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“Well, you better fucking throw it fast, before they get to your fucking car!” I say.”
“Oh fuck you!” he says while getting ready to throw it.
“We’ll go on three, okay?” I remind him.
He nods, unhappy about it.
I begin counting. “1, 2, 3!”
We throw the hand grenades and take off fucking running, spraying bullets. I don’t know what’s happening, all I know is I’m managing to hit some of them. I’m not standing still. I’m trying to make sure that no one comes up behind me and shoots me while I’m shooting the ones in front of me and beside me.
Bullets are whizzing by my face like fireworks on New Years' day. There’s dust in the air from the blast of the bombs, helping to conceal us but the more guys we manage to hit, the more of them start pouring out of the carriages.
A bullet grazes my shoulder but I’m not aware of the extent of the wound because if I take my eye off these parasites for one second, I’m fucking dead.
Chapter 35
Axel
I’mfuckinghitinthe fucking leg by a bullet and I’m not allowed to take the time to react to the pain, instead, I drag my foot along as I keep running and shooting, managing to take down my targets. It feels like my heart exchanged places with my brain as my head fucking feels like it’s the base of a fucking drum. I have temporary ear loss from the impact of the gunshots and the hand grenades. The only thing happening in my ears is a long constant drawn-out high-pitched noise that’s maddening. As I hurry around to Mikhail’s side to see if he needs help, I notice that his shoulder’s bleeding as he shoots down his last man.
Soon we see kids ranging from what looks like age six to eighteen running out of the carriages in fright. The kids are way too many to count. Then I see Julissa coming toward us with a knife in one hand and a gun in the other. The one with the knife has blood up to her arm. Her clothes are ripped, she’s limping and she has just a few scratches but mostly, she’s okay. We exchange a glance, acknowledging each other’s safety before she jumps up into one of the carriages. I follow her lead and so does Mikhail and what I see horrifies me.
Some kids are too terrified to run. Kids that look like they’re no older than one to five-year-old kids. They’re shaking, they’re dirty, they’re skinny and they’re looking at us like we’re monsters.
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” I try to tell the crying babies but they just cry some more. “We’re here to help you, not hurt you.”
As I look at the number of kids, my breathing becomes short. I’m overwhelmed by this rescue. I’m glad we managed to save them. But how the fuck are we going to one gather them all since a bunch of them fucking took off running away from us into the fucking woods? How the fuck are we going to get them all back and where the fuck are we going to take them?
My leg’s bleeding out and I’m starting to feel lightheaded, so I stop to sit on the floor of one of the carriages, my legs hanging out of it and I take my shirt off to tie it above the wound, hoping to stop the bleeding a little bit. Then I hear babies crying, young babies and Julissa emerges with one in her hand, trying to hush it while a kid that looks no older than twelve hands her a bottle.
Another wave of relief washes over me. I’m so fucking glad we managed to stop them from being trafficked but I’m terrified about what comes next. All of this was just so impulsive and reckless. And sure we did a good deed but now what? Now I’m bleeding, I almost died, we all almost died and now we have hundreds of kids plus the other two who are probably wondering what the fuck happened to Julissa, wandering around, with no fucking idea how we’re going to fucking transport them to a safe place.
I love Julissa’s intentions, I do but dang it, there could’ve been a safer way to rescue these kids, I know it. Sure, a lot of fucking people in positions of power are weaselly little nasty scumbags but I know that as many as there are wicked ass motherfuckers, there must be other people in positions of power with good hearts and good resources that can fucking set up operations that don’t put the kids at this much risk to save them.
My heart’s going mad and I feel like I’m about to lose my fucking mind. I’m not sure I can continue to do this. This can’t be the only way to do something “good” in the world, especially when it ends up like this. I look at Julissa feeding one of the babies and my heart warms. This is why she does it. But I’m not sure if the ends justify the means.
Nevertheless, I leap down from the carriage I’m sitting in, wincing as pain shoots up my injured leg and I limp my way over to Julissa, where I kiss her on her cheek. Her eyes fill with tears and when I look around at the carriage she’s standing in front of, I see that it’s filled with tiny babies, helpless and in need of care. I break down, crying as the twelve-year-old kid stares at me in fright.
I’m speechless, I’m clueless and I’m wrecked. I jump up into the carriage and make my way over to each baby, stroking their cheeks that are red from the heat of the locked-up metal box and running my hand over their little heads.
My attention is broken when I hear Mikhail screaming, “Guys! Please don’t run away! We’d like to take you home or take you somewhere safe. We’re just here to help!”
He’s gonna need a lot of luck to round those kids up. We all are.
One thing’s for sure, we HAVE to figure out a way and then I get an idea. See, while Julissa may not approve and she may not agree, I believe there are people in this world who are better than us so I decide to take a chance.
I limp the short distance that seems like miles with the pain in my leg over to my car where I retrieve my cellphone. There’s no fucking way we can handle this on our own. So I call up our therapist from the women’s meeting. I know I’m taking a risk. They may have been in on the whole thing too but I find it hard to believe with the genuine patience she seems to have with us. She inspires me with her desire to help trafficked victims, even if it’s just mentally because she teaches us that it’s the mind our traffickers prey on, they break us down with what they lead us to believe about ourselves, them, others, and the world but if we can become strong in the mind again, they lose their power over us.
Of course, I know it’s not that simple but it gives me hope and I believe her lessons come from a genuine place. And I hope I’m not wrong because we’re already injured. After a rescue like this, I’d hate to call her only for her to report what we’ve done and victimize the survivors all over again. I need her to just come through with support and I hope she can do that for us.
Chapter 36
Mikhail
I’mtryinghardtoproject my tired voice to the kids who have run off with good reason. “Listen, I know you have no reason to trust us. I mean, look at us. We look terrifying. And I know this is a horrifying sight for you. We’ve just added to your trauma, I don’t doubt it. We came with guns and knives,” I shout, stealing a glance at Julissa standing there with a baby in her hand and I can’t help the warmth that overcomes me at the thought of her being a mother one day.
“And we shocked you. You witnessed a battle that has left several dead bodies lying around. Some of you have seen dead bodies before today. Some of you haven’t. Either way, this is horrifying. I understand that. You have got absolutely zero reasons to trust us. But I promise you that the only reason we came here today was that we knew you were being taken away against your will or under the impression of a better life that would no doubt lead to a life of pain and we wanted to stop that from happening. See, my two friends here were just like you and I was once a cop that really believed and I still do believe in the protection of victims of crimes like these. Please. Wait. Don’t go anywhere,” I plead with the kids of all ages. Some of the older kids are shielding the younger ones, gauging whether or not I’m telling the truth.
