This feeling. I feel like I'm finally getting revenge for what they did to me thirty years ago; something I've waited my entire life to do. Thirty years of pain and rage go into every kick and strike I land on the criminals. Revenge tastes sweeter than I imagined, and at this moment, I let it consume me. They took my life once, and now I take theirs with every strike. Phil, Charlotte, Priscilla, and April also join in on the fight, quickly knocking out the criminals and tying them up.
As I land every hit on Haney's crew, satisfaction surges through my body. I look over the end of the room and find Vick standing over Chris's body. "You little shit!" Chris shouts at him. Vick aims the pistol at him "Stay down, or else!" Vick shouts. Chris scoffs "What? It's not like you're actually gonna shoot"
Vick pulls the trigger as the bullet rips through Chris's shoulders "Aaah!" The other criminals pause their fight along with me. "Stop now, or else I will shoot all of you! Surrender!!" Vick screamed. April smiles "Yeah, y'all better listen!"
I smile too "Yeah!!"
Suddenly, Chris gets Vick's upper hand as he rolls towards him and knocks him down. Vick drops the pistol as Chris lands a punch on Vick's face "You piece of shit!!"
Haney's crew jump towards us in an attempt to take us all down. I swing my pipe, striking them on the head as they fall to the ground. One manages to grab Charlotte "Charlotte!!"
He holds her by the neck while facing us "Drop your weapons or she dies!" The man shouts. Phil and I both raise our hands, our weapons still gripped tightly. Priscilla and April follow our lead, trembling in fear. "Drop it!!" He shouts louder. What do we do? Do we listen? There are still a few more criminals in the room. Shit, what do we do?
My mind goes through every possibility. If we drop the weapons, they'll take us down and possibly kidnap all of us, but if we don't, Charlotte is going to die. Phil gives me a look, probably questioning my decisions. My fingers gripped tighter on the pipe. We're running out of time. What the heck do we do?
TRAUMA OF '89
VOLUME 1, CHAPTER 10, INTERCEPTION
At the car, Hailey and her kids are horrified by the sound of the gunshot. "Don't worry, they're fine" Veronica assures the family "It's time to call the police"
Veronica dials 911 and holds her phone to her ears. "What did those criminals want with me?" Hailey asks, trembling in fear. I don't know, but all I know is it isn't good. You're with us now, and that's all that matters," Veronica answers. The police answer.
In the house, everything is not going so well. Me, Phil, and April are outnumbered, and the man takes Charlotte hostage. "Put your weapons down or else she gets her neck snapped!!" The man shouted. The criminals surround us as my body begins shaking. I start to tremble in fear of not knowing what to do. My arms lower as I slowly crouch down to put the weapon down. "Good, good," the man says.
I could see Charlotte also trembling in fear as she tried to pull the man's arms away from her neck. Tears run down her face as I begin to feel guilty for getting her into this situation. The look on her face breaks my heart as tears begin to shed from my eyes. At that moment, it felt like the mission had failed. When I turn to my right, I see Phil staying calm with a slight smile.
Phil turns to his left "What the-!" He points at the farthest window in the room. All the criminals, including us turn our heads. That allowed Phil to strike as he quickly dashes toward the man, wrapping his arms around the man and slamming him into the wall, freeing Charlotte. April and I turn to each other "Phil! You genius!" I shout.
I pick up the weapons and take down the men. Phil repeatedly punches the man into a bloody pulp "Aah!" He screamed. He goes out for more blood as he knocks every enemy to the ground. The front door is kicked open "Freeze! Everyone!!" A man shouts. I turn, it's the police. I felt a wave of relief as the police arrived. The criminals raise their hands in the air as they get on their knees. The tied-up criminals continue lying on the ground. "Yes, yes!!" Phil shouts. "What happened here?" The police point the gun at everyone, including us.
Phil drops the weapon and signals for us to follow along. We raised our hands and began the explanation "So, we overheard a group of criminals, AKA Haney's crew, planning a kidnapping on Hailey, the woman we just saved. Oh there she is" Phil points behind the officer with my head. Hailey and Veronica appear, relieved by the cops.
I continue the explanation "We planned to intervene their kidnapping by taking Hailey with us before the kidnappers can get a hold of her. They broke into her house as you can see" I point at the shattered glass in the kitchen.
"This was an act of defense. We are innocent. These are the real criminals" I point at them. I felt like a hero, saving Hailey and her kids from the cruel kidnappers. "Alright, you guys step out of the house and stay calm as we secure the situation"
The officers handcuff the criminals and call for backup as we sit outside on the porch with the crew. "Thank you guys for saving me and my family" Hailey thanked and gave us a smile "Is there anything you guys need or want?"
"Oh, no, it's okay" April answered. "No, I really appreciate it. I want to do something for you guys. Dinner tonight maybe?" Hailey insists on taking the offer "Please?" She chuckles. Phil rubs his stomach "Oh man, I would love some food right now" he laughs. I'm staring through the window, watching the officers speak to the criminals. "Wait a minute, where's Vick?" I say.
"Go! Go!" Suddenly, Chris and a man run through the hallway. The man tackles an officer as Chris sprints to the door. I quickly act in an attempt to shut the door on him, but he barges through. The man catches up as Chris strikes Charlotte's head with a baton. "Hey!" Phil shouts as he tries to attack. The man shoots Phil "Phil!" I screamed. Phil falls to the ground as the both of them take Charlotte. Vick appears behind the door, rushing towards Chris. "Take care of him!" I tell April and the others.
I follow Vick's trail, noticing the frustration and concern on his face. The criminals were already in the car as they sped off ahead. I could hear Vick whimpering and groaning in frustration as he sprinted to my car. "Vick!!" I shouted. He yanks open the door and steps inside as I quickly get in the front seat and hand him my keys. Without wasting a second, Vick starts the engine, makes a sharp U-turn, and speeds towards Chris. "Vick! You better not crash my fucking car!" I shout. He shouts back "I'll try, but the last time I drove was thirty-one years ago!"
"Huh!!?" What the hell, 1989!? Why did I give him my keys? I should've driven! Does he even have his license!? Vick sharply turns to the right as I lose my balance without a seatbelt. I'm thrown into Vick "Ella!" he shouts. "Sorry!!" I shout in awkwardness, shifting myself back onto my seat. My heart pounds as Vick reaches Chris's rear, about to run into him. The light turns red as Chris and Vick run through. I know I'm not supposed to worry about tickets with Charlotte's life on the line, but I am. The car sharply turns left as Vick manages to avoid the parked cars. At the end of the next intersection, there are cars stopped at a red light. "Vick, what do we do!!?" I scream as I grip my seat.
Chris shifts the car onto the sidewalk as Vick follows along. I'm surprised the sidewalk is big enough to fit a whole car on it. The whole time, I'm screaming in fear, panicking "Aaaah! Vick!!!"
Gunshots suddenly fly towards us from ahead "Oh my God!!"
"Stop screaming!" Vick yelled. A plan strikes in my head as I release my seatbelt and jump in the back seat. I pull out an AR 15. "Good girl!" Vick shouts. Why the fuck is he calling me a good girl!?
My ears ring as the rifle fires. Their back window shatters open as I rapidly pull the trigger. I throw a pistol, landing it on Vick's lap. He picks it up and fires shots ahead. More shots come at us as we duck for cover and shoot at the same time. He swerves into the other lane, catching up to Chris's vehicle beside. I drop the AR and search for another firearm.
I grab the MAC-10 and rapid-fire. I watch as the man in the back seat is hit by my shot. Blood splatters out of the car as his dead body falls somewhere in the backseat with Charlotte. "Can I run your car into him?" Vick asks me. "Hell no!" I shout. "Fuck, man!" He shouts as he fires his pistol at Chris. Chris ducks as he swerves the car towards us. Vick swerves back at Chris as I aim for Chris's head. The shots miss as Chris ducks and slams into us.
Chris turns right as we follow along onto Manor Road. We catch up right beside him and continue our shots toward him until we stumble upon a car ahead of us as we're in the opposite lane. Vick quickly slows down and moves behind Chris's trail. We hear a train horn up ahead "Vick, is that a fucking train!!?" I shout. "Yes, it is" he answered "We'll make it"
He floors it, running into Chris's rear. Up ahead, the railroad's crossing gate pulls down as the red lights start flashing. The train reaches closer and closer. "Vick!! Vick!!!!" I screamed. "Hold on!! We'll make it!!" He screamed back while running into Chris. The sounds of the train's horn become louder as we drive closer. Suddenly, Chris's vehicle accelerates, driving further ahead of us "Shit!!" Vick shouts.
The train reaches our view as Chris manages to clear the tracks and reach the end. The train passes by as Vick slams on the brakes last second as the car screeches to a full stop; a meter next to the train.
"No, no, no!!! No!!!" Vick screams in frustration with tears streaming down his face. He kicks the car doors open as he slams it back with full strength. His eyes are fixed on the other side of the train, but the view is blocked. I quickly step out of the car and rush to Vick "Vick, we'll get him. We'll get him, don't worry!" I tried to cheer him up, gently placing my hands on his shoulders.
Vick shrugs off my hand as I look at his face; bloody, bruised, and sweaty. I attempt to cheer him up again "Vick, we-"
"Just leave me alone!" He begins sobbing as he falls to the ground. "Charlotte" he whispered. I watched, not knowing what to do at this moment. The train's rumble was all I could hear in the background along with Vick's cries. I felt helpless and guilty about Charlotte's kidnap.
I take a deep breath and step closer to Vick. I kneeled next to him and gently wrapped my arms around him. Vick leans into me as he wraps his fingers around my arm. The rumble fades away in the distance as I can fully hear Vick's cries "Everything's gonna be okay, Vick. I promise" I say.
TO BE CONTINUED....