Nat picked up the phone and heard nothing but static for a minute before he heard the unmistakable sound of his brother screaming in fear.
"PLEASE… DON'T… HURT… ME!" He screamed, he sounded like he was in pain.
Nat stood their frozen, he was sure he was about hear his brother die.
"We are here to help!" The same voice that he had been on the phone earlier said in a hushed tone.
Nat heard his brother cowering and a very distant sounding metallic click. There was about ten seconds of silence.
"Get on the ground or I'll shoot" The voice said, "Stand down or I will fire!"
Nat gut tightened.
Nat heard the sound of a gun shot, followed by a scream from Alex and someone else.
"Tango down!" The voice said apparently to no one.
Nat become unaware of everything else as his world seemed to collapse in that one moment.
Static filled the phone for a few minutes the voice seemed to be issuing orders to someone.
"We need all emergency services to 1299 Chestnut Rd, We have shots fired, there are two possibly three down, one critical and one GSW…"
Nat didn't hear anything for the next few minutes as the shock hit him.
"Come on Alex, I need you to talk" The voice said, several voices could be heard in the background.
"DON"T HURT ME PLEASE!" Alex shouted bringing Nat back to his senses.
"ALEX!?" Nat yelled into the phone causing the rest of the band who had dozed off to wake with a start and look sleepily at him.
"NAT?" Alex shouted crying. "PLEASE DON'T LET THEM HURT ME!"
Alex lay on the ground wrapped loosely in the blanket, he stared at the wall like a zombie, having long ago broken, he wished for death to just take over him, but it never came. He didn't respond to the sight of flashlights sweeping around the room from the small window up top. He jumped however when the window was smashed in. The glass sounded loud as it shattered and hit the ground. Alex slowly looked around and saw a guy in Camouflage squeeze through the small window, and land on the floor. The man paid attention to the window as a gun and a pile of blankets were passed through the window. He leaned the gun against the wall and turned to Alex. As he did this he pushed a few buttons into a phone before putting it back in his breast pocket.
"PLEASE… DON'T… HURT… ME!" Alex screamed and ignored the pain as he rapidly backed away from the man.
"We are here to help!" The man said in a hushed tone. He shone his torch at Alex and was repulsed by what he saw. He wondered who could do this.
Alex recognised the voice but continued to back away.
The man was distracted by the sound of metal on metal, and took a step back and grabbed the gun, which was a Military style machine gun, he stood tall and aimed the barrel at the door. The door clicked and the man flicked the safety.
The door opened and Juanita's aunt stood there in a rage.
"Get on the ground or I'll shoot" The voice shouted training the sights on Juanita's aunt, "Stand down or I will fire!"
Juanita's aunt ignored the man and began to move forward. The man waited a couple of seconds, before lowering the sight and shooting out the ladies kneecap, causing her to fall to the floor.
Alex's scream drowned out that of Juanita's aunt.
"Tango Down!" The man called through the window.
The man lowered his weapon and reached into his other pocket and pulled out his phone and dialed 911.
"We need all emergency services to 1299 Chestnut Rd, We have shots fired, there are two possibly three down, one critical and one GSW…"
He then passed the phone to one of the men who were dressed like this guy and just as armed. The men had broken down the front door and began to search the house.
The man quickly looked back at Alex, who was shaking with fear, and was freezing as well. He decided Hypothermia was the biggest risk and grabbed the blankets, he walked over to Alex and began to wrap them both up in them. Alex winced in pain but seemed to be in shock and unable to speak.
"Come on Alex, I need you to talk" The man said, making sure he was wrapped in and as close to Alex as he could get with causing Alex too much pain. He knew body heat was the best way to warm someone up.
"DON"T HURT ME PLEASE!" Alex shouted.
"ALEX!?" Nat yelled from the phone in the man's pocket.
Alex was shocked as he heard his brother's voice for the first time in a month
"NAT?" Alex shouted crying. "PLEASE DON'T LET THEM HURT ME!"
The man took Alex's phone out of his pocket and switched it off speaker and gave it to Alex.
"We found a P lab, we need to evac, the operator agrees" One of the other men said poking his head through the door.
The man tending to Alex looked from the kid to the man and shook his.
"Evac is not possible at this time, get out who you can but we can not evac Alex until EMS arrives."
The man looked at Alex, who seemed to be holding the phone to his air for dear life. He caught a glance of Alex's other arm and knew that it wasn't looking good, even for broken one. The sound of sirens approached as the men bustled around carrying Juanita's aunt outside.
"Where are you Nat?" Alex asked crying quietly into the phone.
Shouting came from outside, it sounded like the police were the first to arrive.
"Drop your weapons!" Someone shouted from outside.
"Stand Down! Drop them!" One of the rescuers called out.
A few minutes later, a couple of officers entered the room guns drawn, the quickly focused them on the man, holding Alex. They lowered them seeing his weapon in the middle of the floor, though they did not holster them.
"What's the ETA on the paramedics?" He asked urgently a bit relieved not to have guns trained on him.
One of the officers grabbed the radio on his shoulder, "Send them in, it's clear"
"What's going on here?" The other officer asked a little more than stunned.
The man turned his attention away from the officers and turned back to Alex and felt his forehead, which had a bit more warmth in it.
"Later" was all he said.
Nat was nervous, he had no idea what was going, but some how he found that his brother was on the other end of the line. Nat ignored the band as they tried to ask what was going on. He just listened to his brother who just seemed to be whimpering in pain and crying in fear.
"Where are you Nat?" Alex cried softly into the phone.
"I'm still here," Nat said quietly.
"No, Where are you?" Alex said still crying softly.
"We're at the airport Alex…" Nat said quietly.
"NO! DON'T… LEAVE… ME!" Alex screamed hysterically into the phone.
Nat held his ear back from the phone, until Alex stopped screaming.
"We're not leaving you Alex" Nat said trying to reassure Alex.
The man heard the slightly distinct sound of an Ambulance's siren approach the house. He detangled himself from the blanket, and tried as gently as he could to pick up Alex, who was still wrapped in the blankets. He was unnerved at how light he was. He quickly climbed to his feet and carried Alex out. The ground was white with snow and the road was lined with numerous emergency vehicles with their lights flashing. He noticed that the police had already set up a cordon and reporters were waiting behind it, flashing their cameras and capturing footage of the situation. The man carried Alex towards an ambulance that just turned up. The paramedics quickly opened the rear of the vehicle. The man placed Alex on the stretcher in the back.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Alex screamed in fear again, noticing his settings change. "WHERE ARE YOU TAKING ME!?"
The man jumped in the back of the ambulance, and the paramedics began to protest but he cut them off.
"We need to get him to hospital now! And to save time now, I can brief you en-route"
It wasn't orthodox but one look at Alex told the paramedics he was right.