Chapter Three
"Jack! GUN!" Was all Sue screamed. The only reaction she ever saw from Jack was the shocked realization that they were in trouble. Just then, Sue saw a muzzle flash come from outside the window in the tree. Nano seconds passed before she could even react. The bullet had pierced a vase sitting on the ADA's office. It exploded on impact. She tried to pull the person sitting next to her down, with no luck. Jack heard pops coming from an automatic weapon. They were in a barrage of bullets. Jack launched himself to his left toward the judge. He desperately looked one last time before he hit the floor for Sue. He saw the ADA and Nancy go down, his heart ached as Nancy screamed out in pain. Sue was scared. She was more scared that she'd ever been. She wished at that moment that Jack hadn't gotten up to testify. She would be more sure of herself, and safe with him by her side. He wasn't there. Sue tried to regain a sense of her surroundings. She slowly lifted her head to see another flash of light from behind her. She fell hard onto the floor and rolled herself under the bench she had been sitting on only 5 minutes earlier. The shots seemed to be coming from the door now too.
"What's going on? How is this happening?" was all she could think. Sue was grateful that she couldn't hear the confusion and horror going on around her. The screams as hot metal orbs pierced through skin, shattering bone. She could feel the terror beginning to creep into her mind, she fought it. She closed her eyes as tight as she could, and prayed. "Dear God, PLEASE help us." Was all she could mutter. She opened her eyes, fighting her natural instinct to hide. She could see an old man laying on the floor in front of her, his eyes wide open and cold. His stare was blank. Sue noticed blood oozing into a puddle beside his head, she knew it was too late to help him, he was gone. As she turned her head up trying desperately to see anything, anyone else, she saw a woman curled into the fetal position, crying. Sue held her finger to her lips to tell her to be as quiet and still as possible. The woman trembled with fear. This was the first time Sue had been in the thick of things. She wished it wasn't. She wished she had experience behind her, but in the same breath was very grateful she'd never dealt with this sort of panic before. She drew on every gut instinct and every ounce of FBI training. She needed to stay focused on what was going on around her. Suddenly, she could see a shadow move above her from the bench in front of where she was hiding. She held her breath and stayed as still as she could. Her mind was reeling. Was this one of the attackers, another helpless victim, Jack? Jack! She had been so scared, so busy trying to survive, she had forgotten about him. She braved opening her eyes once again. As she did, she saw blood splatter on the back of the bench, and a body fell, dripping blood onto Sue. It was the ADA's assistant. For Sue, that was the defining moment. She knew then, she had to get out of that room or she was going to die. She rolled herself under the next bench, but the view was blocked. Her hands reached for anything she could find to pull herself along the floor boards. As she got to the far end of the seats, she could see light streaming in from where she thought was the door. It was open, freedom! She saw 2 shadows run thru the doors, opening them wider. Sue could see bits of the wall in front of her and the doors being dug out and dropped in a down pour along with bullet fragments littering the only path to safety. It was too dangerous. She would be a sitting duck in the direct line of fire. Sue pulled herself to the row behind her, and crawled on her belly to a pocketbook on the floor. She tore through it, leaving its contents in a pile. She took out a compact to use the mirror as an extra set of eyes. She crept to the front of the courtroom again, pushing the compact out a bit, facing the window. She could still see the sinister being perched on the branch. He seemed to be randomly firing. Sue sat back and took a cleansing breath. As she tried to think of a way out of this mess, she looked at the reverse image of the small make up mirror. She saw something different, something she didn't recognize right away. The shooter was toying with them. He was terrorizing them for the fun of it. As Sue leaned forward to move the mirror again, a bullet, so precisely aimed, shattered it into a million pieces. Sue screamed, and pulled herself back. She then saw the red dot trailing along the path the bullet had just traveled. The shooter knew she was there, knew she was alive. As if almost to show off his skill, the beam glowed on the light switch on the wall, next to the only exit. It too disappeared. Sue noticed the beam traveling along the witness stand. It focused on the microphone. The gunman slowly, gently squeezed the trigger one last time. In an instant, the room exploded. Debris rained down on Sue's head. In that same instant, Sue's world went dark.