24. Reaper

24

Reaper

It's been two months since we rescued Sarra and Glory, who has been the best baby. She smiles every time she sees me, which is often since I hold her as much as I can. Sarra says I'm going to spoil her, but I can't help it. I love her so much. Now I understand why Rebel was always afraid for his kids to go anywhere without him.

"Reaper, are you daydreaming?" Sarra asked, smiling.

"Sorry, I was. Did you ask me something?"

"Yes, do you want to go shopping with me and Glory? I need to get her more clothes. She's growing so fast."

"I would love to go shopping with you and Glory," I said, thinking it was a little strange that I was just thinking about the same thing.

We made our way through the mall, which isn't one of my favorite places, but I'd do anything for my sweetheart. I watched as Sarra's face turned red while looking through women's lingerie.

"You can wait out there for me; that way, your face won't be so red," Sarra said, smiling.

I smiled, knowing she was pretending I was the one with the red face. "Thank you, sweetheart. I was feeling a little uncomfortable." I leaned down and kissed her. Glory and I walked out into the main mall, and I watched as people, mostly teens, passed by.

Since my beautiful Glory was staring at me, I picked her up, and she smiled at me. You would think she was looking at an angel instead of her daddy. Her eyes smiled the entire time.

"I love you, Glory Anne. I love you so much." I raised my head and put Glory back in her stroller, then hurriedly walked back to where Sarra was just finishing up paying. She looked at me.

"What's wrong?"

"Something is going on out there. I want you to take Glory and these women and go to the back. I need to see what is happening." That's when we heard the gunshots. "Call the police. Now, all of you go."

I quickly kissed her. "You be careful," she said.

"I will." I made my way out into the main mall, and it was chaos; people were screaming and running. I ran toward the chaos and saw the shooters firing at anyone they could. I saw one shooter with his face covered, but I could tell it was a man by his hands.

"Run," a woman yelled at me. "They are shooting people."

"Go into that store and go to the back room and hide," I said. I took aim, and one of the shooters went down.

Now I had to see how many more shooters there were. The screaming was so loud I couldn't hear anything, and then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone fall. As I watched a mother crying over her child, I saw a man walk up to her and hold his gun to her head. I fired my gun, and he went down.

I went to the woman, picked up her daughter, and carried her into another store. "Call 911," I said, laying the girl down. I saw she had her eyes open and kissed her forehead.

I saw the mall cop and told him to guard the child and woman. I didn't want a teenager out there trying to protect everyone and getting himself killed.

"Why don't you stay with us?" he whispered.

"Do you know how many there are?"

"I think there are eight of them. I'm not sure."

"Okay, stay here." He nodded, and I went out again. I looked for a place to hide while hunting for the shooters. Then I heard running, which sounded like boots. I squeezed next to a mannequin as they ran by. I counted five, all dressed in black with masks so I couldn't see their faces. I imagined they were looking for me.

I prayed Sarra and Glory were hidden in a safe spot. Maybe I should have hidden them before leaving to find the shooters. I made my way out from behind the mannequin and grabbed the gun from the shooter I had taken down.

I saw a small boy crying over his mom, who lay on the floor; I could see she was breathing. I put my finger to my lips and pulled both of them into another store. "Stay here with your mom. I'm going to get the bad guys."

This was more than just a shooter in the mall. These men came here for a slaughter. They dreamed of being big shots, to be spoken of with fear and nightmares. They didn't plan on me being here to take them down.

From the second floor, I felt like someone was looking for me. I was going to have to be careful. Something hit my face. I turned my head and saw Shane with Logan and Cooper. God, the last thing I needed was Sarra's cousins getting hurt or killed.

I pointed to the second floor, and they nodded. I made my way to the elevator and up to the second floor, wondering where the police were. I hadn't seen or heard a single police officer inside the mall or heard a siren.

As soon as the doors opened, I had my gun ready. I heard a cry and saw a young woman on the floor. Her eyes were rolling from side to side, indicating that one of the shooters was with her. I rolled across the floor until I was near her and saw legs standing behind her. I turned and shot. The guy fell on her, and I kicked him off while she screamed.

"Go to the back and hide," I said. She nodded and crawled to the back of the room, where others were gathered.

I saw Cooper crawling on his stomach, positioning himself in view of a shooter who walked out and pointed his gun. Cooper shot him, demonstrating his expertise. I remembered Cooper and Logan were Army Rangers.

I heard more screaming and ran toward the voices. Two shooters were slamming the butts of their guns into the heads of two women. I shouted to get their attention, and both shooters were dead before they could take another breath.

I heard shooting and looked over the railing to the first floor. Two men had their guns on Shane and were laughing. Shane smiled, raised his hands, and shot both of them right between their eyes.

I didn't know how many people had been shot or if all the shooters were dead, but I desperately needed to find Sarra and Glory. "Keep looking for more men. I'm going to find Sarra and Glory," I said as I passed them.

I ran back to the store we were in and into the back. The silence was deafening. Something was horribly wrong. Then I heard Glory cry out like someone had hurt her. Anger surged through me, almost blinding me. I took deep breaths to think clearly. The sound came from my right, and I barely heard anything from Sarra.

Being blind for those few months taught me to listen to every sound, and Sarra knew I could hear any noise. I looked around and pulled myself up, making my way silently on the overhead beams. Suddenly, I heard Glory stop crying, as if someone had put a hand over her mouth.

I jumped over each beam and saw them. A man had his hand over my baby's face and a gun to Sarra's head. But she was still fighting him. I didn't waste a second; I flew through the air and kicked him in the head, away from my family.

He flew back, and I landed on my feet. My fist hit him, and then it hit him again and again. "You put your hands on the wrong family," I said as I picked him up by the neck and threw him backward. I knew no one would ever have to worry about him again.

I turned and reached for Sarra and the baby. I heard Sarra crying. She was trying to get Glory to breathe again. I roared and took Glory from her, starting mouth-to-mouth as tears fell from my eyes. I prayed for God to hear my prayers and let her breathe.

I felt her breathe and kept going until she cried out. Sarra's legs buckled when she heard our baby cry out, and she collapsed on the floor, crying. I sat down next to her with Glory still crying.

She took Glory into her arms, and all three of us cried. Somehow, both of them were sitting on my lap while I held them close.

"Yes, I will marry you. Let's leave tomorrow for the mountain. You saved us from that horrible man, and you brought our baby back to life. I could never have helped her because I didn't know how to do CPR. How did you know we needed you?"

"I felt an urgent need to get to you. Let's go into the other room so I can check Glory better." We walked into the other room, and I saw how red my baby's face was. I wanted to kill that bastard again.

"Look at her little face. It's going to be bruised." Sarra started kissing her little face, and our baby girl smiled at us. I knew tears had fallen from my face, but I didn't care. "Let's find your cousins, and then we'll take Glory to her doctor to get checked."

I stopped walking when I saw Sarra's face. "That bastard hurt you."

"I'm okay; let's concentrate on Glory," Sarra said, wrapping her arms around me.

"Why are my cousins here?"

"They were helping to stop the shooters from killing any more people. Did you call them?"

"Yes, I called and told them to avoid the mall. I didn't think that would make them rush here to help. But I'm glad they did."

"Why are you crying?" Shane asked.

"That man smothered Glory, and Reaper came just in time to kill the bastard," Sarra said, revealing the bruises on her.

"What the hell happened?" Shane demanded.

I let Sarra explain everything to Shane. I turned when I heard a noise, and the police stood there looking at us. Cooper and Logan were also there. They walked over to Sarra and the baby, and she told them the story as Shane stood next to me.

"I heard you two are going to tie the knot," Shane said.

"Yes, I hope she remembered telling me we were getting married. You're going to love our mountain."

"Did she say when we're getting married?"

"In a couple of weeks."

"You should come with us when we leave so Sarra will have some family with her. The house is massive, and there are plenty of bedrooms. Cooper and Logan can come too."

"I can go with you, but Logan and Cooper are going to Maine to talk to some of their friends who have a high-security business."

"Oh yeah, what's the name of their company?"

"Army Rangers Special Ops."

"I know those guys. They have a great company. They do a lot of overseas rescues. We'll take Glory to the doctor to get her checked out. I'm glad you're coming to the mountain with us."