Jacqueline Druga - Salvation

“I’m scared. I just want to get out of here,” Nora said.

“Soon,” Jason whispered in her other ear. “Soon.”

“We ran the results twice to be sure,” Nelson said. “Good news or bad, however you want to look at it… only one of you nine is a carrier.”

Nora exhaled, but still trembled. Only one. Only one of them carried the virus.

Nelson looked down at his clipboard. “The carrier is…. Which one of you is… John?”

Nora felt his hand immediately shake and her heart took a nosedive to the pit of her stomach. No, not John. He was shoulder to shoulder with her, and Nora felt his inhale of courage just before he clutched her hand tighter

“I am,” John said.

“Very well. Thank you.” Nelson stepped back.

Without a pause or inkling of hesitation, the second Nelson moved out of the way, the soldier raised a pistol, extended it and fired once, point blank into John’s head.

The execution bell rang out in the form of a gunshot.

Meredith screamed, shrill, loud, and hysterically.

The warm sensation of blood splattered across Nora’s face, John’s hand still secured to Nora’s pulled her down when he flew backwards. Her mouth opened and she tried to scream, but she couldn’t. Blood rushed to her ears and muffled the sound of everything.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Her heart beat in her ears, the room spun, she looked up to Nelson.

“Our time chasing you all is done,” Nelson said.

The soldier aimed at Nora. At that instance, she remembered what Hunter taught her, how he told her she was quick. But Nora couldn’t react. Her body trembled in fear and shock that even with everything moving in slow motion, she couldn’t command her hand to reach back and grab her arrow gun.

Yet, someone did. Jason. She saw him pull, then fire his weapon. The short arrow from the small crossbow style gun sailed through the suit and into the neck of the soldier. His gun went off as he flew back.

“No!” Malcolm screamed. It was unexpected and something he didn’t have time to stop. John was killed instantaneously. And all hell broke out in that tent.

Were the assassins there to ensure that no one fought back, or there to execute the entire bunch, Malcolm didn’t know? He would never know.

He didn’t just have the arrow gun he also had a pistol given to him by Norris. He pulled it out to shoot, and before he could fire into the tent at the only soldier, Jason had taken him out.

Malcolm rushed for the bio room only to see one of the medical team had drawn a gun.

He lifted his own weapon to fire, but just as he aimed, through the corner of his eye, he saw the soldier from the gate running his way, then he felt the bullet sear into his leg and Malcolm went down.

From the ground, still aiming on that tent, Malcolm discharged his weapon.

One of the medical personnel took a hit to their gut and dropped his gun as he fell to the ground. Meredith clutched to John’s body as if she were protecting him. She held his head close to her body, crying out in agony as she hovered over him.

Nora pulled her hand from John’s and watched as one of the DC lab crew, Patricia, took a bullet to the back as she raced for the door.

They were sitting ducks, frantic sitting ducks and all that occurred happened in seconds. Blake was physically fighting with one of the medical workers, trying to get his gun, another one of the medical workers aimed, and Nelson ran out.

She had to do something. They were armed as well.

As she reached for her arrow gun, Jason grabbed hold of her, pulled her toward him, bodily blocked her and then reloaded his weapon. It was then a soldier entered the bio room. He wasn’t armed with a handgun; he had a rifle. An automatic rifle.

Nora knew there was no chance against that. Nowhere to hide. Nowhere to run.

The end was at hand.

The soldier lifted his weapon but before he could depress the trigger, a huge spear came from behind, plunging straight through his torso. His arms went outward, the rifle dropped and his body shook for a second. As he dropped to the ground, Nora watched as Hunter ripped through the plastic of the room. He stepped inside with a determined stride. Without missing a beat, knife in hand, he swung out cleanly slicing through the neck of one of the medical workers, then threw the knife at another. It spun, end over end, and landed in the chest of the last standing man. Hunter turned, pulled the spear from the soldier and walked back out.

Nora didn’t even know that Hunter was in the vicinity. She believed they had left him two hundred miles away.

He ended the pandemonium in the tent, stopping what would have been a massacre. But they were not without loss.

Meredith was beyond consolation and Nora didn’t know if the shock of what happened to John would ever heal. She held her friend close to her body, crying from the depths of her soul.

John was gone. He was really gone. Without warning, he was shot dead.

Nora couldn’t speak, again, she tried, but the shock of everything for some reason caused her throat to tense up. She grabbed on to Jason.

There was no gunfire, no other noise except for crying.

Afraid to move, Nora didn’t want to leave Jason’s side. It may have been finished in that bio room, but what happened outside? Was it over? Eventually she would know, but for the time being, Nora stayed there frozen in the aftermath and sadness of all that had transpired.

No one knew exactly what was supposed to happen. Everything was speculation. Worry from Hunter and concern on the part of Trey caused Malcolm to come up with a backup plan, and Norris with his further speculation, initiated Malcolm’s plan.

Malcolm would never know if he acted prematurely, on time, or too late. His gut told him it could have been worse.

When it was all said and done they had sadly lost John and two others from the DC lab team. Dr. Cole was spared, Malcolm was grateful because he only took a hit to his leg, and Jason was the recipient of a wayward bullet to his hand when he shot an arrow in the throat of the soldier.

They would have lost more if it wasn’t for Hunter.

Hunter lived on instincts and Malcolm couldn’t ignore the fact that their new friend was insistent that there was going to be trouble. When Trey also warned of that, Malcolm not wanting to alert the others, or cause alarm, tucked Hunter unknowingly in the back of the van.

He told him, “Just stay in here. If there’s trouble you know what to do.”

Malcolm didn’t expect to hear what he did from Norris. Norris believed Malcolm was one man, but in truth he wasn’t.

When he moved the van he was able to alert Hunter to the possible traps that were set.

Unfortunately, there were only two of them. If Malcolm moved too soon, it could have been worse for those in the tent.

The snipers on the roof never fired a shot.

Hunter had taken them out long before the blood results were in.

Rick believed he was spared from being euthanized. He was told he was just leaving Salvation. He didn’t know, told Malcolm he hadn’t a clue that it would go any other way, until he was face to face with the barrel of a gun.

Hunter stopped that.

Marilee and her son were cornered. They clutched to each other believing they would be gunned down. Until Hunter arrived removing their assassin and pulling them out of the way so no one was any the wiser.

The young man, a product of a post nuclear war, a young man who wanted to see the world, ended up being much more than anyone bargained for.

Despite Hunter’s victories and all that he had done, no one could say, or do anything to take away the heartbreaking defeat they felt over the loss of their friend, John.