by Ryan Garner
He wasn’t dead yet, but his consciousness was rapidly being stripped from him. Still obsessed with the idea of detonating the warhead Kamil would take as many vile Americans with him as he could. From the ground he clawed at the desk where the weapon sat. Fiercely trying to pull himself up off the ground in order to execute one last task, but it was too late, he was too far gone and his strength was escaping him faster than he could act. Kamil’s own fury and hatred consumed his entire emotional state. This was not how he was supposed to die, an infidel could not stop him, no one could stop Allah’s plan!
Finally, Kamil’s hand dropped away from the desk as his body went limp. Seeing that his adversary was no longer moving Chris at last allowed his muscles to relax and his arm dropped to the floor. The handgun hit the concrete surface with a metallic clank. Chris could feel his life slipping away, but there was nothing he could do about it now. He could only lie there, staring at the body of the murderous terrorist that he had just killed.
….
After finally managing to pull himself back to his feet John was viciously knocked to the ground once again by a blow from Darren. He landed in a pool of standing water causing the liquid to splash in all directions. His whole body was in pain. He was covered with cuts, scrapes, and bruises. Thick red blood rolled down the left side of his face; it mixed with the torrential rain creating crimson swirls of color in the water around his head. His clothes were wet and stuck to his body, a result of the heavy rain that was still streaming into a room with no ceiling. Exhausted, there seemed to be no way he could win this battle. He forced his arms and legs to pull himself up off the floor one more time, but as soon as he began to rise Darren kicked him in the face, knocking him back to the ground.
“Somehow I always knew it would come down to us.” Darren said as he walked in a triumphant circle around John who was now on all fours struggling to get up.
“Tell me Mr. Lawrence…Was she worth it?” he asked mockingly before kicking John in the rib cage with his foot forcing him to double over in pain.
“You were an adequate enough officer to maintain a stable career and yet you tossed it all aside…and for what? For her?!” Before John could answer or even react Darren struck him across the face with his fist; a combination of blood and water flew in the opposite direction of the blow.
“A foolish decision…She was mine to do with as I pleased.” Darren quipped. “Then again, you never did strike me as the most forward thinking of individuals.” John was trying once more to pull himself to his feet when he glanced in front of him and saw it. His handgun was lying just out of reach several yards away, partially hidden in the shadows. The room itself was canted and leaning at an angle from the damage it had suffered and rain water was flowing across the floor at a steady pace. Darren hadn’t noticed the weapon or he surely would have used it on John by now.
“However, both of you have far outlived your usefulness to me and my organization so I believe it is time to bring this little game of ours to a close.” Darren reached over and picked up another larger piece of concrete ruble.
“More than you’ll ever know…” John finally said in a raspy voice.
“What?” Darren replied with a confused look on his face.
“She is worth more than you’ll ever know.” John stated mustering the last bit of his strength before diving away from his position and towards his stainless steel handgun. When his body hit the hard wet concrete floor his momentum caused him to hydroplane across the slick surface sending a spray of water out in all directions. He managed to grab his gun just before sliding past its location and rotated his body back around.
“NO!” Darren shouted as he quickly moved towards John, but it was too late, John squeezed the trigger in three quick successions sending three rounds streaking towards Darren hitting him in the chest each time. Darren managed to let out one quick cry of pain before collapsing to the ground in a heap.
He waited for a few seconds, but when Darren did not move John allowed his head to drop back to the floor and his hands to fall to his sides. He was completely drained of energy and in extreme pain. He lay on his back as lightning flashed over his head and a loud boom of thunder followed soon after. The rainwater rolled down over his face and body as he sprawled on the ground taking in slow deep breaths staring up into the cloud filled stormy sky above him.
….
Jennifer pinned a still handcuffed Karina to the ground as she positioned herself on top of her.
“We could have been happy together, but you had to fuck it all up.” Jennifer snarled. “You had to be with that man…that John Lawrence, when it was obvious we should be together!” Karina was shaking in fear as she lay helplessly beneath her former lover.
“I loved you!” Jennifer barked as she grabbed Karina’s throat with both hands and began to squeeze. Karina tried to struggle, but her attempts at escape were futile. Handcuffed she could do little to fight off the vengeful woman hell bent on choking the life out of her. Karina gasped and fought to breathe as her eyes watered with pain and her face began to turn purple as Jennifer continued to strangle her.
As the assault continued, her world grew fuzzy and everything began to fade away. This was how it would end for her. Karina had so many regrets; so many things she wished she could have done differently. But, all her sorrows now paled in comparison to the thought of losing John. She had been so blind; he had sacrificed everything for her before she finally realized what he meant to her. She felt like such a fool. Karina wished that in her last few seconds of life she would have been able to tell him just how she felt.
I love you John… She thought quietly to herself, unable to speak the words thanks to the choking fingers around her throat.
Just then, Jennifer heard something. Looking up she was stunned to see John standing in the doorway of the stairwell just a few yards down the hallway from her.
“Shit…” She said. Before she had a chance to react or hurt Karina any further John raised his handgun and fired. Jennifer’s neck snapped back violently as the 230 grain hollow point round slammed into her forehead, easily breaking through her skull before mushrooming open inside of her brain cavity. Jennifer’s body immediately went limp and collapsed on top of Karina who instantly began to cough, choke, and gasp for air.
Karina was in such a state of confusion that she was not exactly sure what had just occurred. Feeling Jennifer’s body collapse on top of hers, she believed that Jennifer may be trying to assault her one last time before finishing her off. Karina kicked and screamed as she tried to pull herself away from Jennifer’s body.
“Get off me!” she shrieked in a panicked voice as she wriggled about, “Get off!!!”
John moved over to her as quickly as he could, yanking Jennifer’s corpse off and revealing himself to Karina.
“John!” she said in a stunned tone as a flood of emotions overcame her. How was this even possible? She had been certain that it was all over for the two of them and that she had lost him forever.
“John!” she was now crying as he knelt down next to her and helped her sit up.
“John!” Karina said a third time still unable to form any other words. Handcuffed and unable to throw her arms around him, she buried her head in his chest and began to weep.
“I’m sorry…I’m sorry…” she was close to hyperventilating from her rapid almost out of control breathing, “I…I thought you were dead…I’m so sorry…” She continued to cry as John wrapped his arms around her, cradling her.
“It’s okay.” John said, “I’m here.” A few seconds passed as he gently embraced her. Sadly, they had little time for an extended reunion as Karina’s senses began to come back to her.
“We…we have to get out of here.” she said breaking the silence that had temporarily overtaken them. “Jennifer told me the NGP would hit this place again as soon as they discovered the warhead was still active.”
“The bomb…” John stated. He had been so consumed with trying to save Kari
na he had momentarily forgotten about Kamil and the nuclear weapon.
“Where’s Chris?” he then asked in an urgent tone.
“I…I don’t know. I haven’t seen him. Earlier I thought I heard gunfire from the floor above us though.”
“We have to go…now.” John said as he pulled Karina to her feet. He glanced over Jennifer’s body briefly looking for a handcuff key to free Karina, but he could not see one. He knew he didn’t have time to search any longer.
“Stay behind me.” He said as he led the way back down the hallway towards the stairwell that he had come from.
….
Chris’s strength had almost completely drained from his body by the time John and Karina hurried into the room. They ran past Kamil’s lifeless carcass lying in a pool of its own blood and over to Chris. John skidded to a halt on his knees as he came down next to his friend and quickly placed his hand over Chris’s stomach wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Chris moaned in pain when John did this.
“You’re gonna be alright.” John said his voice growing noticeably shaky as he pulled his own set of keys out of Chris’s pocket and handed them off to Karina so that she could uncuff herself. She managed to free her hands and moved over to Chris to try and assist him.
“Did I stop him? Is he dead?” Chris asked nodding toward Kamil. He was so weak by this point his eyes were transfixed into a deathly gaze.
“Yeah…” John stated in a raspy voice as he tried to conceal his own emotions. “You did good. You stopped him. You saved the city. You saved us all.” After hearing John’s statement Chris managed to muster a small smile.
“Good…” he whispered. Karina, who was now holding her hands against the puncture wound in his ribcage, was struggling not to cry as Chris’s condition rapidly deteriorated in front of them.
“We’re gonna get you out of here and to a hospital. You’ll be okay.” John said as he and Karina continued their futile attempt to stop the bleeding. Their hands were covered in his blood along with their knees where they had been kneeling next to him.
“No…” Chris said quietly. He knew that if anyone discovered that John and Karina had anything at all to do with this situation or were caught with his body it would mean exile for an eternity into federal detention.
“If they catch you two, you’ll both be arrested by the NGP. You have to get out of here…now.” Chris said in a fading voice.
“We’re not leaving you. We don’t leave our brothers behind.” John responded as he tried to help Chris up, but this movement only increased Chris’s agony exponentially. He groaned in pain and John was forced to stop.
John was still trying to think of a way to save his wounded comrade when he saw Chris reach over to the left side of his chest and slowly remove his Wilmington Police Department badge. His actions were slow and labored as he unlocked the safety pin on the back and removed the nickel medallion from his chest. He held the badge out to John.
“Here…” he said, his voice growing fainter. “No, matter what they say; no matter what they tell you...” Chris paused momentarily struggling to formulate his words. “…you still deserve to wear this.”
John was speechless as his eyes welled up with tears; he felt as if his heart had stopped beating and he couldn’t even breathe. He was so overcome with despair that he was unable to move for the time being. Finally, after a long pause he reached out and took the badge from his friend. Almost immediately after he did this Chris’s hand dropped away. Several agonizing seconds later Chris exhaled his last breath of air.
“No…” John said as he laid Chris on the floor preparing to make a vain attempt at CPR.
“John…” Karina said fighting back her own feelings. “John we have to go.”
“No…I’m not leaving him.” John responded his voice wracked with guilt.
“We can’t help him.” Karina pleaded. “We have to go; the NGP will hit this place any minute.” John still did not move and Karina moved closer touching him on the bicep.
“Please, John…please…we have to go.” She paused briefly before speaking further. “He wouldn’t want us to die here with him.” she said in a solemn voice. A tear rolled down John’s face after hearing her words.
Reluctantly, he stood, but then hesitated for another brief second, temporarily standing in a moment of silence over the fallen body of his fellow officer. Finally, he turned and moved out of the room with Karina in search of an exit to the doomed structure.
….
Just as Karina and John reached his truck in the adjoining neighborhood a second wave of deafening explosions tore through the already partially destroyed office complex as another series of air-to-ground bombs struck from somewhere high above Wilmington. What was left of the broken and shattered buildings was now completely destroyed by the massive blasts. While John had no way to be certain, he suspected that the second attack on the area was even more powerful than the first.
The detonations of the multiple bombs were so loud that Karina instinctively ducked as she made her way up the side of John’s F-150. Both of them covered their ears as the noise of the explosions pounded them in their chests. Karina let out a brief scream of surprise. John couldn’t imagine what the people in this small middle class neighborhood must have been thinking as bombs were dropped all around their houses. It was like something out of a movie; having no idea what was happening the people must have been terrified that their homes would be next.
As the noise of the bombings eventually died down an eerie quiet crept into the surrounding area. There was virtually no sound; it was as if the evening’s battle had suddenly come to an unexpected stop and every person in the city was holding their breath; waiting for what might happen next. John looked around what had once been a peaceful neighborhood. This city would never be the same again. The country would never be the same again.
“We gotta go.” He said across the bed of his truck to Karina. She nodded her head and entered his vehicle; John followed suit. After starting his F-150 the pair moved off down the road together.
CHAPTER 29
(Epilogue)
The bluish green blades of grass in the cemetery’s wide open field shifted and bent in the wind like waves over the blue ocean. The sun was shining brightly and the warm air smelled of the sea. At the summit of a small hill John stood quietly staring down at a distant funeral procession. Casually dressed, he wore gray 5.11 pants and an untucked black t-shirt that concealed his holstered Smith and Wesson 4566 on his waist. He took note of the weight in his front pocket. It was Chris’s badge, a silent reminder of his friend and the cost that had been exacted while saving Wilmington.
There was a much smaller presence of officers than was normal for a police memorial service; disgracefully few officers in fact. But, after recent events the sparse attendance was not unexpected. The nuclear attack on the US had been thwarted and Shearon Harris’s meltdown stopped; but, even with Darren Siegal’s death and the capture of his Occupy Congress allies the cyber-attack on the Eastern Interconnection Grid had been mostly successful. The eastern seaboard’s power grid systems were in a state of complete disarray. Sustained electricity to any one location was spotty at best and no single area was able to receive constant power for any extended period of time. Some government officials reported that they did not expect full electrical power to be restored for weeks while others had an even grimmer outlook on the repairs and how long they would take. With each hour that passed without electricity people grew more desperate for the very basic necessities of life; food, water, gasoline, sanitation, and medical treatment were now rapidly deteriorating resources. Riots were still occurring at numerous different locations throughout the country. City, state, and national police coverage was stretched beyond the breaking point. For now most 911 calls simply went unanswered as supervisors, officers, and dispatchers were forced to pick out which requests appeared to be most critical and disregard the rest. In that environment, few officers had the time or energy to atten
d a funeral; let alone multiple funerals.
As he watched from afar John heard the firing of rifles after Chris’s casket had been carried into place by six of his fellow officers. From this distance he could not tell who the pall-bearers were. It had not surprised him when he learned that members of Wilmington PD’s command staff, including the new Chief of Police were avoiding being present at all of their officers’ memorials. With terrorist attacks, assassinations, and the general havoc into which the city had been thrown most command officers feared that being out in the open for any extended period of time was far too dangerous for them. Instead, burial details had been handed off to a lieutenant by the name of, Keith Carson. He had been a respectable man in John’s eyes, one of the few left with any rank. From what he could tell Carson was handling his assignment with as much poise, reverence, and dignity as he could. Still, John knew that Chris and the rest of his fallen law enforcement brothers deserved much better than this.
“I thought I might find you here…” A voice spoke from behind John. He had been so focused on Chris’s funeral he flinched when he heard the sound. He spun around to see Clarence Manson. The former officer turned preacher who had resigned from his squad shortly after President Jordan had implemented his religious search and detainment mandate. Clarence was walking up the small hill John was standing on; this caused him to glance around nervously, momentarily expecting NGP Officers to swoop in and arrest him at any minute.