Holding On

Chapter 46 - Safe Place

Hunter's POV

I heard a gun go off and I immediately felt myself stop. My body began to slightly relax as I began to remember where I was. I looked down to see my hand gripping the shirt of a half beaten man and recalled what had happened. I remembered his remark about being worthless and I snapped, beating him in a blind rage. I didn't even realize how bad he was.

Looking beside me, I saw Alex was bending over, breathing heavily. I breathed deeply, fighting to control my own heavy breathing. Looking back down, I let go of his shirt, watching his head roll back. My knuckles were cut and bloody, and I knew that he was unconscious. My knuckles would no doubt be bruised later. I looked over at Alex to ask if he was okay, but I stopped when I saw the look on his face.

His eyes were deathly wide, his face pale, and he was looking past me. Though it slowly slid over to me, it quickly returned past me once more. Following it, I thought my heart was going to stop.

There Courtney stood, back to me, and body rigid. Her arms were outstretched in front of her and I immediately saw the gleam of the gun in her hands. She was looking at it, whole body shaking where she stood. She looked at the gun as if it was like a poisonous snake. My thought before had been that John had fired a gun, but by the looks of things I was gravely wrong. It was only when I noticed movement beyond her that I realized why she was shaking so violently.

John stood up and shook his head, his hand rubbing it like he had a headache. However, his movements stopped short and he just stared down beside him. My eyes landed on the unmoving body.

Michael.

I shifted off of Ryan as my eyes stayed locked on Courtney. I stood slowly, making sure I didn't scare her, and noticed that all three of us were watching her now. Her skin was pale, her eyes remained wide and on the gun, and she looked as if she was frightened but also trying to figure out why she had it in her hands.

Then it seemed to click.

I watched as her blink a few times and then her gaze lift as I approached. It landed on the motionless body of Michael. Stumbling backwards, she dropped the gun immediately, her hands flying to her mouth. She let out a scream and I ran the rest of the way to her side.

She turned as soon as I was there, burying her face into my chest. Her fists clutched my shirt and her small frame shook harder than I ever thought it could. She remained quiet and I looked up to see John checking Michael's neck for a pulse. Blood pooled beneath him and at John's glance, I knew my guess was right.

Michael was dead.

It was an odd feeling really. An enemy was gone now, a threat completely gone, but there was no joy in that fact. I guess it was covered by the fact that we were trying so hard to make sure no one ended up that way, and I was worried beyond words right now about Courtney. Looking down at her, I saw that her eyes remained wide open, refusing to close as she watched everything replay.

Alex slowly stood up now and motioned towards the door behind him. Glancing behind him, I saw that the rest of the gang was filling in, some with guns raised and ready. Seconds later, the original plan returned to me. They had been nearby, ready to come in at any sign of trouble; at the sound of a gun shot.

It was time to get Courtney out of here. Slowly I turned to face the gang, Courtney stumbling with me as she refused to let go of my shirt. She clutched my like a young scared child to their parent after a bad dream. Only she's living that nightmare...

I slowly moved towards the other guys, softly explaining what went down. I left out the details about the shooting, but I knew they were piecing it together as I spoke. The scene and Courtney's actions told what happened.