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* * *
Nyla
I fight back the tears as I move to the house. This is what we’ve been trained for. I don’t have time to be a baby. I have to help Mom and find Lizzy.
I hide behind a tree and lift my rifle to look through the scope. I count four in the room with my mom. I inhale deeply as I see my father bleeding out on the floor.
I have to keep a level head. Ah, fuck that. I squeeze and put a bullet through the head of the one holding a gun to my mother’s head. Glass shatters as my bullet blows out the back sliding doors. The guy drops to the floor and Mom gets down.
The others turn, looking for where the shot came from. One of the guys starts to shoot in my direction, but I’m not sure he knows where I am. I smirk as I feel Jace coming up behind me. It’s always like this.
When the three of us train, we breathe each other. I feel Gio when he closes in. I know what I need to do next.
I get low and fire at the guy now fighting my mom. He drops from either the force of Mom’s kick or my bullet. Maybe both. Jace moves past me and takes out two others.
Gio flies by, guns blazing as two more guys appear. I turn my attention to the next guy to reveal himself. He makes seven, not the six Jace counted.
I can’t get a shot off. I have to shift out in the open a little more to lock in. I breathe and take the shot, but something is wrong. Jace and Gio slow their run and freeze. I drop the rifle to my side and run up behind them. My chest heaves as I step through the broken glass sliding door.
I look down and the tears start to spill. My mom is lying lifeless next to my dad. She’s gone. I didn’t get my shot off before that bastard shot her. I drop to my knees.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” I sob.
I was too late. My mom is gone because I didn’t get here fast enough. I crawl to my dad as his chest slowly rises and falls. His breathing is so shallow, he’s wheezing.
Trying to find the wound to stop the bleeding, I hover over him. I shake my head, not knowing what to do. Ava appears with Lizzy in her arms.
“Mom, what are you doing here?”
“They were here for me,” Ava says in a detached voice.
Dad lifts his hand and cups my face. I start to sob more. I should have waited for Gio and Jace. We could have saved Mom together. I’m always in such a fucking rush.
“Ny…baby. This isn’t your fault,” Dad wheezes. “This isn’t on you. Be a child. Stop playing with fire and be a child. Live your life, Ny.”
With that, he takes his last breath. I fall back on my butt and scream as the tears fall. Gio drops to his knees and tugs me into his arms. I wrap my arms around him and sob my heart out. I don’t miss it when Jace wraps his arms around us both.
My entire world has just been ripped from me. Nothing, and I mean nothing, matters to me in this moment.
* * *
Ava
I feel nothing but rage. I loved Beth like a sister. From the first time I came to America in my teens she’s been like family. I became bi-curious because of her beautiful soul.
Beth was always a protector. She taught me how to shoot my first gun and coached me through my first fight as one of the girls in the neighborhood tried to whip my ass. We used to laugh about that.
Now, my friend, my love is gone. I feel hollow. First Emil, now Beth. Riccardo is taking away my core piece by piece.
“What will you do?” Gio says as the cleaning crew moves about one of my best friend’s home.
Elijah put Lizzy down for a nap in her room once he and Gwen arrived. He was the only one able to calm her. I believe she’s in shock. I don’t know how this will affect her.
Ny sits on the sofa wrapped in Jace’s arms, small hiccup sobs releasing ever so often. Beth would be proud of the kids. They did well, that last guy came out of nowhere. Not even Beth saw him.
“We’re going to add one more body to the count. I died here too,” Gwen says.
“What?” I lift my head to stare at one of my last friends and counselor.
