“Get… moving.” The soldier grabbed Rick’s jacket and pulled him close. “Nellis is…northeast. Stay off… the strip.”
The soldier’s breath became rapid and Rick froze with the gauze in one hand, watching as the soldier’s life slipped away and he fell backwards, his body landing with a thud against the side of the bus.
“Is he dead?” A woman crawling out of the corner where she was lodged spoke softly as she watched Rick and the soldier. Rick turned and got up, stuffing the gauze and first aid kit back into his backpack. He held out a hand and helped the woman up before looking her over from head to toe for any obvious signs of injury.
“I think so. Are you okay, though?”
The woman felt her body, wincing as she pushed on her stomach. “It hurts some here. I hit the back of the seats pretty hard but I think I’m okay.” The woman pulled up her shirt and Rick could see the bruising already starting to appear on her abdomen. It was bad enough that Rick suspected she had suffered some internal bleeding, but it was impossible for him to know how bad it was.
“I think you’ll be fine.” Rick was lying through his teeth but he didn’t want to worry the woman. He was about to suggest that she stay still in the bus while he went out to look for help when a hailstorm of bullets tore through the bus, filling the interior with streams of light.
“What was that?” The woman’s eyes were wide and she clung to Rick’s arm, trying to get away from where the bullets had entered the bus.
“We need to get out of here right now!” Rick grabbed his backpack and put it on, then laboriously worked his way to the back of the bus and away from where the gunfire was coming from. As he went along he checked under every seat until, finally, he spotted what he was looking for. “There you are!” Rick leaned down and stretched, feeling the pain in his shoulder and upper arm as he grabbed his gun case and pulled it out from behind a seat where one of the straps was caught.
“Come on.” Rick looked back at the woman who was caught between looking at the bullet holes and the body of one of the other passengers who had died in the impact. “Come on, leave them. They’re already gone. We need to go. Maybe one of the Humvees is out there, or one of the buses.”
The woman didn’t respond until Rick tapped her on the shoulder. She turned and looked at him with wide, terrifie
d eyes and nodded slowly. Rick grabbed her hand and pulled her to the back of the bus as another burst of gunfire echoed from near the front of the bus. “I’m going to open the back door, then as soon as we get out we need to find some cover, okay?”
The woman nodded again. “Okay.” She whispered in response, her voice cracking as she struggled to cope with what was happening.
Rick turned the handle to the back of the bus and steeled himself for whatever was waiting outside. “Ready?” He whispered to the woman and held on to her hand. She nodded and he started his countdown.
“Three… two… one…”
Chapter 4
The Waters’ Homestead
Ellisville, VA
“Jacob, help your sister get in the car, okay?”
“Yes, ma’am. Wait… is that rifle for Mark?”
Dianne sighed as she looked at the gun in her left hand. Jacob had always been jealous that Mark was the first to learn how to shoot and she worried about Jacob’s overenthusiasm about weapons whenever they were out. “Sure is, kiddo. I’ll make sure you get a turn at some practice shooting in the next couple of days. Right now, though, this isn’t practice.”
“Is Mark gonna kill somebody?”
“No. I just need him to help protect us. With your dad gone on his trip and all of this crazy stuff going on all of you kids are having to pitch in more than ever. For you, that means I need your help with your sister and taking care of our animals. For Mark, that means today I need him to be like a grownup and help me out with some stuff.” Dianne smiled and ruffled Jacob’s hair. “You’ll be there before you know it, buddy. But please trust me—everything I’m asking you to do is stuff that we need done. Okay?”
“Yeah, I guess.” Jacob crinkled his nose. “As long as you remember that I’m a better shot. Dad even said so.”
Dianne smiled and whispered conspiratorially. “Darned straight you are. Now hurry up and help your sister, okay?”
Dianne watched from the front porch as Jacob and Josie got into the rear seats of the truck. Mark came out of the house behind her, keys in hand, and held them out. “Here you go. Everything’s locked up and double-checked.”
“Thanks, buddy. Hey.” Dianne put her hand on Mark’s shoulder before he could walk out to the car and lowered her voice. “You remember the four rules of gun safety, right?”
Mark nodded. “Yeah… it’s always loaded, don’t point it at anything you don’t want to destroy, finger off the trigger till you’re ready to fire and be aware of your target and anything behind it. Why?”
Dianne nodded proudly and held out the shorter of the two rifles. “I need you to help me out while your dad’s away. Keep this unloaded at all times and make sure the safety’s on. I’d like you to keep it tucked away in the back of the truck along with a couple magazines of ammunition. If I need your help with shooting something I’ll let you know and then I want you to do everything you can to help, okay?”
“Is everything okay, mom?”
Dianne nodded. “I think so. I want you to understand how serious this is, though. This isn’t a game. Your sister doesn’t really get what’s going on and your brother understands to some degree, but right now you’re the man of the house and I know you understand how bad things are. Keep your eyes open and remember what we taught you. Got it?”