Chapter Eleven: The Shooting Ends at 2:45
Jackson slowly opened his eyes. He could feel all sorts of pain. Pain in his ankles and feet, pain in his legs, and pretty much pain all over.
"Ow" he groaned, bringing his hands to his ears.
He heard a ringing sound in his head. He plugged his nose and blew out until his ears popped. The ringing stopped but sirens filled his ears. He sat up and looked around.
Police cars and ambulances were everywhere. People were watching the scene unfold from the streets. Police officers were rushing up and down the front lawn of the school. They tried getting in through the doors but they were shut tight.
"Are you ok?"
"Wha?" Jackson asked, looking around. He was hauled onto his feet by strong arms. "Ow, ow, ow!"
"I don't think he can walk" one man said.
"Ya think?" Jackson asked, glaring at him.
"Come on, let's get him to the ambulance and get him checked out" the second man said.
The two men lifted Jackson up into their arms and carried him off the front lawn. He looked around and saw some of his classmates lying on the ground. If they were dead he didn't know. Jackson looked around for Cooper, hoping he got out. He saw some paramedics crowding around some kids.
"Are you ok son?" one of the men carrying Jackson asked as they set him down in the back of an ambulance.
"My body is throbbing with pain" Jackson replied as he looked down at his feet.
He gawked at them as the men pulled off his shoes and socks. His ankles were swollen about twice their normal size. Jackson looked up at the school as he heard an explosion and some screams.
"Miley!" he yelled.
He could hear screams of shock and pain all around him. Jackson put his face in his hands and started to cry. Everything was going wrong. This was never supposed to happen in his life.
"Jackson."
Jackson looked up at the sound of his name. Or at least he thought someone was shouting his name. He looked through the crowd of police officer's, paramedics, teenagers, and bystanders.
"Jackson."
"Dad?" Jackson asked, looking around. He went to stand but the two men, paramedics by the looks of it, pushed him back.
"We're not done with your feet son. One of your ankles are broken and you hit your head pretty hard on the ground. We're trying to stop the swelling" one of them said with a slight impatient tone to his voice.
Jackson sighed heavily, but that sigh quickly turned to a sigh of relief when he saw his dad.
"Daddy!" he cried, smiling like a little kid. Tears of joy slipped down his cheeks. "Dad."
Robbie Ray rushed over to his son and pulled him into a big hug. Jackson shivered as he felt sudden coldness on his legs. He pushed his dad away and saw that the paramedics put ice bags on his feet.
"Jackson, are you ok son? Where's Miles?" Robbie asked, looking around.
"She's still inside" Jackson replied slowly. "And I'm fine. Except, I hit my head, broke one ankle, and sprained the other."
"I got down here as soon as I heard the wounded and death toll go up" Robbie said softly, sitting down next to Jackson. "How'd you get out? What happened after your phone went dead?"
"Well, I called you after I got word that there was a shooter. I put the table on it's side and hid behind it with my lap partner named Thor" Jackson started slowly.
"Then the shooter came into the room and started firing shots. Classmates crawled to the windows and opened them. Two of them jumped out. Then the shooter asked for our cell phones. My batteries were dead already so I tossed mine out the window."
"The shooter yelled at me and pushed the barrel of the gun to my head. I have never been so scared before. Then he started teasing me about being so scared I wet my pants. Someone yelled at him to shut up and then he said something about everyone making him sick. He backslapped me with the butt of the gun. It hurt so bad."
"Once he got everyone's cell phones one of them started to ring. He answered one, yelled into it, and then crushed it under his shoe. He crushed the others too. We all took this opportunity to jump out the windows. I hesitated before jumping but eventually I did. I slammed into the ground pretty hard. I rolled over twice and lost consciousness."
"Do you know how many shooters there are?" Robbie asked quietly, lightly touching the dried blood on the side of Jackson's head.
"No. I heard some people talking. There might be two. Might be more" Jackson replied quietly.
"Do you know why the shooter is doing this?" Robbie asked. Jackson stared at his swollen feet. "Jackson?"
"He was picked on a lot. Beat up every day. But, no one would help him. He's getting his revenge" Jackson replied.
"Those kids! When are they going to learn that their lives don't always revolve around them" Robbie asked, throwing his hands into the air. "You know, I always thought your generation was different. I thought you guys would learn not to do this because of past events. Remember what happened at Columbine?"
"Dad, stop" Jackson cried, slapping his hands over her ears.
"Jackson what-"
"Dad, I'm partly the cause of this" Jackson replied through gritted teeth.
"How-"
"I never helped" Jackson replied quietly. "In fact, I teased the kid too."
Robbie stared at Jackson in surprise. . .
-
Aaron cocked his gun and pointed it at Miss Honey. He made a face as he looked at her shivering form.
"You always made me feel stupid whenever I asked for help in class" Aaron muttered and pulled the trigger. There was a loud pop and Miss Honey fell over, clearly dead. Her blood spilled out onto the floor. "Now's time for you."
Aaron turned to Aly and Amy who were halfway across the room and shot them. They let out a choked gasp and fell to the floor, their bodies making a dull thud as it connected to the wood. Aaron grinned at their lifeless bodies as their blood slowly spilled out onto the floor.
Lilly was openly crying. Aaron turned to Lilly, Oliver, and the barely conscious Melody and Lucas. Oliver took Lilly's hand in his and squeezed tightly. Aaron walked over to her and pushed the barrel of the gun up to her forehead. She whimpered in fear.
"Aw, am I scaring you?" he asked quietly. Lilly nodded. "Good. All those jerks who beat me up scared me. They scared the shit out of me."
"Come on, man. Put down the gun. Kill anymore and you'll be spending the rest of your life in prison" Oliver said quietly.
"Those jerks who beat me and teased me should be in prison" Aaron snapped, his eyes cold. He cocked the gun and Lilly started to cry harder.
"Aaron!"
Aaron whirled around as Blake came into the room. Blake looked at the scene and turned to Aaron, his body shaking with anger.
"What are you doing? I told you not to go after Oliver and Lilly" Blake cried.
"That's a load of bull" Aaron snapped, turning to Blake. "They deserve it as much as anybody else." He glared at him then snatched a white box out of his hands.
'So Aaron lied to us' Oliver thought watching the two bicker. He thought about getting Lilly and running out of the room, but he couldn't leave Melody and Lucas to die and Aaron's gun was still pointed at them. 'I can't take his gun. He's so much stronger then me. Oh, what do I do? If I try I'll probably get me and Lilly killed. Miley, normally you come up with ideas. I wish you were here with us. The Three Amigos.'
"A first aid-kit? You're going to help them?" Aaron yelped.
"Yeah T-They're my friends" Blake replied, tightening his grip on the gun in his hands.
"Then let us go. . .please" Lilly whispered. Blake opened his mouth to reply, but Aaron backslapped him with his gun. Blake slammed into a desk and fell to the floor, the desk falling heavily on top of him, crushing his chest. He then turned back to us and pointed the gun.
"Sorry, can't do that" Aaron replied with a sneer. He threw the first-aid kit to the back of the room where it hit a cabinet and opened, spilling contents everywhere. "Now, it's your turn to die. Like everyone else. Let' start with your little girlfriend." Aaron cocked his gun and pointed it at Lilly's head.
"NO" Blake pushed the desk off of him and jumped onto Aaron's back, wrapping his arms around his neck.
"Get. Off. Me" Aaron breathed.
"Never" Blake replied. Aaron whipped around, knocking Blake off his back. Blake charged into Aaron, wrapping his arms around him. "Let go of the gun."
"No" Aaron hissed.
The two of them struggled, walking in circles. Aaron was trying to get Blake to let go of him and Blake was trying to get the gun from Aaron. When suddenly. . .
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
Aaron and Blake stopped struggling and started at their guns in shock. They weren't sure who fired their guns or if it even were their guns. They knew the police were outside.
"Oh no. NO" Blake yelled, pushing Aaron away from him. Aaron shoved his gun into a belt loop and stood frozen to the spot. "No, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to." He was kneeling next to Oliver and Lilly. Their eyes were closed and blood was slowly slipping down their fronts. Blake was crying. "I didn't mean to."
"Blake. . .I-I'm sorry" Aaron said quietly.
"Shut up. Just help me get them outside" Blake replied quietly.
"But, all we've done. All we're been through" Aaron said quietly, shaking his head.
"It doesn't matter, man. We're going to jail anyway. Just make sure your gun is visible" Blake replied, turning to Aaron, his face contorted with sadness.
"Oh all right" Aaron said with a sigh. He tucked in his shirt and put his gun in his pocket, the handle visible. "Bit, it's only for you, dude."
"J-just. . .d-d-do it" Blake said and sniffed, wiping his tears on his sleeve.
-
Seconds after the redish/orangeish thing hit the ground outside the doorway that Miley was in, there was a deafening explosion.
Miley threw herself on top of Jake, using her body to protect him. Miley felt and intense heat on her back and felt glass and pieces of wood strike her.
She squeezed her eyes shut, opened her mouth and screamed. She could faintly hear the screams of everyone else, who was alive, in the room.
Seconds later, there was silence. Miley was sprawled on top of Jake, her body aching. She blinked and slowly pushed herself up. She looked to her left and saw that the room was blown apart. Bodies were lying everywhere. Blood was splattered on the floor and walls.
Miley looked to the right and saw a table on it's side. 'Thank you God' she thought, sitting up. Dust and debris fell into her face. She coughed and shook the rest out of her hair.
"Someone come get us, please" she whispered.
She went to move her legs, but found that they were pinned under another desk. She shifted them slightly and sucked in a sharp breath at the pain that went shooting up and down her arms.
"Oh man" she whispered, tears of pain coming to her eyes. The pain made her dizzy and she collapsed on top of Jake, falling unconscious. . .
-
"Jackson. . .how could you?" Robbie asked quietly.
"He was a hick, dad!" Jackson cried as tape was being wrapped around his ankles.
"That doesn't matter son" Robbie replied somewhat sternly. "You and a lot of other kids are responsible for this one way or another."
"I know dad. Because of this, I probably killed Miley" Jackson replied, shaking his head.
Robbie opened his mouth to say something but police men went rushing by the ambulance and towards the school doors. Jackson craned his neck and saw that they were opening. From where Jackson was sitting, he could see two people coming out of the building carrying two other people with two more on their backs.
"Dad. . .th-that's Lilly and Oliver" Jackson cried.
"What?" Robbie asked.
Jackson and Robbie watched as Lilly, Oliver, and two other boys were laid down on the ground, next to each other. The two boys that were carrying them was confronted by the police and then had their arms forced behind their backs. The two boys said something then the police walked them to an ambulance where they got inside.
"Are they-Are they-?"
"I'm not sure" Jackson replied.
"Excuse me" Robbie called as a policeman walked over. "But, is it safe? Were those two the shooters?"
"They were. There are no more students with guns inside. There have been approximately 43 deaths and many more injuries" the policeman replied, slowly shaking his head. "There are more students trapped inside. We're getting them out now. But, they'll be more deaths later."
"Oh my gosh" Robbie whispered. Jackson looked at his watch.
"2:45. School ended 35 minutes ago. The shooting started exactly 2 hours ago" he muttered in reply, suddenly feeling tired.
"Well, we have a long wait. I hope Miley comes out alive" Robbie said, putting his hand on Jackson's shoulder.
"I know, dad. I know" Jackson replied with a nod and a sigh. Jackson's gaze went back to Oliver and Lilly who were now being put into a stretcher.
-
Fifteen minutes later, Jackson was asleep on Robbie's arm. Robbie was stiffly sitting up, watching the front doors of the school. He blinked when the doors opened and two policeman carried out two bodies.
"Miles?" Robbie asked in a whisper. "Miley. Jackson wake up! It's Miley!"
Jackson gave a snort and sat up with a start. He grabbed crutches that were lying by him and gently slid to the ground.
"Come on" he said, starting forward. Robbie got to his feet and went with his son to go and check on his daughter.
"Is he or she related to you?" a policeman asked as Robbie and Jackson drew near.
"She's my daughter, Miley Stewart. That's Jake Ryan. He's not our relative but we know him personally" Robbie replied.
"Ok then, until his parents get to the hospital you're in charge of him. He and you daughter will be going to Hope Hospital. Lots of other victims are there too" the policeman replied as paramedics rushed over with stretchers.
"Thank you. But, are they alive?" Jackson asked in a whisper.
"Barely" one policeman replied honestly. . .
