The leader was yelling at Kristen as he cut her clothes. “Where’s your precious leader? Who’s going to save your sweet ass? Where, bitch?” he screamed into her unresponsive face.
“Right here.” I said loudly, stepping out into the open and aiming my rifle at the leader, who jumped and nearly dropped the knife. He regained his poise quickly enough, and turned to face me.
“So you’re the famous John Talon everyone seems to think so highly of.” He paused to cut away another piece of Kristen’s clothing. “I was hoping you’d come to call. I was looking forward to coming to you, but this works, too. Where’s your brat?”
Apparently, Kevin had been talking quite a bit. Likely Frank had, too. “None of your business.” I said. “You have three seconds to cut down that girl and release my other friend or I will open fire.”
“Johnny!” The kid said disapprovingly. “We don’t need to have such hostility. We haven’t even been introduced. My name,” he paused for effect. “Is Cole Tieman. These are my people.” He gestured behind him and I was greeted with a chorus of jeers and one fingered salutes. “My woman, Tina Reyes,” Cole held out a hand and a pretty dark haired girl stepped forward. “My lieutenant, Devon Hunter and his woman Rayanne Davis.” Cole gestured with his other hand and a tall black teen stepped forward, glaring hatred at me. His girlfriend was just as hard.
“Forgive my lieutenant’s demeanor. He is upset at your woman killing his brother. She is your woman, correct?” His voice was oily and I was irritated at the sound of it.
I flicked my eyes to Sarah, who was looking at me with a mixture of relief and fear from the pen. “Yes.” was all I said.
“Devon will kill her, when I let him. You understand that, don’t you Johnny?” Cole handed the knife to his woman who resumed the removal of Kristen’s clothing. “My own brother was killed last year, shot down like a dog when all he wanted to do was to have a little fun at the end of the world.” Cole held a slender hand to his head and I began to realize why these people followed him. He was clearly unstable.
Cole continued. “You understand, don’t you Johnny? You understand my loss?”
I nodded. “Yes, I do.”
Cole sighed from his perch. “I knew it.” came his breathy reply.
I finished my sentence. “Because I’m the one who killed him. Large bullet wound to the chest? Was that how he died? I know that because it was my gun that killed him. He was scum who deserved to die for what he did to that family. Just like you’re scum for what you’ve done to the people of this area.”
Cole shuddered at the revelation. “You! You! I’ll kill you! Kill Him! Someone kill him!” Cole screamed at his people. Several of them started pulling weapons out from belts and pants pockets. He grabbed the knife from the girl and before I could shoot him, plunged it deep into Kristen’s chest. She raised her head briefly, then dropped it again as the life left her body.
“ No!” I roared, firing my rifle. My bullet went high as Cole ducked to the ground. Charlie and Duncan chose that moment to open fire as well, dropping several of the teens who started firing wildly. Sarah dove to the ground and ducked under the platform, trying to present as small of a target as possible. I backed into the aisles and ran towards the pen where Sarah was being held.
As I rounded the corner I saw someone else had gotten there before me. Devon, the lieutenant of Cole, was striding purposefully towards the pen, his gun swinging in his hand. His back was towards me and he didn’t see me moving up behind him. Sarah saw me, but to her credit, did not give away that she had seen me.
Devon only had eyes for Sarah. “I wish I had more time to make you suffer, bitch. But I have others to kill today. For my brother.” Devon raised the gun and took aim at Sarah.
“Join him.” I said as I stuck my SIG in his ear and pulled the trigger, splattering Devon’s brains all over a display of decorative wallpaper. Devon dropped lifeless to the floor, and I heard a shrill scream from somewhere, then a bullet whipped past my arm. I could hear gunshots and screams, and figured my men were doing just fine. At the moment, I was focused on someone else
Sarah’s eyes were wet as I worked on opening the pen. It was crudely lashed together with zip ties, but effective. I cut through them and opened the door. Sarah fairly jumped into my arms and I hugged her fiercely, holding her as tightly as I could.
“Your woman?” she breathed into my ear, turning her head to look into my eyes.
“Yes.” was all I said, before kissing her deeply. It was ludicrous, taking this private moment in the middle of a firefight, but I didn’t care. If I died here, I was going to make it worth my while.
Sarah returned the kiss with as much emotion, grabbing my head and holding me close. After a second we broke apart and ducked as bullets whined past our heads to slam into the shelves behind us. We grinned like teenagers at each other then got down to business. Sarah had a bruise on her cheek and what looked like the remnants of a bloody nose, but she seemed fine, otherwise.
“Charlie, Duncan, and Tommy are with me, hook up with one of them. Take the rifle until you can find your weapons. Watch the kick, it’s worse than the AR’s. I’m going to find that bastard Cole.” I gave Sarah my extra magazines for the M1A and a quick kiss for luck. She gave me another in return and headed off to the sound of firing. I figured Cole had headed for cover the same way Devon had gotten down from the platform, and was hiding out somewhere. He wasn’t going to be able to leave the building, we had cut off his exits too well for that, but leaving that lunatic alive was inviting trouble. I intended to cut this cancer out once and for all.
Circling to the back of the aisles, I headed for a clearer part of the store. Tall shelving units effectively blocked my view, so the little rat could have been anywhere. Firing on the other side of the store began to taper off, and I could hear the heavy sound of the M1A as Sarah took her anguish out on her attackers. I could see Kristen still on the elevated platform, but several bodies lay around her feet. Her killers had paid a heavy price for her death, and I meant to add to the tally.
The light was getting darker, the deeper I went into the store, but I needed to make sure Cole didn’t get around me. Moving quickly towards the lighting department, a figure suddenly popped up from behind the Returns desk. I ducked and fired quickly, striking the figure in the chest and knocking them back against the counter. Moving quietly, I looked over the edge and saw I had managed to kill Tina, Cole’s woman.
Well, that ought to piss him off. Deciding to add fuel to the fire, I picked up the body and dumped it into a shopping cart, arranging it like a drunk sorority girl. I moved it to the main aisle and shoved it down, moving to a side aisle to see if it had any effect.
I heard a small voice whisper “Tina?” and then a shadowy form moved toward the slowly rolling cart. A thin squeal of anguish came from the figure, and I could see him turn his head my way to try and discern where I was. I caught a flash of something in his right hand, and figured it was the knife he had used to kill Kristen.
I stood up and moved to the center of the aisle, keeping my SIG centered on Cole. I didn’t say a word, I just moved steadily towards Tieman.
For his part, Cole just stood there, staring hate at me. I could imagine his frustration. I had killed his brother and now I had just killed his girlfriend. For someone with an unbalanced mind to begin with, I’m sure it was thoroughly scrambled in there right now.
Cole stretched out the knife and I could see a feral gleam in his eyes. I stopped about fifteen feet away and kept the gun on him.
Cole surprised me with his next move. He dropped the knife on the floor and spread his arms wide. “I am unarmed, hero. You can’t kill an unarmed man, can you?” His voice was a purr and he looked at me sideways, grinning slightly.