Until Time Stands Still (16 page)

            She nodded. “I know.”

            Mykel crept forward out of the room with Isabelle behind him. They got about ten feet before someone spotted them.

            “Hey! He’s stealing a girl!” Someone shouted, and pointed to him. Immediately, Mykel pulled Isabelle behind a line of crates out of the line of fire. Graham and Bryant stopped fighting and pulled their weapons and began shooting. Johnny covered them from the rafters. Most of the crowd scattered, headed for the main exit. The three girls in the front of the room huddled behind the crates they were standing on. Bryant knelt over the woman he had bid on, trying to cover her as he returned fire. Johnny had taken out the large black man who was the ring leader, while most of the others were gathered behind a wall of crates.

            Mykel and Isabelle knelt on the ground behind their crates.

            “Isabelle…look at me.” He grabbed her shoulders and forced her chin up. “I need to know you’ve got my back. I need you to shoot if you see anyone trying to aim for me. Got it?”

            “Yeah.” She swallowed. “How are we going to get out of this?”

            “We are going to take them all out. Then I’m taking you home.”

            “I’m so sorry, Mykel.” She sobbed. “I’m sorry you keep having to rescue me.”

            “No. No.” He shook his head. “Don’t fall apart on me, sweetheart. I need you to keep it together right now.”

            She nodded and wiped her eyes.

            Mykel peeked between some pallets and took a shot at the nearest shooter who fell like a ton of bricks on top of one of the others. “Shoot Isy! Now” He commanded.

            Terrified she took aim and pulled the trigger at the big red haired man that she had previously elbowed. Of all of the men, he was the one who she was most afraid of. She hit him in the stomach and he fell, his shot at Mykel going wide. She ducked back down as one of the men turned in their direction and emptied a clip where her head had been. She was shaking like a leaf, and nearly hyperventilating.

            “Good girl. When he stops, do it again and take him out.” Mykel yelled in between return fire. “Just remember to count your rounds.”

            “Rounds?”

            “Bullets. You need to know how many you have left.”

            “Got it.”

            She waited until Mykel fired and took aim at a dark haired man coming in their direction. She hit him in the leg and again in the chest, screaming as she did so. The adrenaline flowed into her system and she took another shot at a second man and ducked her head again. Mykel glanced at her when she screamed, assuming she had been hit, but she was in full on warrior woman mode. He laughed. She was his woman all right.

"Marry me.”

“What?”

“Isabelle, my love, will you marry me?”

“Is now really the time for this? Right now?” She said, shocked.

 “Yeah, I think it is. I've wanted to ask you but there's always been another day, a better moment, and I've been putting it off thinking that next time will be the perfect time to ask. But now, honestly, there probably isn't going to be a next time, so it has to be now.”

“But why now?” She asked. “We’re kind of in the middle of trying not to die.”

“Because if we're going to die here, I want to die next to you knowing that you're mine.”  He popped his head up and took another shot and turned back to her. “If we get out of this alive then I swear to God Isy, I'll give you everything. We can buy a house and settle down, get a dog, have kids. I’ll give you whatever you want. In whatever time you want. I’ll live in your world, if you want, if it means you’ll stay a part of mine, because you are my world.” He fired three more shots and took out one of the men who had been creeping up on Isabelle’s side. “But if we don't make it past today, I want to die knowing that the life we miss out on together is one that would last forever. Even if we lose, if we fail and the World goes up in smoke and everything we've ever known ceases to exist... I'll still be happy that my last few days were spent with you."

            She stared at him, dumbfounded, her heart beating in her chest. “I’ve never heard anyone say anything so beaut…” She never finished her sentence. A shot rang out, and in horror, he watched as she pitched forward and slumped toward the ground. He caught her by one arm, dragging her body close, shielding her as he took shot after shot, screaming his rage. The gun began to dry fire, and he dropped it, not caring now, if he got shot.

            “Isy…Come on baby. Stay with me.” He choked out, putting his hand over the wound at her shoulder. She was bleeding so badly he knew that the bullet had hit close to her heart. She was already pale. “Stay awake. Stay awake. Stay awake.” He chanted the mantra, rocking her.

            “Johnny! Get your ass over here! Isy’s been shot!” He screamed.

            “I’m pinned down!” Johnny hollered back. He had dropped down from the rafters and taken cover behind the card table that had been tipped on its side.

            “FUCK!” Mykel looked down at Isy, who was unconscious, and pale. She looked dead already. He laid her down as gently as he could, and applied a pressure bandage from his emergency med kit. It would have to do until Johnny could get to them.

            “Graham…how many are left alive?” He keyed his mike, suddenly deathly calm. He knew what he had to do.

            “I count at least twenty. We’re pretty well fucked.” He said grimly.

            Mykel grabbed the gun he had forced Isy to use, and counted the rounds. There were two left. She actually had done a fairly good job of shooting, much to both of their surprise. With a little training, she’d be as good as any of the boys. He looked down at her. “I know you can hear me Isabelle. Please…please don’t fucking leave me yet.” He said. He looked at her face, her hair, her hands…everywhere but the big hole in her chest. He just couldn’t. A single tear escaped his eyes, and ran down his cheek. “I love you, Isy. Don’t die on me baby, please.” He leaned down and kissed her.

            He stood and purposefully walked into the fray, not caring if he died, not caring about anything but killing the man who shot his woman. He shot the gun twice, taking out the first two who were stupid enough to pop their heads up, dropped his weapon and pulled out his sword. In so many ways he was more comfortable with the blades he used than any gun. He leapt over the crates and barrels the horde of bandits was crouched behind, and like a wild eyed phantom demon, destroyed them one by one. Enraged, he slashed at anything that moved, kill blows, each and every one of them. It was a macabre dance of blood and limbs and screams as he worked his way through the enemy, screaming wildly, stepping over bodies as he moved. He barely felt the unmistakable hot burning of a bullet sinking into his arm. He ignored the searing pain and kept moving, until he had serviced every last one of them, no thought in his mind but death.

            The others on the team stared in awe, watching him mow through the mass of bodies, totally enraged. Bryant made an attempt to step forward to help him, when he saw someone come around behind Mykel, but Graham commanded him to stop. He took the shot himself, from a distance. “Dude…he’s in the black, don’t go near him until he stops. He can’t even see us right now. He’s too enraged.  He will kill anything and everyone in his way. Johnny, crawl over to Isy and do your thing.” The man was already on the move, shoving his body forward on his elbows, using his toes to scoot across the warehouse over to Isabelle and began CPR.

            Eventually the rage simmered down, the bodies stopped screaming and twitching and Mykel sank to the floor, utterly exhausted, covered in blood and other bodily fluids of his enemies. He stared straight ahead, not even seeing what he was looking at, lungs heaving, desperate for air. The adrenaline faded and he hit the crash. The sword in his hand clattered to the floor and lay in a pool of blood, some of it probably his. There was utter silence in the warehouse.

            “Mykel…you sane again?” Graham called, gun trained on him, but his finger not on the trigger. “Are you with us?”

            “She’s dead.” Mykel gasped. The ache in his soul was going to kill him, he knew. Something in him died with her, in that instant. He felt a part of his heart constrict and knew, he would never love again. Never breathe again. Everything in him that wanted to live, was just…gone. He had thought he was an empty shell of a man before, but he wasn’t. Not like this.

            “Graham, we’ve got to move, now!” Johnny called. “Get us an airlift with a cardiologist on board.”

            “Is she alive?” Bryant called.

            “Barely. Get over here, I need your help.”

            “Stay here woman. Trust me, please. I’ll come back for you.” He told his raven haired slave girl. She nodded grimly. Bryant left her behind the crate and made his way over to Johnny and Isabelle. He was trying to insert an IV bag and get some fluids into her.

            Graham got on the radio and called it in, and worked his way past the dead to where Mykel was kneeling. He kicked the sword farther out of Mykel’s reach, and knelt down with him. “Come on man…we have to go. We have to get your Isabelle to the hospital.” 

            He put his hand on Mykel’s shoulder. The man didn’t even blink. “Mykel! She’s alive, man. Come on.” No response. He dug his finger into the bullet hole in Mykel’s arm. He grunted and blinked up at him.

            “What?”

            “Isabelle. Is. Alive. Let’s. Go.” He enunciated each word.

            “I don’t believe you.” He whispered.

            “Just come back with us. I’ll prove it to you.” Graham said. He picked up Mykel and half dragged him back to the spot where they met the chopper. Bryant’s woman had snuck back to the room and released all the women, who came out of the cage room, delighted to be free. Many of them shocked to see the carnage and bloodshed. Some of them escaped through the back door, into the city, while others just sat and cried. When a team entered the room and began to assist Johnny, a few of the men handed the more naked women blankets and whatever food and water they had on them. Bryant and Johnny used the side of a large crate to pack Isabelle out of the building and onto the stretcher and the waiting doctors. Bryant’s woman helped gather the women who had been crying and trailed after the men. She was still naked. Someone gave her a blanket and she wrapped it around herself.

The backup team stared at Mykel as he climbed into the chopper. He was covered head to toe in dirt, sweat, gore and blood, staring straight ahead like a zombie. Totally lifeless and still. Graham had to strap him in to make sure he didn’t fall out as they made their way back to base in silence while the medical team worked frantically to save Isabelle.

            The women had all been taken to the non-emergency part of the infirmary for medical attention and mandatory isolation. Many of them had been scary thin and starving to death. One young girl was so badly beaten they weren’t sure if she was strong enough to survive. She couldn’t have been more than twelve or so.