I aim my gun up and blast the crazy right in the face.
Blood explodes all over the place and the crazy falls to the floor dead, releasing Emmanuel, who crumples into a heap, shivering, staring at the place where the crazy’s face used to be.
“GET UP!” I cry at him. “MOVE!”
He drags himself to his feet and runs toward where Jack is barking by the door, ready to lead the boy to safety.
With Emmanuel safely out the way, I wheel and direct my gun at the shadows, at the figures darting around in them. Molly’s gun cracks out another bullet, hitting a crazy in the chest. She fires two more times, and he finally falls. Ryan and Zeke both fire on a second crazy and he collapses to his knees before falling face first onto the marble with his arms splayed either side of him. I turn my gun on the last standing crazy and fire. My bullet hits him right between the eyes. He pauses momentarily before falling to the ground.
Panting, blood-splattered, we look around at the fallen group of crazies. Ten of them lie dead on the floor. That was way too close for comfort, but we did it. We killed them all.
Suddenly, I hear the sound of Jack’s barking coming from outside the castle. If Jack is barking, that means there’s more danger. My mind immediately thinks of Emmanuel, who followed the pit bull outside. He’s completely defenseless.
Ryan, Zeke, Molly, and I exchange a quick glance before rushing out of the castle doors. And that’s when we see them. Through a gray sheet of rain, we take in the sight of more crazies. A whole gang of them—on our boat. The ones inside the castle were just an offshoot of this main group, a distraction used to give these crazies the opportunity to steal our boat. And there in the center sits Emmanuel. He’s been completely bound in rope. His frantic gaze locks with mine.
“NO!” I scream.
The engine of our boat thrums and the black water churns as the propellers turn. The boat starts to move away, taking our weapons, food, and medical supplies with it.
Flooded with anger, drenched by rain, I raise my gun. But what can I do? I can’t get a clear shot of the crazies driving the boat because Emmanuel is in the way. If I shoot it to sink it, that would be no help either. We’d lose everything, including Emmanuel, who wouldn’t be able to swim to safety. There’s nothing I can do. I’m completely defeated.
Suddenly, I feel something grab me from behind. I scream and thrash around frantically. Beside me, Molly, Ryan, and Zeke have all been grabbed as well. As I finally catch a glimpse behind me, I realize that the whole island is filled with crazies. There are at least fifty of them surrounding the castle. The ones in the boat were just a decoy. We’re trapped. There’s nothing we can do.
I’m certain I’m about to meet my death when the sudden blast of a shotgun splinters the air. Something whistles past my face and immediately the arms that were latched tightly around me release. The crazy who’d been holding me falls into the wet, muddy earth, dead, with a neat bullet hole in the side of his face.
I touch my cheek and feel warm blood mingling with the ice cold rain drops. The bullet grazed me. Whoever just fired that gun was a millimeter from blasting my face off.
I don’t have time to think about the fact I’m still alive or how. I dart forward with my gun, spin on the spot, and start shooting the crazies. I free Molly first, knowing full well that she’s a better shot than either of the guys. She looks completely startled as she wriggles free from the dead crazy who’d been holding her. She’s soaking wet from the rain. Her uniform weighs her down and her ginger hair is plastered to her head.
“Save Emmanuel!” I shout at her.
She nods and splashes through the muddy puddles as she races toward the jetty, where the small boat is rapidly disappearing across the water. It’s only then that I notice the other boat, the one that’s coming toward us, the one containing three silhouettes, one of whom is holding a gun.
Out the corner of my eye I have time to see the silhouetted figure shoot his gun. Again, the bullet just skims me. For a second, I wonder if I was the intended target. But then a dead crazy flops to my feet and I realize I’d been mere seconds from being attacked by him. Whoever it is in that boat, they’re trying to help us.
I have no time to think about the mysterious people who are helping us; I have to focus on freeing Zeke and Ryan, on neutralizing the threat. I turn back and see that Jack is attacking the crazy holding Ryan, gnashing with his jaws. The crazy tries kicking him off but it’s no use. He finally lets go of Ryan and falls down in the mud.
Ryan, now free, grabs his gun and fires a vengeful bullet straight into the man’s head. When he looks up at me, his jaw is set firmly. The expression on his face chills me to the bone much more than the pounding rain that soaks me. It’s a murderous look.
As though fueled by revenge, Ryan grabs his gun and begins firing round after round at the crazies. They begin dropping to the rain-drenched ground, falling face first into the mud and dying undignified deaths. My heart pounds as I fire too, and kill the crazy holding Zeke.
Now that there are three of us on the island shooting the crazies, plus the mysterious stranger on the approaching boat, the crazies begin to fall more quickly. Soon there’s only a handful left, the ones that were clever enough to take cover behind walls and trees. Ryan stalks over to one, seemingly without any recognition of the danger he’s in by exposing himself, and fires at the crazy, killing him at point-blank range.
With Ryan on his murderous rampage and Zeke covering him, I decide to help out Molly. I can hear her gun firing as she tries to kill the crazies taking away Emmanuel, and every time she pauses to lock and load, she curses, and I know she’s having no luck. I race to her side but it’s no use. Our boat and Emmanuel are far away. There’s no chance of rescuing them now.
Suddenly, the sound of gunfire ceases. I glance behind me and realize that Ryan has shot the last of the crazies. We did it. But we lost Emmanuel and our boat containing all our supplies. It hardly feels like a victory.
For the first time, I let myself fully look at the other boat, the one with the strangers who were helping us. It’s a boat just like the one we’d just lost, but smaller. A sailboat, its small engine is nonetheless whining as it’s being driven like a motorboat. Even in the gloomy moonlight, and obscured by the sheet of pelting rain, I can tell that they are not strangers at all. The three figures on the boat are in fact so recognizable to me as to be family.
It’s Bree, Charlie, and, holding the gun, the gun that saved my life twice in the last five minutes, Ben.
I stare at them as if I’ve seen a ghost. The small boat reaches the jetty and Jack bounds over. Penelope leaps ashore and the two dogs race around in circles, happy to be reunited.
The rest of us just stand completely still, too shocked to move.
“Is that…” Molly begins.
“Yes,” I reply.
Suddenly, I find my feet. I race toward them full speed through the squelchy mud, not caring about it splattering all over my clothes. When I reach them, the kids grab hold of me and pull me into an embrace. I’m filled with relief.
“Bree,” I stammer, staring into my sister’s face cupped between my hands. “You came.”
She nods. “I’m sorry. I should never have let you go like that. Without saying goodbye.”
“Shh,” I say, hushing her. “No sorries. If anyone’s sorry it should be me. We’re together now, and that’s all that matters.”