33
Nathaniel
My father stares at me, his gun pointed at Julia as she crawls to safety. My own gun is pointed at him. The feeling of it in my hand is as unfamiliar to me as the mad smile on his face. Lincoln brought it. I don’t even know when he took it from the gun safe at home; there was no time to ask. Will’s shirt is burned. His skin red and welted. He smiles.Smiles. He looks like a creature from hell.
He says something I can’t hear in the madness. But I know him. It’s mocking. He thinks I won’t be able to shoot him. I’m shaking. I summon all the anger I have. It doesn’t take much; I think of the years of abuse. Of Lincoln bruised and battered. The rage is all there just under the surface. The pain and the hatred.
My finger is on the trigger. I just need to pull it.
It should be so easy. He deserves it. He’s tried to take everything I have ever loved. He’s already taken so much.
So why am I hesitating? Every millisecond brings Julia closer to demise. My finger squeezes, hands shaking.
The twisted smile on his face grows. He will always see me as weak. As lesser.
I glance to Julia. Her eyes are wide and pleading, her head shakes. “I love you,” she mouths.
Then I understand. I know my value. I know at my core who I am.
I’m not a monster. I am loved. He will never be so lucky.
The gun lowers and his smile grows triumphant.
But then, a large chunk of ceiling falls. One moment he is there laughing, the next he’s gone.
There’s nothing I can do for him. There’s no time to process.
I reach for Julia. She is out of it. Fading fast.
I grab her hand and pull with all my might as smaller rocks fall. The soft light goes out as she goes limp in my arms. We make it through the door just as the room collapses behind us with my father still inside. What remains of a heavy, metal door is just enough of a barrier to protect us from the blast. Somehow the tunnel leading to the cave hasn’t crumbled yet. There’s no time to wait because the deafening rumbling is still shaking the air.
I throw Julia over my shoulders in a fireman’s carry. Warm wetness slides down my back as I run. My legs protests but I push on. I sprint out of the tunnel as fast as I can. The rocks fall all around us. I stumble over them, twisting my leg.
“Ah!” I groan in pain.
I make it out the door just as the tunnel comes crashing down. I drop Julia as gently as I can a few yards away from the door. I gasp large inhales of fresh air.
Seconds later a giant dust cloud explodes out of the door we just escaped from. I roll on top of Julia, using my body to protect her from the flying rocks. When it settles, it takes all I have left to drag her farther away for safety, my whole body throbbing. I brush her hair off her face as the dust settles around us.
“Julia,” my voice is hoarse from the dirt and debris. I drop my head to her chest to feel her heart beating strong under my ear. “I love you,” I say. “I love you. You’re going to be okay.”
I see it then—the blood spreading under her dirt-covered shirt. My voice cracks. “You’re going to be okay.Pleasebe okay.”
She groans but her eyes don’t open. I kiss her cheek and roll off her and collapse onto my back. Above me the sun shines through the tips of tall pines. It’s a scene so peaceful compared to the madness of the day. The occasional shake still rumbles the earth, but it feels far away now.
I find her limp hand in the dirt next to mine. I’m never letting her go again. No matter what.
Voices call out, coming closer.
“Over here!” Lincoln yells.
I hold Julia’s hand tighter and let out a deep breath.
“It’s going to be okay,” I tell her.
