Richard Stephenson - Collapse

“Get out there quick and finish him! I’ll cover you! Go!” screamed Max. Collins bolted out the front door and rounded the corner to the sidewalk. As he paused for maybe a second trying to locate Jack, he was shot twice and fell to the ground. Max fired off four shots to keep Jack pinned down so he could get outside. He crouched low and moved over to Collins, relieved to see that he was alive. He studied him closely and was alarmed to see blood soaking his left thigh.

“Collins! You still with me? Say something!”

“Something,” whispered Collins.

Max peered over the bushes to the sidewalk. He could see a trail of blood drops leading down the sidewalk to the side of the building, but it was quickly washing away in the rain. Jack was nowhere in sight. Max had to get Collins inside to Dr. Stone. His leg was bleeding badly and chances were high that an artery had been severed. Max quickly made Collins sit up and from behind, wrapped his arms around his friend and hoisted him up.

“Come on, Collins, work with me here. You got one good leg — use it! We have to get inside! You need to cover us both!” Max yelled, dragging Collins to the front door

Max felt like his hip was melting out of his body it hurt so badly. He was preparing himself for the likelihood that his knee would shatter and hoped adrenaline would give him the strength to make it to the locker room. Every step was agonizingly painful for both men. As they headed for the locker room, Kathy and Dr. Stone sprinted to meet them. The group made it safely inside, with Elizabeth remaining in the doorway to provide cover.

Once inside the locker room, Max collapsed. The pain in his hip and knee completely consumed him; the entire world faded away, and the only reality he knew was agonizing torture. He forgot about the hurricane and all the dead officers he once commanded. He desperately wanted to be free of the pain; death would be sweet relief. All he had to do was take the gun in his hand, raise it to his temple and pull the trigger. He longed for the end, to be taken away from all of this. Somewhere in the midst of his stupor, another sensation tried to compete for his attention. Someone was yelling at him. Someone was shaking him and slapping his face.

“Chief Harris! Say something! Please, sir! Are you okay? C’mon now!” Trudy had taken hold of Max’s hand and was slapping him back to reality.

“Has he been shot?” questioned Elizabeth from the doorway.

“I don’t think so. He’s not bleeding.”

Dr. Stone and Kathy had placed Deputy Collins on a cot and pulled off his shirt and vest. As Dr. Stone cut away his pants, blood sprayed from the bullet hole like water spewing from a garden hose, covering Dr. Stone and Kathy in the sticky, warm fluid. Dr. Stone quickly placed her hands on the wound and pressed down with all her weight.

“Kathy, dig in that bag and pull out all the gauze. Get over here and apply pressure to this wound. I have to tie off that artery before he bleeds to death.”

Kathy did as she was told and pressed down on the wound as hard as she could. “Are you a surgeon? Can you do this?”

“No, I’m not a surgeon and no, I haven’t done this before. Looks like I’m the only one qualified to try, unless someone else here is a doctor?” Dr. Stone looked up in time to see the top of Kathy’s head explode, followed by the deafening roar of gunfire. Bullets flew around the room as chaos ensued. In the span of a few seconds, the looky-loo who had admired Elizabeth in her bra and the young couple with the small children were all dead. Dr. Stone sank down to the floor and crawled in front of a footlocker. Elizabeth inched along the wall and using a sink for cover, returned fire.

“Stay down, doc!” Elizabeth screamed.

“Where is he?” screamed Dr. Stone.

“He must have climbed over the rubble in the gym and found a hole in the wall!”

“I have to get to Deputy Collins! He’s going to bleed out!”

“Doc, don’t you dare move an inch! I mean it!”

Elizabeth stayed behind the sink and scanned the damaged wall for a breach, hoping to find the shooter. As the noise subsided, the only sound that could be heard was the drip of sprayed blood hitting the floor around Deputy Collins. They waited for what seemed like an eternity. Dr. Stone watched as the spurts of blood from Deputy Collins’ leg became less violent, until finally they stopped completely. Deputy Collins was dead.

Trudy screamed.

Elizabeth turned in time to see two shots pierce Trudy’s chest. She fell to the floor not knowing that her dead husband was waiting for her on the other side. Elizabeth aimed her weapon at the door and walked in an arc so she could aim out into the hallway. The shooter hadn’t fired on Max because he couldn’t see him on the floor. He had fired at Trudy’s silhouette. Elizabeth aimed out into the hallway. She fired three rounds and dropped the man to the floor. She held her aim as she closed the distance to the fallen man. She knew from very recent experience that getting shot with a bulletproof vest on was like getting knocked over by a sledgehammer. The man on the ground was down for the count, but he wasn’t dead. Elizabeth didn’t hesitate to remedy that problem and shot him in the head three times.

Walking into the locker room, Elizabeth knelt down next to Max and took his hand.

“Sweetheart, I just killed one of them. How many are left?”

“Last one. We’re safe.”

“What’s wrong with you? Tell me.”

“It’s bad. I’m ready to cut off my leg. I did something to it.”

“Just stay right were you are.” Then Elizabeth helped Dr. Stone off the floor. “It’s okay, doc. It’s over.”

Dr. Stone immediately sprang into action. She checked on the gunshot victims, only to find them all dead. She quickly scanned the room for the young couple’s children and couldn’t find them. “Elizabeth! Help me find the children! I don’t see them!”

Elizabeth and Dr. Stone desperately searched every corner of the locker room, unable to find the infant or the toddler. Elizabeth walked over to the young couple and rolled the woman onto her side. She gasped in horror to discover that the woman had fallen on top of her baby.

“Doc! I found the baby! Quick!” Elizabeth pried the infant from her mother’s arms and handed her to Dr. Stone. Dr. Stone checked the baby for any signs of life. Tears streamed down her face as she shook her head. Elizabeth raised her hand to her mouth and stifled a sob. In an instant she regained her composure and resumed her search for the toddler.

“Did he run off?” asked Dr. Stone.

“No, he’s in here. I’ve been watching the door since this started. Start opening lockers! I bet he’s hiding.”

They quickly found the little two-year-old boy inside a locker with his hands over his ears. Elizabeth scooped him up and took a few quick steps away from the child’s dead parents. She didn’t know what to do with him so she started kissing his cheeks over and over. The little boy giggled. Elizabeth looked over to see Dr. Stone tending to Max.

“Max, tell me what’s wrong,” she demanded.

“It’s my leg, doc. I can’t move it.”

“But you can feel it?”

“That I don’t have a problem with. I feel so much pain I’m ready to put a bullet in my head.”

“Stop talking like that!” implored Elizabeth.

“I’m sorry, I’m not going to, but it hurts worse than it ever has.

Dr. Stone put her hands on Max’s neck to check his pulse. “Tell me about the surgeries you’ve had.”

“I had a hip replacement.”

“Any pins in your leg?”

“Yes.”

“How many?”

“One very long rod with about a dozen pins drilled into my femur.”

“How many fractures did you suffer?”