The two of them swayed, their eyes wide in shock, as they looked up into the beautiful baby blue evening sky.
Alek rolled over onto his front, attempting to crawl over to Gwen. Using what little strength he had left, he assisted her with clenching her wound, valuing her life over his own.
Gwen remained facing upwards as she bled, whilst Alek was facing downwards, his left arm slouched over her chest to pressure the wound.
“Mum! Alek! What’s going on down there? Are you ok?” Elliot’s voice continued to blare through the radio.
“Kurva! I missed!” Nikola proclaimed. “This thing is too hard to use!” She had not anticipated the recoil of the sniper rifle, and as such, had missed the shot on Jaxon, allowing him to get away with the rest of his crew.
“They’ve all dispersed! I think I managed to get… One, perhaps?” Rubin assessed, also having not anticipated the recoil all that well.
“Wait,” Nikola shifted her aim further rightwards, and noticed James staggering away. “Oh, come on, how the fuck is he still alive?” Not thinking about the consequences, and anticipating the recoil this time, she took the shot on James. “Got him.” The bullet had, in Jaxon’s words, blown his head off; in effect, avenging Naiser’s death in a rather cyclical way.
“Elliot, come in, there is one son left. James is down.” She reported.
“What about my mother? Where is she?” His tearful voice snivelled through.
Both Nikola and Rubin were hesitant to report the truth back to Elliot.
“Nikola? Where is my mother? Please!” He continued to beg for an answer.
Nikola watched through the scope helplessly. “She’s alive… But, she’s injured, Elliot.” She told the truth, but also found a way to sugar-coat it.
“How badly?” Elliot asked dreadfully. “Nikola?”
The guards rushed from one end of the courtyard to the other, as Jaxon jumped behind the cover of two barrels.
“Can anybody see the snipers?” He called out indirectly.
“No visual contact sir--” One of the guards fatefully answered just as a bullet ripped through his chest.
“Bastards! They must have a high vantage point!” Jaxon alerted everybody. “Watch the plateau and the clearing!” He ordered.
Silently, the rusty blue door on the brick wall behind him squeaked open. Cautiously, a pistol emerged through the gap.
“Keep low and look up!” Jaxon continued roaring commands, unaware of the gun behind him.
Then, the trigger was pulled; Jaxon was shot in the back, prompting him to turn around in agony.
The trigger was pulled a second time, sending a bullet into his front.
The door was kicked open; Jázmin, with a bloodied face, came lumbering over to him.
A guard ran between two nearby crates but halted out in the open. “Jaxon!” He raised his gun at Jázmin, but before he could pull the trigger, he was sniped.
Clenching his front and his back, Jaxon’s breath grew heavy. He looked up into Jázmin’s eyes with a look of pure evil and abhorrence.
Jázmin returned this abhorrent look at him, as she slowly raised the pistol to his forehead. “For Naiser…” Mercilessly, she pulled the trigger; J.V.’s family was no more.
“Fucking hell! Somebody tell me what’s happening!” Elliot was the frustrated one now, continuing to nag his allies for an update on his stepmother.
Then, the gunfire abruptly stopped.
“Guys?” Elliot hankered, “What’s going on? Mum?”
Nikola and Rubin backed out of their rifle scopes.
“Unbelievable.” She commented.
“James was right,” Rubin added, “They really were just terrified survivors threatened into protecting their families…”
The remaining guards all stepped out into the courtyard and dropped their guns on the floor.
“Thank you,” a man with a dirty face approached Jázmin with gratitude. “…The Valerinos,” he revealed the last name of J.V.’s family, “They threated me. They threatened all of us… We didn’t want to kill, but now… You’ve freed us. We know that he and James were the last two.” He bowed down to her.
Following his lead, and also feeling gratitude, the other guards bowed down around Jázmin as well.
“We owe you our lives…”
This remark went to her head, as she assessed the large circle around the courtyard. Through the blood on her face, her lips turned upwards into an ingenious smirk…
Gwen and Alek were beginning to lose consciousness.
“It’s ok…” Alek tried to reassure her, still clenching her wound. “Whatever h-h-happens… I’m here… Teacher,” he became nostalgic over their scouting trips.
Gwen tried to smile, but this only pained her even further.
“Hey!” One of the now-friendly men opened the front gate, “These two are still alive out here! Doc! They need you!” He shouted backwards into the courtyard.
Three other men then came rushing through the open gate and circled around Gwen and Alek.
“Jesus, these do not look good...” One of them assessed, briefly glancing over the two wounds.
Unfazed by the people around him, Alek continued to focus on Gwen. He repeat, “It’s ok…” To her. Then, his eyelids fluttered, and finally closed, as he passed out.
In the medical bay, Tina had finished her assessment of Tina’s injuries. “Looks it was just a false alarm; you’ve got no internal bleeding, my love.”
Using her elbows, Tina hoisted herself up. “I could’ve figured that out myself, you know?” She joked.
The two shared a rare light-hearted smile.
Petra entered the medical bay, and slowly strolled over to the two doctors. Her eyes appeared to be watering.
“Petra?” Tina noticed her dismayed expression, “What’s wrong? Is the fight over already?”
She stopped at Tina’s bedside, “That was Nikola,” she held her radio up, “The fight is over…”
Tina and Erica both nodded cautiously.
“That’s good, right?”
“What’s the bad news?”
Petra covered her face with her hand. “Gwen and Alek are hurt. She does not know if they are going to live…”
Erica’s eyes softened in regret, “Gwen…” The guilt of their more recent encounters hit her.
Annabelle was trying to catch up on lost sleep in her room, but her eyes were forced open by a perturbing sensation in the back of her mind.
Slowly, Dawn entered the room, also with a radio in hand, and sat on the other side of the bed.
Annabelle rolled over; her eyebrows dipped in worry.
“I…” Dawn struggled to find the right words. “I want you remain calm…”
“Mum? Elliot?” She began shivering.
Dawn grabbed the terrified girl’s hand and caressed it. “Elliot’s fine.”
Then, a tear rolled out of her eye, “But mum…?”
Dawn remorsefully shook her head, “It’s not looking good, I’m so sorry dear…”
Now, every emotion that Annabelle had ever felt in the apocalypse attacked her mind. Fearing the worst possible outcome, she fell back against her pillow and hid her face in it.
Dawn tried to bury her own emotions down as well; this situation was bringing back the memories of her deceased son.
Elliot sat alone in the forest, slouched against a tree. He cradled his head in his hands after hearing the extent of his stepmother’s injury.
“I need you…” Elliot mumbled. “Where are you?”
Everything was still for a moment; the leaves, the wind, the commotion outside the power station, everything.
Then, Elliot felt a presence. Somebody crouched down at his side and placed their hand on his shoulder. “I’m right here…” A familiar female voice whispered to him.
Slowly, Elliot turned his head to face her; it was Olivia.
With a warm smile, she greeted him, “Hey baby.”
Elliot felt both extreme sadnes
s and happiness at the same time; his soulmate was back, but he was very much aware that she was merely a figment of his imagination…
Epilogue
The bathroom of the terminal was disgusting. The sinks had been chipped away, the cubicle doors were all either scratched or hanging by a single hinge, and the wallpaper had large tears in it.
Naomi was chained up to the sink furthest away from the door, as she slouched against the dirty old wall.
She slowly woke up, and immediately panicked upon realising her surroundings. “Tanika! Let me go, Tanika!” She shouted, desperately yanking at her chains. “Crap!” She mumbled to herself. She glossed over the room, looking for an object to help free her.
A faucet had broken off from one of the taps.
With no other objects in sight, Naomi reached over to the grab the faucet, and used it to bash away at her restraints.
Then, the restroom door creaked open.
Naomi ceased bashing her chains. Looking up at the doorway, her already-terrified expression evolved into one of sheer horror.
About the Author
Finlay Borthwick grew up in a small village in South-East England. His entire life he has had a sweet spot for writing and storytelling from a very young age. Whenever it came to writing stories in primary school, Finlay always obtained the highest marks in his class. Even through his teenage years, this carried on, achieving some of the highest grades in his secondary school English classes as well.
Aside from writing, he also plays bass guitar in his free time. For a while, he also took up the sport of tennis, and even karate. Both of which however he ultimately decided were not for him. Writing on the other hand has stuck with him his entire life.
He has also written a series of books in a post-apocalyptic based franchise entitled “Human Nature”, a dystopian set following a global crisis which has ended the world.
Also available:
-Human Nature
-Human Nature II
Human Nature (Book 3): Human Nature III Page 19