Kingsley

As I turned to make my way to Sean, he was just coming out of the Snack Shack. I stopped where I was so that he would have to keep coming towards me. As he got closer, I noticed that he suddenly had a frightened expression on his face. He yelled, “OH SHIT!” As I rotated to face the street, everything and everyone began to move in slow motion. I saw that an old 1969 Lincoln Continental had abruptly stopped in the middle of the street. The cars suicide doors flew open and immediately bullets began to fly. But before I ducked behind the first car that I hoped would shield me from the bullets, I saw Sean drop the bag of snacks and pull a Glock 9mm handgun from the small of his back and begin to return fire. I’m not sure if any shots hit because we had to take cover quickly. I yelled, “No Sean, not there!” as he ducked behind one of the gas pumps. I could hear the bullets cutting through the air and violently striking the objects around me. The tires of the car I was hiding behind were going flat as the slug’s ripped holes through them. Glass sounded like it was shattering all around us. I heard the man I was helping earlier shriek. Then I heard a big thump as if his body hit the ground just behind his car. “SHIT! SHIT! Rizz, can you see ‘em?” Sean yelled. I looked over at Sean and answered by shaking my head “no”. I tried to peek over the fender of the car. Hoping to see which direction the guys were shooting from, I hesitated to look around. I was afraid I would put myself into the line of fire if I moved. The bullets were loud. The sound of them slamming into the metal around us reminded me of the opening scene of the movie “Saving Private Ryan”. Sean was aimlessly sticking his gun out, pulling the trigger, shooting blindly, hoping to hit something. I began to hear sirens faintly in the distance. Then suddenly... the rapid fire of bullets stopped. And then, (bang) (silence) (Bang- bang) I heard shots fire that sounded as if they came from separate guns. I didn’t hesitate this time. I had to peek. When I looked over the fender of the car that I was hiding behind, there was a guy standing at the side of the car where Michelle was, holding a pistol in each hand. When he saw me, he turned his guns on me. As I ducked, I didn’t hear the guns fire. Just the firing pins clicking because he was out of bullets. Realizing that his gun was empty, the guy ran and jumped into the Lincoln as it began to speed away. This is when things seemed to return to a normal speed. I hollered in Sean’s direction, “OH SHIT... SHE’S BEEN HIT! SEAN, MICHELLE’S BEEN HIT!” Sean begins pacing in a small circle cursing. “SHIT...FUCK... DAMN IT!!!” I’m already at the car frustratingly signaling Sean. “Fuck, Sean...get over here!” Sean dropped his gun near the gas pump that he had been hiding behind and ran over to the car. Michelle was slumped over in the front seat. She had blood around the corner of her mouth and was taking crisp, short breaths. Sean lifted her upright and was trying to get Michelle to respond to him. She just looked at him and continued to take those short breaths. Sean yells out, “Somebody get some help!” A stranger from the crowd responded, “Don’t worry, help is on the way.” Michelle’s breathing began to slow down. “Stay with me baby,” Sean said, “Help is on the way.” Michelle looked at Sean, reached for his hand and began to rub her stomach with it. Then placed that same hand over her heart. She patted her chest twice and then put her hand over his heart. She gazed into his eyes, short of breath and said, “I love you.” Then she made one huge gasp before she stopped breathing. “Come on baby...come on baby, don’t leave me,” Sean screamed, but she never moved. She didn’t respond. Some guy standing close to the car began saying how her last breath was actually her spirit leaving her body.