Miss Green watched as the children rounded the corner. As soon as they left her line of sight she turned and blew out a breath as her nerves made her start to pace.
"Don't worry Mom." Raymond told Green.
Green gave a fake laugh as she looked down at the ground.
"It's funny. I haven't stopped worrying about all of you since I found about you...and not two days ago...I wouldn't have understood what maternal instincts felt like or meant. And now it seems that I can't stop worrying about any of you." She spoke as if speaking to herself.
Ray walked up to his mother with a scrunched up brow and a curious look to his eyes.
"You mean...,"he whispered "you mean you didn't know about us?" he asked on a whisper.
Miss Green looked up into his face with a sad look to her face.
"No...,"she whispered out with a miserable face and tears shining in her eyes.
She walked towards Ray and wrapped her arms around him and kissed his head.
"I knew it...I knew that they lied...they said you died...that you and dad died...I knew it was a lie...I knew it!!" Ray said.
Miss Green fortunately had her head facing towards the other side of the children. The tears that sprung to her eyes at Ray's statement almost made her whimper out loud from the emotion. The fact that they had told them that her and Jarod had died being a lie...now was a half truth. God help her. God help them.
God help us!
Bobby and the Major had been at the corner of the hallway taking watch with Avery and Ayden. But as she raised her head from Ray's head she heard the all too familiar sound of yelling and gunshots.
"GET DOWN!!!" She yelled to the children as she pushed Ray down to the ground.
She took out the gun that Bobby had given her from behind her and ran to the corner. As she did two bodies flew at her.
The air got knocked out of her body. But she forgot even that as she heard the crying of two babies.
She got up in less then a second and herded the children with the babies to where the others were- even as she scanned the blankets in which the babies were bundled. The sight of crimson blood covering one of the blankets startled her and she grabbed the baby to inspect it. As soon as she did she heard a whimpering.
But it didn't come from the baby in her hands.
Her son who had been holding the baby fell to the ground. That's when she saw the red mark on the top left breast of his shirt.
"NOOO!!" yelled out Miss Green as she kneeled down to her son with the baby still crying in her arms.
"ACE!!!" yelled out Breanna. Breanna swiftly handed the baby to Raymond who had stood up as he saw Breanna and Ace round the corner.
Breanna ran to her brother and kneeled down to begin pressing down with the weight of her body on the gun wound.
"ETHAN GET THEM OUT OF HERE!!!" Green yelled over the gun fire.
Ethan, who had covered some of the little one's with his body to protect them, quickly bolted up right and began hoisting the younger ones in his arms. He started to yell for them to follow him. It took less then the time for him to get up for the children to begin hovering around him as the all ran for the door.
Suddenly an alarm began to sound loudly throughout the halls. Bobby had moved back with Avery and Ayden as the Major kept shooting at the corner.
"YOU THREE NEED TO CARRY HIM OUT! I'LL COVER ALL OF YOU!!!! GO!" Bobby yelled out above the sound of the Alarm and gun fire.
With out discussing the three siblings hoisted their brother up as he protested in a loud yelling moan, and carried him to the exit.
Green followed them quickly out the exit as Bobby retrieved Major Charles.
All of them ran through the hallway as fast as they could. But when the three siblings came to the stairs it was then the situation became difficult.
Green was right behind them in the opening of the stairs and Bobby and the Major were not far behind as they continued to keep their guns trained to the hallway that they had just taken. Bobby took a moment to realize that they were still children behind him. He swiftly turned around and ran to the stairwell.
"GIVE THE BABY TO HER AND I'll HELP CARRY THE BOY!!!!" Bobby yelled to Green.
Then Bobby quickly exchanged places with Green and the girl, as he handed Green his gun and the young girl took the baby from Green's hands. He then hauled most of the boys weight up and the other two cared for the boys head and legs.
Green began firing at a sweeper that had exited the room that they had just left. The Major quickly fired along with Green. More sweepers began to fill the hallway.
"LETS GOO!!" Green yelled to the Major.
They quickly leapt up the stairs following Bobby and the others. As soon as they reached the top a shot rang out. The Major yelled out. Green turned and shot without aiming.
She grabbed the Major as he began to sag against the wall and hauled him up past the door frame and quickly shut the door.
She hauled the Major past the book case. She then let go of him as she began to push the book case back into place. The Major understood her intent and quickly helped her push the book case into place.
They quickly ran to the other door and began to go down the stairs at a breath taking speed. Soon they were sprinting through the hallway that they had used to enter the Centre.
As they climbed through the opening they swiftly noted that Emily had not left them and that they were ushering all of the children into the two cars.
Both of them ran to the cars.
"I'M DRIVING YOU GET IN THE FRONT SEAT!!!!" Green yelled out to the Major
"GOGOGOGO!!!!" yelled out Green to Sydney in the other car.
Sydney put the car into drive and floored it.
The Major, while panting and sweating from the pain, looked over at Green.
"I'm sorry." He whispered out.
Green didn't give him any confidence as she quickly made the van leap to life.
The children in the back cried out.
"IT'S OK!! IT'S OK!! EVERYONE JUST HOLD ON TIGHT!!!" Miss Green yelled back to the children.
Green quickly checked her rear view mirror to check on the kids and to see if anyone was following them. She then checked her side mirrors.
No one.
For now.
She then looked back to check on the children again. Her children. She gripped the steering wheel tightly as the sight of the brown and blue eyes stared back at her through the rear view mirror.
We did it Jarod. Are children are free from hell now.
But now there was one more rescue that had to be done.
And a face that she had not seen since she was 11 popped into her mind.
A boy's face.
A boy's face that now had a replica.
Her son.
The picture from early that day came to the front of her mind.
I'll get him out Jarod. And then I'll find the others. I promise.
Breanna continued to press down hard on her brother's chest to stop the bleeding. The blood covered her body now. She had started to cry...due to the fact that...for the first time...she didn't know what to do. She had nothing she needed that could help her. Her brothers and sisters around her were all cramped together...but they had made room for her to lay Ace down on the floor of the van.
"Bre..." came her brother's voice.
Breanna looked down to his face that lay in her lap.
"Shhh...don't talk. You need to conserve your energy." She said and then looked up to front of the car.
"He's losing a lot of blood. We need to stop somewhere and get him some medical attention." She said loudly to the people in the front.
"No hospitals! The Centre has spies in almost all of them within a 70 mile radius from here." The Majors labored voice rang out.
Miss Green turned her head around to look at Ace. The sight almost caused her heart to stop. All of the boy's blood covered his body and Breanna's...but the boy was a ghostly white.
She had to do something.
"Bobby trade places with me." Green asked while keeping her eyes on the road.
Bobby who had been looking out the rear window of the van turned at the request.
"What??!!" came his sarcastic reply.
Green's face turned to one of anger and she rolled her eyes.
"GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE AND TAKE THE WHEEL!!" she yelled at him.
"ALRIGHT, JESUS ...CAN'T YOU PULL OVER??!!" he yelled back.
She turned to look at him with her classic "are you shitting me" face.
But Bobby returned with his classic "oh come on" face.
"We are still too close to the Centre." She answered his question.
"Yeah, well I don't want to risk having an accident and being left PERMANENTLY close to the CENTRE." He retaliated.
The statement, however, convinced her. She pulled off to the side of the road and quickly jumped out of the car and went around getting into the side of the car. As soon as the she opened the door Bobby had managed to get to the door and jumped out and ran to the driver's seat.
Green jumped into the car and began shutting the door the same second that Bobby started to take off. She quickly turned and looked at her son lying with his head turned sideways on her daughter's lap, and saw how much blood the boy had truly lost.
She crawled over to the tightly confined area to him.
"Ok..." She sighed out when she looked to his blood-covered shirt. Her hands went to the shirt and ripped the garment away from his body. She wiped at the area to be able to inspect the wound more clearly, but careful not to hurt him more.
The boy opened his eyes and turned his head to look at her.
"Why are you helping us?" he asked her in one of the lowest whispers she had ever heard.
She leaned down and touched his face. He was cold. She looked into his eyes. Blue eyes. Her eyes.
"Because...I'm your mother." She whispered back as she continued to caress his face.
The boys eyes that had dulled from the pain...seemed to come to life.
"Our mother?" he asked softly.
"Yeah." She whispered as she barely nodded her head.
She then looked back to his wound.
"Major...don't you have a first aid kit or something in here?" she asked as she continued to inspect the wound with her eyes.
"It's under the driver's seat." The Major responded as he apparently tried to take off his jacket without upsetting his shoulder wound.
"Could you hand me it please sweetie?" she asked the little girl that sat next to the driver's seat. The girl was looking at her with an awestruck face.
"Rhoswen! Get the first aid kit!!" Breanna voiced loudly to the girl.
The girl snapped out of her revere and retrieved the first aid kit and held it out to Green. Green took the kit from her hand.
"Thank you." Green said as she began to open the kit.
"Your welcome mamma." Rhoswen spoke.
Green stopped scuffling through the kit when she heard Rhoswen. She looked back at her and stared at the little girl. Tears had begun to form in her eyes...but she shook her head and squeezed her eyes. She quickly leaned over and kissed the girls front head.
"Thank you baby." She said.
She then began to hunt through the first aid kit once more. She grimaced at the results of her scavenging. The regular bandages and gauze and creams. A pair of tweezers and wire lay at the bottom of the kit.
Some antibiotics, and some painkillers.
Well at least there's something to help with the pain.
She took out the tweezers, wire, and the painkillers.
"I need you to take three of these. It'll help with the pain a bit." She said as she handed Ace the pills.
He shook his head.
"No. I want to be able to stay aware of what's going on in case anything happens." Ace responded.
Great, he's just like his father.
"You don't have a choice, if you don't take them now, later on you won't be able to move or anything and we won't be able to move fast. So take them!" Green ordered her son.
"No! I can take the pain." Ace refused.
Great!!! Stubborn like me.
Green grabbed his nose and pinched it close. Because Ace did not foresee the act, his automatic response was to open his mouth- she didn't know if it was to yell or to breath- but it didn't matter to her. She quickly dropped the pills in his mouth. She forced his mouth closed and even though he struggled some, he quickly swallowed the pills.
"THERE! That wasn't so hard now was it?!" Green stated.
The look her son delivered her was exactly like his fathers. One filled with anger and contempt. But the difference was that ace had her blue eyes.
"Please don't angry...I just want what's best for you...and I can't stand the sight of you like this...in pain." Green spoke softly.
"You don't understand!!" Ace said through gritted teeth. His eyes wandered around to his brothers and sisters that were all watching him.
She followed his gaze.
She understood.
She had made him look weak... in front of everybody.
He was the oldest and the leader apparently...he had to act strong for everyone's benefit.
She leaned over and kissed his forehead.
"Your brothers and sisters know your not weak...right now you have to take care of yourself. They won't think less of you. Believe me. I don't." She said softly to him.
Ace looked up at her with tears in his eyes.
"Thank you." He whispered to her.
She smiled, but soon her face became serious.
"I need to see if the bullet came out. If it didn't... I'm going to have to try and get it out. I'm not going to lie to you. It's gonna hurt like hell." She told him.
Ace nodded his head.
"I know. But I know it has to be done." Ace said to her.
Green nodded her head.
"Breanna, I need your help. I need you to roll him over and hold him still." Green told her daughter.
"Ok...but he's strong...IF he struggles there's NO WAY I can hold him down." Breanna responded.
"We'll help." Came a voice from behind Breanna.
Ian and Ayden moved to position themselves around Ace to hold down the upper part of his body, while Nia and Avery sat on his legs.
Green looked to everyone that was holding Ace down.
"You guys ready?" she asked them.
They all nodded their heads as they prepared themselves.
Green leaned over and kissed her son's head.
"Are you ready?" she asked as she pulled away from him.
He breathed out and slowly nodded his head.
Green bent over and examined the wound probing it with her fingers.
Ace sucked in a sharp breath.
Green glanced up to his head and then back to her work.
After her inspection she sighed out and closed her eyes.
"I thought it had come out...but I can see the bullet tip... its almost out... but I need to get it out." Green muttered out loud.
"Ok." Ace whispered.
Slowly she began to dig into the wound with the tweezers.
Ace's scream from the action reverberated through out the van. He began to struggle to try and get away from the work she was trying to do.
"HOLD STILL!!" She yelled out.
His screams echoed throughout the car as he began to cry and scream at the pain she was causing him.
She tried to hold back the tears that threatened to spill from hearing Ace scream out. But she couldn't allow herself the luxury. She needed to get the bullet out and fast.
Suddenly she yanked on the bullet and it came flying out of his body...as well as the torturous scream that came out of Ace...the pain caused by the act making him faint.
Breanna smoothed out his hair and turned his head.
"I think he fainted." Ian stated.
"Thank God." Green sighed out. She closed her eyes as a teardrop landed on Ace's head. She bent down and kissed his head, allowing herself the luxury of kissing him for more than a second. As she raised her head she wiped the tear that had slid down her face.
"We need to bandage him up. I hope he stays knocked out. He needs the rest." Green stated.
"Is he going to be all right?" asked a little boy in Kyle's arms.
Kyle had over three children in his lap and had tried to keep the children calm when they arrived out of the Centre.
Kyle's eyes stared into Green's. In that moment she could have sworn she saw Jarod's eyes. A wave of utter helplessness washed over her as she realized that she would have to raise these children alone. Be haunted by his eyes, his face.
Her children would be a constant reminder of the man that had died because of her stupidity, because of her stubbornness, because of her trust...in the wrong person.
She looked at all the children in front of her.
How was she going to tell them. Tell them that she was the reason.
She was the reason they were in that hell.
She was the reason that they weren't able to have a normal life.
She was the reason...their father died.
She looked to the little boy in Kyle's arms.
He was a small boy with pale white skin and big light blue eyes.
She didn't even know the boys name.
She didn't know her own sons name.
"Come here." She said as she extender her arms to hold him.
The boy extended his arms and went to her willingly.
As soon as she had him in her arms she noted how light he was. She sat him in her lap and wrapped her arms around him so he could lean his back on them. She gazed into his eyes.
"What's your name?" she asked him.
He lowered his eyes and looked passed her to Breanna.
Green saw that he was asking permission to talk, but she turned his face away from Breanna and to her.
"You can talk to me baby." She whispered to him with pleading eyes.
He lowered his head.
"Are you gonna hurt us?" he whimpered out.
"No baby. I'm your mamma. I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm here to make sure that those mean people back there... never hurt you again!" she said to him.
He lifted his head with tears in his eyes.
"Is Ace going to go away?" he asked crying.
Her heart fell.
"No baby. He's ok. I'll make it all better. I promise." She vowed as she crushed him to her body and kissed his head. She rocked him for 5 minutes, until he fell asleep.
"His name is Angus." Kyle muttered.
Green lifted her head from the top of the boy's head.
Green looked at him as if unsure of what he had said.
Kyle motioned to the boy with his hand.
"His name is Angus...but he likes being called Gus." Kyle told Green
Green stared at Kyle. She then looked down at the boy again.
"Gus." She whispered out.
She looked at the boys face and then back to Kyle.
"Thank you." Green whispered out to him.
Kyle looked down to his hands with a frown.
"I just wish I could have done more."