She was stunned, but she didn’t really have time to be. Above her the last guy was leaping over the wall. He landed right on top of her and began to strangle her with his bare hands. I raised my pistol to shoot but it was suddenly knocked away. The big man wasn’t dead. He was just wounded in the side of the neck.
He jerked me to the ground and began to pound on me. I tried to struggle against him, but he was too damn strong. I had to find my stupid gun. I was not going to last long in this fight. He was really strong and had some skill. Plus, he was crazy as hell. I tried to block as many of the punches as I could, but some were getting through. I had to do something now. I was going to lose this fight.
I quickly bucked up to get some space on the bottom and I was able to slip a leg out. Using this leg, I slipped it up across his chest and then I pulled the arm I had trapped. He began to squeal in pain. I pulled harder. He tried to pick me up and slam me down, but it was too late. His arm snapped in half and he yelled in pain.
He slumped to the ground and I began to kick him in the face and jerk on his arm at the same time. Finally, I got one good kick to his chin and he went out. I grabbed the gun and fired a shot into his head. It was over. He was dead.
I turned my attention to Zion. She was still fighting. I pointed the gun at her attacker ready to blow his head off, but Zion made a move right then. She flipped the guy off her and then she threw a hard kick to his kneecap. He dropped yelling in pain. Before he could even think of retaliating, she grabbed her gun from the ground and pointed it at his head.
He froze.
“Why?” Zion demanded. “Why me?”
“Because you saw us. We had to. It’s not personal.”
“Oh, it’s gone way past that. Was it worth it?”
The man didn’t answer. He just lunged forward to tackle her again. Zion shot him right between the eyes.
He dropped to the ground.
Zion held the gun for several seconds. She was shaking. The realization that everything was really over was finally hitting her. She was free. It was really done. It was really over with.
Zion dropped the gun and looked over at me. She had tears in her eyes. She hadn’t wanted to hurt anyone. She felt sick. I could see it all over her face.
I wanted to embrace her but I knew she needed some time to let all of this sink in. She had to deal. It would really be hard for her, but this was the way it had to be. I hoped she would realize that and not blame herself. Killing someone was always hard. It never got any easier either.
“It’s over,” Zion said after about five minutes. The smell of the gun smoke was still in the air. The silence of death was all around us.
“Yeah, it is.”
Zion stood up and walked over to me. She wrapped her arms around me and I held her. She cried. I let the tears fall from her and I stood there just waiting for her to be done, but I knew that would be a while. This whole ordeal had taken it out of her and it would be wrong to say she would get over the trauma soon, but it was unlikely.
“It’s going to be ok,” I said. “You did what you had to do. You will be alright. This is all over. You can live your life freely now.”
I knew my words would have little effect at this point, but I had to try.
“I can’t believe it. It’s over… it’s really over. I’m so thankful. But why? Why did I have to do this? Why wouldn’t they just let me go?”
“Because it is in their nature and they were protecting themselves. That’s why. They had to eliminate the witness.”
After a few minutes we walked back inside and each had cold beer as we sat at the table and I called the police to inform them of the intrusion. They were going to be there soon. I had no idea how soon, but hopefully it wasn’t too long.
I could see the anguish on Zion’s face. She acted like she had just been through hell and she had. She had been through a war and that is hell on earth. The worst thing anyone can go through by far. And she’d come out a survivor. She came out the other side a brand-new person.
I wanted her to know how strong she was. She had to realize what a wonderful person she was and now she would have the opportunity to live her life in peace and to be the person she was destined to be without all this hanging over her. I loved this woman. I wanted to make sure she never forgot that.