No Time To Bleed

This is where it all ends, where the final plan takes its place and we all swallow what’s been done. This is where we take on the opposing forces by the horns and come out with the gold.

Alex’s hand clutched into my hands as we ran, guards shooting and bedlam slicing the air. His foot had turned into a limp and my heart was pounding, absolutely breaking against my ribs.

“WE NEED TO GET OUT NOW! NOW!” Cece screamed.

She was behind us, hair flying and tears streaming down her cheeks. The smoke burned her gun’s barrel and she was fighting the most.

“Cece!” But, Alex tugged onto my hand, shouting in my ear. We were running down the final hallway in Level A to get to the airport’s main level. I had no idea how things got so bad.

Kyle and Ashton stayed back with her, screaming and fighting.

“YOU’VE GOTTA KEEP GOING! WE CAN HANDLE THIS!” She sent another shot out and I was sobbing more than ever.

Then, the bullet tore through Ashton’s shoulder and he was tackled to the ground.

“No!” Ashley screamed.

We were all thrown around a corner, arms flailing as we broke into a dead run. Fighting and shouts could be heard behind us.

“She’s dead. She’s dead.” I whimpered. “They’re both dead.”

The doors to a stairwell flew open under Clarissa’s shove and before I knew it we were climbing. Alex’s hand stole a death grip on mine, never letting go.

“Come on. We can make it. Just keep going. Just keep going.” He gasped under his breath words I knew were meant for me.

Ashley was sobbing heavily as well as we clambered through the top stairwell’s doors. The light burned our eyes as we shot through. We were a bloodied and near death bunch. If we were simply among a crowd of normal people, they may just see us as undead.

A long stretching hall of airplane lobbies stretched to our right, solid wall on the left.

“We need to haul some ass before those guards get back on us.” Clarissa demanded.

Ryant was still holding up Ashley by her arm. She was sobbing and limping on one foot as well. A guard had slammed her to the floor and the force had cracked her ankle.

“But, she’s hurt.” Ryant’s throat seemed to tighten. I saw tears in his eyes as his other hand held onto his little brother’s hand. Max had come unscathed surprisingly of all.

We didn’t have a choice, doors flew open at the bottom of the stairwell behind us and shouts were heard.

Once again, we went darted down the long path of a hallway, Ryant dragging Ashley along, Kyle wheezing heavily at my side and Clarissa just ahead us. Alex’s hand clutched onto my wrist, never letting go.

“We’ve gotta keep going! They’re going to start shooting!”

“They’re going to kill everyone! Blow the place up!” I screamed.

Then as if my words were an alarm, time seemed to move in slow motion. The guards behind us stopped and a sturdy line of guards formed yards ahead us.

The tears were a clog in my eyes and death felt closer.

“DON’T STOP! WE’RE GONNA TAKE EM DOWN!”

“Don’t let go of my hand.” Alex begged, words wobbling with every new found pace.

We surged forward, prepared to fight until death.

My fist slammed into a stomach. Alex was cracked over the head with a baton. He let out a shriek of pain as his hand ripped from mine.

A fist exploded into his head and I went down, feeling a kick in my ribs.

My vision blurred as another foot caved into the side of my skull.

Ryant was a few feet away, putting hell for two guards while Ashley limped away behind him.

“Ryant!” I screamed.

Cece was thrown from one man’s arms into another, her head connecting with a knee as she fell to the floor.

Ryant flew into the air, sending a boot loaded blow into one man’s head. The man went down hard and Ryant lunged ahead, tackling the man who kicked Clarissa.

“Get up, Clarissa! Get up!”

Alex threw himself from the ground, running hard to men who tried to drag away Max. Hands pulled me from the floor, yanking me away from the bedlam.

Clarissa’s fist dove from the air, loosening the man’s grip from me.

“GO WITHOUT US! GO WITHOUT US!” Ryant bellowed.

The line of men had cleared and bodies of guards rested on the floor. Clarissa and I dove ahead. My entire body was shaking with the loss of everything.

Ryant, Alex, and Max now gone.

Clarissa and I broke past the first corner, seeing the beyond massive crowd. Guards lined everywhere, but we went running anyway with our lungs screaming. Faces turned and looked as Brett continued his speech on stage, words slamming out my own lips and madness in my mouth.

Guards rammed their way through the crowds, just trying to reach us.

Our feet connected with the stage’s surface and just milliseconds later, bodies tacked us to the ground.

“He’s lying! He’s lying to all of you!” I screamed. “Just ask him! Just ask him!”

My voice was a desperate microphone for the dead silent audience. My cheek gnashed against the stage floor and I was steady sobbing, my entire body was aching. The guard’s boot caved into my neck, cutting off my air supply.

“Just tell the truth, Brett! You know why we’re here! We know everything and we’ve outsmarted you every time!” Clarissa barked.

My vision still watered as more guards were walking on stage, forcing the rest of our group along with them.

Ashton looked badly hurt, skin pale, hair drenched in red, and the bullet wound in shoulder was oozing.

Cece had an eye swollen shut and she tried to speak, but her words came out in an unrecognizable slew.

Kyle was badly leaning to one side, eyelids close to closing as he tried to scoot closer to Cece with an arm tightened around his neck.

Jesse must have looked worse of all, face beaten to an unrecognizable pulp and the image brought me to more tears. I didn’t want him to die and today seemed to be his day.

Ryant seemed to the most capable with his lip busted and arm wretched madly behind him.

And Alex, hand gripped into his hair and nose nearly smashed to pieces, I just wanted to reach out and touch him.

Who knew that things would end this way?

“And what should stop me from killing all of you right now?” Brett asked, jaw clenched.

The boot pressed further into my neck and I heard Alex make a grunt. The boot then released and I was raised to my feet. I steadily choked on my own saliva and blood, gagging it out whenever I could.

“Because all these people are watching and by now they can at least guess at the truth.” Clarissa cut back. “How do you think we’ve been able to do so much? Do you think it was just Lion and Trevor carrying the weight? We needed someone from the inside.”

My throat finally cleared as I rasped the words. “Why don’t you tell everyone what your company’s done? The people they’ve killed? Are you that much of a coward?”

Brett’s eyes turned to me, cold and heavy. “You are a very insolent little girl and you will be the first one I kill. You’re lucky it hasn’t been in my graces to find your father and personally murder him myself.”

The crowd was dead silent. Our every word pierced through the podium’s microphones.

“And you’re lucky your son isn’t as insolent as you are.” I glared.

Brett surged forward and slammed his fist into the side of my face. The weight cracked my head sideways and nearly knocked me off my feet. My eye began to close over and vision turn black.

The crowd began to scream and swarm, then froze over in shock again.

“Oh, is that what you’re gonna do?! You’re gonna fucking hit me?! You killed all those people and you’re gonna me! Fucking murder me then!” I was belligerent. "Do it!"

His hand whipped from his back pocket and a gun emerged, barrel ready just before my face. “Why not? You’ve been such a problem so far.”

The sickest of rage surged through. “Pull the trigger, bitch.”

A bullet rang off and glass began to break. The crowd began to scream and I used my one eye’s portal of vision to see the crowd swarming past the stage. Figures were bursting through the broken glass of the airport’s walls, people with haggard hair and inhuman screeches.

The stage vibrated and shook as guards shot down people trying to clamor to where we were. The others changed into a dead run, piling over bodies and running pass the stage. Bullets and powder were filling the air like life itself.

All of this had been for nothing. Absolutely nothing.

“Don’t you fucking move!” Brett screeched to the guards trapped in the riot. “Shot down anyone in your sight! We are not moving until I deal with this!”

Brett stormed over to Ryant, seized him by the arm, and pointed the gun to his head.

“Let him go.” I cried. “Just let him go.”

“And I shouldn’t kill him then, right?” Brett laughed.

The confronting crowd had cleared; the guards formed a line before the stage, and shot bullets to any oncoming undead. Who knew how many were dead, body ripped to shreds, and completely torn apart behind the stage?

“You need him. His blood is the cure. You know it. If you kill him, you’ll be ruining the world’s chances.”

The gun dug deeper into the temple of Ryant’s skull. Max sniffling from behind, begging with his cries.

“You think I care about that?! You think I don’t realize my company is a failure!”

“Failure? What do you mean?” Clarissa muttered.

“It means we have no cure. Those tests were only an attempt.”

My stomach dropped.

“So, it won’t make any difference if this boy and his brother dies now.”

Ryant began to struggle, try to squirm away, but Brett’s grip was iron.

“I could just have you all killed and walk out of here completely alive. No one will ever now.” Brett’s hand unclicked the safety from his pistol.

A gun shot pierced the air and my eyes pinned shut. My stomach plummeted to my toes, but even then I had to face it.

My eyes peeled open, watching a wide eyes Ryant stand there. Brett’s fingers loosened from the gun and it thudded against the stage floor. A sob escaped my lips as I saw the blood circle down Brett’s shirt and his body fell to the floor.

Only Rodney stood behind his father’s motionless body with a gun in his hands, fingers quivering, and eyes wet with tears.