase and Mason to head into the classroom behind her. “Use the window to exit on the north side. I’ll cover you.” The upside to the way the school was structured was that the buildings were tiered and had sloping roofs, which would provide them some form of cover once they were out. They would have to stay low and keep moving but as long as Anna and Bobby were able to hold them at bay and there weren’t any assailants on the north side there was a chance they could make it to the ground, and head into the woodland.

  The echo of gunfire dominated as Chase and Mason made their way out onto the roof. Chase called out to Anna, “We’re clear. Let’s go.”

  “Just leave,” she replied.

  Anna unleashed a few more rounds and then Chase reappeared.

  “That old coot might have a death wish but I’m not leaving you here.”

  Chase tried to pull her away from the window into the next room but before Anna left she fired four more rounds. Now whether it was fate or sheer luck, there was no denying the guy’s timing was lousy. He stuck his head out as the rounds rained down and one of them clipped him taking him to the ground. Anna’s eyes widened. “I hit him. Holy shit, I hit him.”

  She didn’t know what she felt in that moment, shock or elation? Maybe a bit of both. All she knew was there was one less asshole to deal with.

  “Come on, let’s go,” Chase bellowed.

  Flames had reached the second floor. Some areas had large holes in them, and the smoke was becoming so thick that it was making it hard to see.

  “Hold on.” Anna dashed down the corridor to tell Bobby to hurry up. When she found him he was still alive and unloading round after round. His response was simple. “You not gone yet? Get out of here,” he bellowed.

  “Bobby—”

  “Go.”

  Sam jerked hard on the steering wheel trying to avoid the snap of bullets, and several shipping containers that were positioned at the back of a large dairy factory. The quickest and only way back to the school was to cut through the parking lots at the rear of the businesses. The Jeep soared over a low concrete median and landed hard causing Amanda to drop the Glock.

  “Whoa, steady, I’m trying to—”

  She ducked as more rounds caused Sam to swerve and slam into a metal b
arrier. His side window shattered, and for a few seconds he got this intense ringing in his ears, and nearly lost consciousness.

  “Sam. Sam!” Amanda’s cries along with shaking him, snapped him back into the present moment. “They’re coming.”

  With that said she turned and fired haphazardly at the approaching crowd.

  Sam yanked the gearstick into reverse and backed up, now driving the vehicle backwards because those sprinting towards them had blocked the original exit.

  The engine let out a whining sound as he swerved out of reverse, and jammed the stick into gear. They took off at a high rate of speed leaving the crowd behind. The sudden sense of relief was short-lived. As they came around a bend that would have taken them back onto Genesee Street, two trucks were parked at an angle in an attempt to block their way. Four men were waiting in the rear with rifles raised and ready.

  There was no time to stop and think about it, and they couldn’t go back because of the crowd, so Sam made a split-second decision.

  “Get your head down.”

  He kept both hands on the wheel, and a foot pressed against the accelerator, as the speedometer shot upwards. A staccato of gunfire unleashed, and rounds lanced the windshield as he looked as if he was going to plow through them. In the last few seconds, he swerved the Jeep away, up onto the sidewalk, across a grassy knoll and over an embankment into the rear of someone’s backyard.

  Sam cut through the yard until the Jeep bounced out onto Maple Drive, from there he kept giving the engine gas and sweeping his mirrors. He knew they wouldn’t be that far behind him. The tires on the Jeep had torn up the yard leaving a clear path to where they were now heading. They burst out onto Seneca Street and down onto the road that fed into the front of the school.

  His eyes widened at the sight of a blazing inferno.

  “Anna!”

  His pulse sped up.

  Directly ahead, the Jeep’s headlights washed over the silhouette of two armed men firing up at the windows. He caught sight of the derby car and the pieces fell into place.

  “Amanda, when I say jump out. Jump!”

  “What?”

  “Just do it.”

  Sam couldn’t give the engine any more than what he already had, all that was left now was to direct it at them. He glanced one final time in his rearview mirror and saw the glow of headlights over the rise making it clear that his pursuers were closing in.

  “Jump!” Sam yelled.

  They launched themselves out, hit the ground hard and rolled.

  The Jeep surged forward and barreled down at the two men. They turned, fired and jumped out of the way.

  As Sam came to a stop, he didn’t waste a second. He scrambled over to Amanda, grabbed her by the wrist and double-timed it over to the derby car that was idling nearby. “Get in,” he yelled just as the Jeep hit the building and burst into flames.

  As Amanda went around to the passenger side he turned to fire at the two men but they were too busy fending off an attack coming from one of the windows. It was hard to tell who was returning fire but whoever it was, they were doing a good job.

  Sam gunned the engine on the car and tore away. Only then did the two men turn their attention. Before the car disappeared around the corner of the school heading for the rear, Sam glanced back to see the group of thugs and one truck come over the rise. The two men must have panicked, as they turned and unloaded.

  It was the worst thing they could have done.

  The last image he saw was of a 4 x 4 truck plowing one of them down and the other being brutally attacked by the angry mob.

  Anna was the last one off the building. She dropped down and lost her balance and Chase caught her before she stumbled. “Thank you.”

  They had turned to make a mad dash across the lot towards the tree line when she caught sight of the derby car tearing around the corner. It barreled towards them and all three of them raised their weapons to fire when it swerved at the last minute.

  “Dad?”

  “Holy shit,” Chase said.

  Sam didn’t get out of the vehicle. He looked panicked and beckoned them to get in.

  Chase helped Mason carry Lisa to the vehicle and one by one they crawled into the back seat. No sooner had Anna lifted her feet off the ground than the car tore away across the field and came out on a road near a Methodist church.

  No one said a word to each other as they left behind the violence.

  Anna gave one final glance and witnessed a section of the gymnasium collapse, sending up hot embers and black smoke into the sky. Her thoughts were with Bobby. Why didn’t he listen to her?

  TWENTY-THREE - HOME

  The next morning a heavy rain soaked them as they buried the body of Lisa on the outskirts of Buffalo. They’d driven for close to three hours before they stopped. Before that, Sam had refused to stop until he was absolutely sure no one was following.

  A gentle breeze made the tree branches rustle. They were already starting to change color, reminding them that winter would soon arrive. Chase drove a wooden cross into the slick soil, then Anna placed wildflowers around it. Sam said a few words over her shallow grave before heading back to the car with the others. Although the others were confident that Bobby had died in that second-floor room, and it was because of him they’d managed to escape, Sam had his doubts. In his mind, Bobby had perfected the art of the lie, and he might have gotten away. However, Sam liked to think that he had died not as a coward but by doing one final selfless act, if only to clear his conscience of what he’d done.

  Mason didn’t linger at Lisa’s grave as they all expected he might. Instead he returned with a pained expression masking his face. Sam had attended numerous funerals over the course of his career. He’d seen the look of anguish on the faces of wives whose husbands had given their lives overseas, and had witnessed the confusion of young children, but even he felt Mason’s pain.

  Fighting for freedom always came at a cost, and only the sting of death could give the average person a taste of the price. Sam drove toward the west as the warm sun rose behind them bringing with it a new set of challenges and horrors.

  They still had a long way to go but Sam was even more determined than ever.

  Hours turned into nights, nights turned into days and slowly they began to see signs for Frisco, Colorado. Sam stuck to the back roads, never stopping for longer than it took to relieve themselves or siphon one of the hundreds of stalled vehicles littering the highways. They took turns driving and slept in the car to avoid anyone who might attack in the night. If they had to drive through a town they avoided the main arteries and ate what food they had in their backpacks. It took them another four days due to delays, and circumventing dangerous areas. By the time they reached Colorado they were hungry, thirsty and exhausted.

  “Anna,” Sam said.

  Anna’s head was resting on Chase’s shoulder. Both of them were asleep. Mason was awake, looking absently out the window, and Amanda rode shotgun up front. Mason twisted and gave Anna a shake.

  She blinked hard and groaned before wiping drool from her lower jaw. “What?”

  “We’re here,” Sam said.

  “Home?” A broad smile appeared on her blackened face, and a surge of energy reignited her spirit.

  “Frisco. I thought we could stop by the hospital and see your mother.”

  She bit down on her lower lip and smiled, then tears welled in her eyes.

  On the final corner before heading out of Frisco, Sam turned onto Peak One Drive and followed it down to St. Anthony Summit Medical Center. All of them were pleased to see the lights were still on, and several of the businesses coming into the area seemed to be functioning. There were even a number of cars that passed them on the way in. “Well look at that. Seems like not every place has gone to hell.”

  They pulled over and Sam immediately noticed a strong police presence outside. It was to be expected. The survival of the hospital was key to the town functioning. With the power out, and water not flowing
other than in the streams and lakes, disease would soon find its place. After Sam shut off the engine, all of them got out and stretched.

  “Oh God, that feels good,” Chase said.

  Anna had a spring in her step, and a glint of hope in her eye. It was good to see her smiling again. As they approached the main entrance three heavily armed police officers stopped them. There were two cruisers parked nearby, and another officer sitting in the front of one.

  “State your business.”

  “We’re here to see a patient,” Sam said. “Helen Underwood.”

  “You related?”

  “I am. I’m her daughter, and this is…” She motioned to Sam and then said it, “My father.”

  It still got him even though she’d only said it a few times.

  One of the officers went inside to get more details.

  “How are you all holding up?” Sam asked.

  The officer scanned the area. “Not from here?”

  “Was. It’s been a while. We just made the journey from Boston.”

  “That’s a hell of a way to drive.”

  “That it is.”

  “What’s it like out there?” he asked.

  Sam paused for a second then replied. “Hell.”

  The officer smiled and nodded and looked back over his shoulder. Frisco had its own police department, as did Breckenridge and then there was State Patrol located nearby. Between the three of them Sam imagined they would have been able to keep crime at bay.

  “How are things in Breckenridge?” Sam asked

  Before he could reply the other officer returned.

  “I’m afraid she’s no longer a patient. She died four days ago.”

  The words rolled off his tongue like he was telling them the weather.

  Sam looked at Anna; a pained expression came over her.

  “No, that can’t be. She was… meant to go into surgery. It was just a routine operation,” he said.