by Ryan Garner
Hold still damn it!!! he thought to himself as he felt the adrenaline and anxiety surge through his body; the knot in his stomach was unrelenting.
….
Megan was struggling desperately against her attacker, but she knew he would soon control her. Nevertheless, she was not about to go down without a fight. Throwing her arms out at him, Megan tried to grab, scratch, and claw her way to freedom; unfortunately to no avail. Managing to catch Darnell across the side of his face she dug her nails into his cheek cutting a deep laceration which blood immediately began to pour out of.
“You bitch!” Darnell snarled as he brought his fist back and then down onto Megan’s face. The excruciating pain was compounded when her head was thrown backward by the force of the blow and struck the hard asphalt surface behind her. Megan saw stars the instant the back of her head hit the ground. She was in such agony that she barely felt the second blow. Her vision was blurred and her consciousness was beginning to slip away. She would not be able to endure much more of this abuse. Again she cried out for help, but her voice was among many that were screaming in fear. She came to the terrifying realization that no one was going to help her.
….
Using his left hand John flipped the 3x magnifier down in front of his Trijicon sight and his field of view immediately narrowed in and focused on the attacker. The man was still on top of his female victim and the two were struggling furiously with each other. John knew the woman would not be able to last much longer. Carefully he made minor adjustments in his aim as he tried to keep the tip of the red chevron on target.
Come on! Hold still! He thought as he adjusted his aim once more. His heart was still racing, but he did his best to try to take slow measured breaths to steady his focus; nevertheless he felt as if this were not helping. Using his right thumb he reached up and flicked the fire select lever from the safe position into the semi auto position. He then moved his index finger through the trigger guard. As the man moved his head back and forth John did his best to keep his firearm on target. He slowly exhaled half of the air out of his lungs and then held the rest in as he touched the pad of his finger to the trigger of the weapon, he then carefully squeezed backwards.
Suddenly, there was a deafening boom as the rifle discharged, followed immediately by the twang sound of the buffer spring as the bolt was forcefully thrown back into the buffer tube and an empty brass casing was ejected to the right of him. The Black Hills 62 grain ballistic tipped round tore through the sound barrier shortly after it left the tip of the barrel creating a secondary noise that sounded like a whip cracking; a minor shockwave emanated from all sides of the projectile when this happened. It streaked through the air covering the several hundred yard distance to its intended target in a split second.
Hitting just below where John had been aiming, the round struck Darnell in the lower portion of the back of his neck. Upon impact the bullet suffered an almost explosive deceleration as the red polycarbonate tip was forcefully jammed back into the hollow point of the round causing it to mushroom open. There was a fleshy “thwack” sound as the expanded bullet tore through the skin, muscle, and cartilage of Darnell’s throat and burst out of the front of his neck. It momentarily continued on its path before embedding itself in the metal frame of a stopped vehicle several yards away.
Excruciating pain shot through Darnell’s body and blood burst from the gaping wound in his throat. He immediately forgot his attack on Megan as both of his hands shot to his neck in a futile effort to stop the bleeding. Darnell coughed and gasped for breath as he struggled to bring air into his ruptured trachea.
Crimson blood smacked Megan in the face and mouth. She instinctively shook her head from side to side, spitting at the same time trying to rid herself of the metallic tasting substance. She didn’t know exactly what had just happened, but her attacker was now gravely wounded. Using all her strength she pushed him off of her. Weakened by the gunshot he was easily forced over onto his side. He struck the asphalt with a hollow thud, still gasping for air and grabbing at his neck futilely trying to stop the massive arterial bleeding. Megan quickly jumped to her feet and ran over to her van. Grabbing her daughter she decided to take her chances trying to make it through the crowd. At least now she felt that someone was looking out for her; even if she couldn’t know who it was.
….
John watched as bright crimson blood sprayed in all directions immediately after his round struck its target. There was a moment’s delay before the man was pushed over to his side and fell to the ground in a crumpled heap. The woman quickly scrambled to her feet and moved back over to her vehicle.
John was flexing virtually every muscle in his body and gripping his rifle even tighter in an effort to keep his hands and arms from shaking due to the massive adrenaline rush that was pulsating through his system. He had never killed someone before. Even though he knew he had done the right thing and almost certainly had saved that woman’s life this did little to calm his frayed nerves.
He was still watching the female retrieve her child from her van through his magnified rifle sight when he heard the crack of Chris’s firearm discharge, a second shot was fired soon after the first; there was blood on both of their hands now. John wasn’t sure what the ramifications of their actions would be, but he knew that in the calm that followed this violence they would not be viewed favorably. He could almost see the headlines, “Horrific sniper attack on civilians during peaceful civil protest!” No matter, he was not going to stand idly by and watch innocents be slaughtered like lambs.
Moments later he was again forced to squeeze the trigger of his rifle, sending a second round down range and striking another man who had begun to pursue the fleeing female and her child. Due to the noise of the riots the crowd had not yet noticed the gunfire that was descending upon them, but John knew that sooner or later the savage mob would realize what was occurring. This would hopefully cause them to panic and quickly disperse. An unorganized crowd would know little about trying to defend itself from this kind of action and an, “every man for himself” mentality would soon grip everyone within the mob. Just then, John heard Chris’s rifle discharge again; it wasn’t over yet.
….
Samantha stood quietly in John’s living room and slowly moved her gaze around the quiet apartment. She took note of everything about his home that revealed John was a loaner. Maybe in a way he was just like her, lost and alone. She tried to remain detached and composed feeling nothing, but she couldn’t do it. A tear gradually rolled down her cheek. She didn’t want to leave, she felt safe here. It was the first time she had felt safe in a very, very long time. Nevertheless, she knew that all good things always came to an end. She always destroyed everything she cared about. If she were to remain here she was convinced that somehow, someway things would go horribly wrong if not for her, then for John. Even if by some miracle he were able to rescue his friend, Karina; Samantha was “sure” that he would not want some cheap whore hanging around. She knew John would have no choice in what he must do, so instead of suffering through that pain she would make the decision for everyone. She wiped the solitary tear off of her face.
John had shown her that not everyone in this world was a twisted, cold hearted, bastard hell bent on satisfying his or her own perverse desires by any means necessary; even if that meant abusing a distressed seventeen year old girl to get what they wanted. No one had ever treated her as kindly as John had, and this action gave Samantha a very small glimmer of hope for herself. Maybe there could actually be something more in store for her and her future than just being passed from one man to the next.
However, she could not take the chance and stay here. It was far too risky and she had too much emotional baggage remaining in this city. She had to go somewhere where no one knew who she was, or what she was. She would take whatever money she had left and get the hell out of Wilmington for good. Start a new life somewhere else, anywhere else, but here. Samantha picked up her backpack and moved over
to the apartment’s exit. She paused briefly and turned to look back after opening the front door.
“Thank you.” She whispered quietly before slowly moving through the open doorway and leaving the apartment behind.
CHAPTER 25
The fully armored Black Hawk helicopter kicked up dirt as well as minor bits and pieces of debris as it gently touched down on the dark, but open and grassy baseball field of D.C. Virgo Middle School; directly across from Wilmington PD’s headquarters. The engines whined as their power was cut and the rotor blades of the black helicopter gradually slowed down. The side door slid open and Lieutenant Kent Fearon stepped out. He was followed by another NGP Officer who carried a sleek looking laptop with him.
Trailing both Fearon and the second officer were two National Governing Police TALOS Officers. Their battle suits were starkly different from the dress uniform that Fearon almost always wore and the normal NGP field uniform which his assistant had donned. Depending on their background the streamlined, digitally camouflaged suits appeared to shift into slightly different shades of color and patterns as the two men moved. The suits were constructed from a combination of polymer armor and synthetic bullet and cut resistant materials. The radio equipped helmets which covered the operator’s entire head were connected directly to the suit itself and were equipped with filters to keep out aerosolized biological and chemical weapons. The crimson colored, reflective, polarized, and sleek v-shaped visor through which the officers looked had a Heads Up Display that could present a multitude of different information depending on the wearer’s preference while giving him the ability to see in a multiple of different visual spectrums. These features were controlled by a combination of voice commands and a small rectangular shaped tablet computer affixed to the officer’s forearm.
Plates of digitally camouflaged polymer armor were positioned on the men’s chest, torso, back, shoulders and upper arms, thighs, and shins. A gold National Governing Police Shield was welded onto the upper left breastplate. In between the armor plates, thin sheets of Kevlar which sandwiched Shear Thickening Liquid that instantly hardened to bullet resistant strength upon impact filled in the “soft” sections. Ultra-thin and highly sensitive precision gloves covered both officers’ hands and their pants legs flowed down into a pair of black enhanced combat boots. Mechanical servos and micro gears located along pivot points in the suits helped increase the men’s strength and stamina.
A Colt 1911 side arm, spare magazines, handcuffs, flashlight, and other pieces of equipment were positioned on the two TALOS Officers’ equipment belts and chest rigs. A camelback filled with water which connected directly to their helmets was also concealed within the rear polymer armor plates. Each Officer had an FN Herstal SCAR17 CQC 7.62mm rifle slung across his chest with an attached wireless camera that could, if needed, route images directly to the Heads Up Display of the highly sophisticated helmet. This gave TALOS officers the ability to literally look around corners using only their weapon as their eyes. The rifles also had an IR laser, flashlight, and Trijicon ACOG sight mounted on them as well.
All told, the two men in their menacing Tactical Assault Light Operator Suits that cost taxpayers nearly three quarters of a million dollars each appeared as if they had stepped right out of a sci-fi movie rather than real life and Fearon loved having them along; if only for their intimidation factor alone. The group marched from the helicopter towards the entrance of Wilmington PD’s main station.
….
A light rain was just beginning to fall as John and Chris moved carefully along the grassy edge of a small pond heading towards the business center that Samantha had helped to identify. Hoping to better conceal their arrival John had parked his truck in the neighborhood a few blocks away from Randall Parkway and Burnt Mill Drive. Still, two men running through a community and adjoining greenway with semiautomatic rifles were bound to attract some attention. John hoped that since Chris was still in his uniform that might quell any on-looking civilians’ nervousness. Also, since coverage of the riots was all over the news most people were cowering in their homes praying their neighborhoods would be spared the barbaric violence. John was sure the police and Emergency Communication Center were completely overwhelmed with calls for help so if someone did manage to report their activities it would likely be some time before the police were able to respond.
Neither man had said much since the events at the intersection where they had been forced to take lethal action. He wasn’t sure how many people Chris had fired upon, but John had counted seventeen people killed by his own hands. Once the members of the violent mob had realized the fate that stalked them, they had fallen into an almost immediate panic. They became so desperate that they hadn’t even tried to determine John and Chris’s location. The riotous crowd had quickly scattered into the surrounding areas like frightened roaches in a room where the lights had just been turned on. John was sure that several of the rioters had been trampled in the ensuing panic.
Even though he believed that his actions had been justified John’s stomach was still in knots over the deadly events that had just transpired. It disturbed him to realize that each time he pulled the trigger it had become easier and easier for him to do so. He shoved that particular discovery far back into the recesses of his mind. He would worry about the potential psychological ramifications of all this at a later time. If he and Chris had not acted then who would have? More and more it seemed as if no one was fighting for anything these days. If they had not done anything then who would have? If he didn’t fight for Karina then who would?
Police sirens in the distance broke John’s train of thought as he and Chris moved into a small wooded patch on the opposite side of Randall Parkway across the street from the business center. He let out a nostalgic and weary sigh. Through it all, he still desperately missed being a police officer.
“I see someone.” Chris whispered as he made a motion towards a large rectangular shaped building made of brick just across the road from them. John looked and saw two men carrying what appeared to be ammo cans moving out of the front doorway of the structure. This was an abandoned building…or at least it was supposed to be. Maybe they were onto something after all; maybe they had come to the right place! From their vantage point they could see the men walking towards a few vehicles parked along the easterly side of the building. Those vehicles should not have been there either. John suddenly felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end as lightning crackled over their heads and a deafening boom of thunder followed almost immediately.
She has to be here…John thought to himself as he motioned to Chris to follow him after the two suspicious individuals disappear around the side of the building. They hurriedly moved across the open landscape and roadways towards the building from which the two men had emerged.
….
Lightning flashed and thunder growled powerfully as an angry crowd of thousands marched down the four lanes of North 3rd street. The noise they created was nearly overwhelming; they screamed, yelled, banged on make shift drums, and hundreds of them chanted in unison:
“NO JUSTICE!! NO PEACE!!”
“NO JUSTICE!! NO PEACE!!”
“NO JUSTICE!! NO PEACE!!”
The words were shouted over and over again as the thousands in the ominous horde forged ahead, growing closer and closer to Wilmington’s City Hall and towards the hundreds of awaiting police, National Guard, and National Governing Police units who stood their ground in front of them.
Wilmington PD’s Mobile Field Force anti-riot squad who were all dressed in full riot gear and carried Plexiglas police shields and four foot wooden riot batons were positioned in a straight line formation closest to the mob. Backing up the anti-riot squads were National Guard soldiers, also dressed in full riot gear and carrying shields and batons. Behind them was another reserve row of Mobile Field Force units and National Guard members.
Following behind these formations were several more officers equipped with modified 40mm M-32 gren
ade launchers which contained tear gas grenades. Several National Guard soldiers were mixed in with these men. They too carried 40mm grenade launchers; however their weapons were equipped with powerful stun grenade rounds. A few yards behind this formation were two Humvees; both vehicles had the large satellite dish looking Active Denial Systems mounted to their roofs. The loudspeakers which were affixed to both vehicles noisily ordered the crowd to immediately disperse or face arrest.
Behind the Humvees were a dozen mounted units on horseback along with numerous officers, National Guard soldiers, and dozens of NGP troops; all were equipped with modified forms of riot gear similar to what the Mobile Field Force officers wore and who also carried riot batons. For now they would help with guarding against possible flanking movements and provide backup to the Mobile Field Force officers. Standing far behind the police, National Guard, and NGP units; fire and EMS personnel waited patiently to treat the injured.
Numerous police, National Guard, and National Governing Police vehicles were scattered about the area including the intimidating NGP Humvee’s equipped with Common Remotely Operated Weapons Systems and Armored Personal Carriers. NGP TALOS units also stood very close by waiting at the ready. In addition to their SCAR 17 CQC rifles each Officer wearing the Tactical Assault Light Operator Suits also carried a shield made of polymer and clear Plexiglas with interlocking edges. Exposed metallic strips ran through the shields allowing for an electrical charge to be carried through it. Should anyone be foolish enough to touch the shield they would receive an extremely painful electrical surprise. The TALOS units also carried electronic stun batons capable of delivering a 100,000 volt shock. Several of the NGP TALOS Officers also had scabbards attached to the back of their battle suits with Benelli M2 Tactical 12 gauge semiautomatic shotguns equipped with less-than-lethal ammunition. By their appearance these officers seemed particularly eager to tear into the oncoming crowd.