Death of the Republic
Page 14
Another staffer burst into the room. “Mr. President, they've launched an attack on Florida. At the crash site.” Howell took the call off of the speakerphone and held his hand over the receiver.
“Who launched an attack?” Howell said.
“Russia, sir. Nuclear missiles are incoming in northern Florida. Three of them. They've already destroyed Bermuda, Mr. President.”
Howell's face went white. Rick ran out of the room to the Control Room. He held the phone receiver back to his ear.
“Mr. President,” Tulkin said. “Are you there?”
“President Tulkin, you are going to pay for this.” Howell gently hung up the phone. He could barely feel his legs as he walked out of the office and to the Control Room. Rick stood next to a communications worker. Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing as Howell entered. The President looked at Rick. “Everything we've got,” he said in a grave tone. “Do it. Now.”
CHAPTER 30
High above I could see the silhouette of a bird circling. I tried to guess what kind of bird. I was never much of a nature enthusiast. If it had wings, it was a bird. Sure, I could tell the difference between a crow and a robin, but beyond that it was all foreign to me. I imagined it was a hawk, on the hunt, searching for a mouse or other small rodent worming its way around the fields. What I wouldn't have given to be way up there in that moment. My thoughts turned back to the orange grove and the near constant gunfire.
“What are you doing?” Came a female voice from about twenty feet away.
I lifted my head off the ground and looked to my right and saw a woman standing next to a tree. She was dressed casually and appeared to be unarmed. “We have to go,” she said. “Right now. If we stay here they'll kill us.”
“Were you on the flight?”
“No, but I'm guessing you were.”
“Yes.”
“Doesn't matter, we have to go. Now.” She looked over her shoulder. Both of us could hear the sound of gunshots getting closer. “Do you need help getting up?”
“No,” I said. “But I can't run very fast. I have the flu. My lungs are filled up.”
“Well, just do your best. Follow me.”
She dashed away from the tree into the middle of the row where I was laying and ran straight toward the horizon. I got up to my feet and gave chase. We ran for close to a minute, and my body was ready to collapse. She looked back and saw that I had slowed down quite a bit. She stopped running and I did the same. Walking back to me, she shook her head. “You weren't kidding,” she said, “you can't run at all.”
“Sorry.”
“Don't be sorry, we just have to find a place to hide.”
“You think they're keeping tabs on everyone? They won't chase us this far.”
“They have a passenger count. They'll try to get you all.”
“How did you know we were going to be killed?”
“Clackzi app.”
“Ah. Everyone's got that, hey?”
“We can't just stand here and chat, okay. We have to move.”
Just like that a bullet ripped into the young woman's shoulder. She cried out in pain, falling to her knees. I whipped around in time to see two men in hazmat suits rushing toward us holding rifles.
“Run!” The woman screamed at me.
One of the men held up his rifle and immediately I felt a hot stinging sensation in my left thigh. I'd been shot! Another round knocked me back, this one lodging into my right hip. I fell backward onto the grass. The pain was all-consuming. An unbearable throbbing pulsated from both wounds. I reached down and felt the warmth of my blood on the palms of my hands. The woman laid on the ground next to me, breathing heavily, going into shock. The two armed men walked in our direction and made it halfway over to where we laid when they too were cut down by bullets.
Thoughts flew through my head a million miles a second. I knew I was allowing panic to set in, and I fought to try and keep relaxed. Every time I told myself to relax though, then the thought came back that I had actually been shot and my anxiety would flood in anew. I lifted my head to look at the wound in my leg, trying to determine if it was bad enough that I could bleed to death from it. My leg was beginning to feel cool, even under that hot sun. I lifted my shirt so I could try and get a look at the wound in my right hip. Feeling around with my hand, I noticed the bullet entered just below the belt line. Blood didn't seem to be flowing as freely from that wound, which ridiculous as it sounds, actually gave me a minor sense of relief even though relief is probably not at all what anyone should be feeling having just been shot twice.
My left leg was starting to go numb, and there was a cool sensation flowing from the top of my head down through my neck and shoulders. I was starting to feel cold all over. Was this it? Was this how I die? I pulled my phone out of my pocket and opened my text messenger.
You: You there?
Kathy: yes
You: I'm not going to make it.
Kathy: what do u mean? i saw the news. u r safe now?
You: no...been shot
Kathy: what???? serious????
You: yes
Kathy: omg where are u
You: i love you
Kathy: matt just tell me where u r, i can get help
You: i'm sorry about everything...i'm sorry we fought
Kathy: matt stop, tell me where u r
You: i have to go...i love you...please remember that
Kathy: i love u 2, but pls tell me where u r, ur scaring me
You: i'm scared too
I slid the phone back into my pocket as tears flowed from my eyes. I noticed I could hear the gentle breeze once again. The gunfire had stopped. But then the sound of the breeze gently swishing through the orange trees was overtaken by a sharp, thundering roar that seemed to grow louder by the second. I pressed my head back into the grass and looked up at the brilliant sky, searching for that soaring bird. Instead, I saw two long objects race across the sky, coming in lower and lower. They looked like rockets. Both of them whizzed overhead, then hit the earth with a solid thud that shook the ground. Then the world disappeared in a blinding white light.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ken Ward lives in the mountains and enjoys reading and writing across multiple genres including speculative fiction, humor, technothrillers and suspense. He also tries his best to keep his blog updated which you can find at kennethwardwrites.blogspot.ca. If you're interested in other books Ken has written, you can find all of his work available on Amazon.
Thanks for reading!