The Sleeper Cells: A Terrorism Story

Chapter 11: And Just Like That... She's Gone

            

Caspian slings a bag to the ground. He aggressively unzips it, slinging the zipper without caution. His arms flare up into the air. He looks dangerous. He looks...uncontrollable. He pulls out a gun. He throws another gun towards Mika and another towards Sage.

         "Caspian. Stop, we need to think it through," Kris demands, pointing at him.

         Caspian sneers, "you're going to get us all killed," he mocks Kris by matching his pointing finger. "You're weak," he turns to Sage and Mika, "who's with me? Let's take them out."

         Sage and Mika look at each other with their worried eyes searching around the barn. Neither knows what to do. I think their hesitation could be a good sign, but Mika steps forward, "I mean, we have an advantage right now. They don't know we're here." At least she wants to talk about it first.

         Kris adds to her statement and uses it against them, "you're absolutely right! We do have an advantage, and you running out there throws it out the window. We can hide in here and keep everyone alive. Get back here. Be quiet, and keep us all safe! We'll just get out of here as soon as possible... when the time is right. Don't jump the gun and get an innocent person killed."

         Caspian darts down the ladder. Mika turns to him. Sage catches my eyes. "Don't," I mouth at her. She looks down to the floor.

         "We don't even know how many are inside!" Titus finally announces. Mika looks back, pausing for just a moment. It's horrible watching this. Watching Caspian lead them into danger, into possible death, into a hurricane of trauma. Sage's stuttering steps finally stop. Her internal battle of stay or go ends, and she follows Caspian down the ladder.

         Kris shakes his head and grabs another gun, "if we can't stop them, I have to help them. Stay here. If things go south, take our supplies and run, if not, hide here with guns loaded."

         And that's just it, before my eyes I just witnessed everyone's battle of fight or flight. Kris is ready for flight, where Caspian is ready to fight. Yeah, maybe it's the brave thing to do. But is the brave thing, always the right thing? I mean, it's brave to sacrifice yourself. It's brave to fight against evil. But, bravery might kill you. Are we trying to create a legacy? Or are we trying to survive? What does it matter at this point? All the rest of us can do is watch from the loft.

         As they run to the house, Caspian raises his gun and shoots the first sleeper in the shoulder. They're in shock. The sleepers fumble with their guns and try to aim at our people. Titus was right. They really had no idea we were in the barn. I don't know how, considering the fits Caspian can throw.

         Now it's over. Our cover is blown. I just hope they survive. Mika shoots the other in the chest. Sage looks back at the barn. She seems like she is trying to protect herself. She doesn't want to be out there. She was just influenced to run out there and follow Caspian. She truly wants to help...but it's too late now. She has to keep focused.

         Kris shoots the injured, struggling sleeper in the head, taking him out with one shot. Caspian looks at Kris in a confrontational glare. He's mad over Kris "stealing his thunder". It's almost like he looks at him thinking, "C'mon. You know that one was mine!"...This isn't a sport! It's not a competition! We're trying to survive here! And at the end of the day, these are human lives! He knows Kris has the right intentions. Finally, Caspian will maybe follow Kris' lead.               

         Mika notices the other sleeper reaching for his gun next to his bleeding body; it's just out of reach. Mika turns away, letting him live for whatever amount of time he has left. She chose to let him suffer...or to live?

         Within those couple of seconds, they took the two sleepers out. But what waits inside? They know what they're doing; I just hope they're ready.

         The four enter the house in the quietest way they could, but it's unnecessary. The gun battle just let everyone in that house know we're here. A cold drizzle begins to fall from the night sky, adding to the soggy atmosphere. A light turns on in the back of the house. I look over to Titus, Kennedy, Lindsey, and Owen. They're all just as invested as I am. We're all watching, helplessly. We can't leave the barn.

         "Titus, what if we get ambushed? We don't know what's out there. Someone needs to be armed and ready," I tell him.

         He holds up a loaded gun, "Already ahead of you."

         I nod my head and turn back to the house. Here come the shots. Lindsey and Kennedy look away. We all know we can't stop what's happening in the house, but that doesn't give us the right to be timid. Our friend's lives depend on it. Lights dance through the windows. The sound of gunfire pelleting throughout the house. It's loud. Flashes pop from the windows.

         "No! No! No!" Mika yells.

         All five of us in the barn look at each other, all desperately wanting to help... but know we can't. We're all birds with clipped wings. We all wish we could fly away, to save them, to help them. But, we have to stay here and watch the barn.

         Titus jumps away from the watch hole in the barn and towards the ladder. Kennedy jumps in front of him, "We can't. Kris is in there. They can handle themselves. We have to stay here!"

         There is no way Kennedy could physically hold Titus back. He just knows she's right. He voluntarily steps away and grabs the rest of the guns. He hands them to us, "just in case... We're going to need these," his voice trails off. He's right, but there is no 'just in case'. We need these guns now.

         A few minutes of terrible, haunting silence slowly ticks by. The drizzle of rain has become strong enough to cause water to drip from the top of the barn. Mini waterfalls are starting to form from the roof.

         The backdoor of the house creeps open. Putting his gun in the back of his pants, Kris slowly steps outside into the rain. He lets his hair drop in front of his face. He stops, letting the rain pelt him. He looks at the ground and becomes a statue. He walks back to the barn without raising his head from the now muddy ground. Next, Mika steps outside. She sees the same sleeper from before lying on the ground, still alive. She screeches, letting her anger bounce through the air. She aims the gun at the man and fires the rest of her ammo into him.

         Lindsey and Kennedy look away gasping. Lindsey shimmies away from the window without any intention of coming back. Why did Mika just do that? She slings the empty gun in the mud and follows Kris back into the barn.

         What about Sage? What about Caspian? Kris and Mika join us in the loft, bloody and shaking.

         "Where are they? Where's Sage?" I ask, not specifically worried about Caspian.

         Mika slides to the ground, crying. Caspian climbs the ladder; his muscular silhouette lets us know it's him.

         I know exactly why Mika did what she did. I know exactly why she shot that sleeper over and over again...

         Kris speaks up, "The house is empty now. No more sleepers. None alive anyway..." Then, Kris tells us what we're all dreadfully expecting, "it's just us.... they got her," he looks down at the moldy, wooden floor.

            "She's gone."