STALKER

Chapter 105 - 14th May

I arrived in my room to hear Sarah screaming... "I swear to god I want to rip your dick off. I HAAAAAATE YOOOU."...at me from the hallway.

I lasted a second before I had to sit on the bed and catch my breath. Be quiet I kept telling myself. I covered my mouth to stifle a groan as pain shot down my legs. I was in so much pain I couldn't stay on my feet for long.  The hit I'd received to my lower back may have caused some serious damage, as a result, my legs were incredibly shaky. 

There was no time to waste and I forced myself to get up. The room was in darkness. I held onto the table searching for my taser. Damn it I couldn't remember where I left it after my last jump. I felt around the top of the dresser and tried to stay upright as I listened carefully to what was going on outside. It was on the top of the filing cabinet.  Fuck it!  I had to get there before she shot Weirdo. I stifled another groan as my legs almost collapse underneath me.

"What the hell is going on?" Shit! fuck! shit! shit!  Hearing Weirdo's voice pushed me to keep going.  A little light filtered into the room from the top of the stairs and strained my eyes to find the frigg'in taser. Where the hell was it? I couldn't see it lying anywhere. I groped my way around to the coat rack and hoped that I had hung up the holster.

I heard the bat land, a dull thud, and then I let out a loud yelp.

Finally, I felt the holster underneath the cape, unclipped the strap, and pulled out the taser. It felt like I was moving in slow motion but the time was moving super fast.   I was running out of time. I had to hurry.  Another spasm ran down my legs and I doubled up over the table.  I clawed at it in agony.  I tried to breathe and regain some sort of control over my body.  There was a bottle of scotch on the table and it wobbled. If there was ever a hint to have a drink that was it. I took a long, long swig, hoping it might dull the pain enough to keep me going.

"Well, well, well. Looky here. Are you both crapping your pants right now." I had no more time. This was our only chance.

I made it to the doorway, coming into the line of vision of Weirdo and myself.   Sarah's back was to me. She was waving the fucking gun around like she was a gangster. I could see Weirdo's and my eyes widen as they watched me staggering at the door. Ben spotted me too and covered his face. They can all see what I am about to do. Thankfully, Sarah is oblivious of me at this point.

Another wave of pain hits and I hold on to the door frame until it passes.

"Stop now. This has gone too far."  Weirdo tries to distract her.  As she focused on him I took my chance.

I ran, well... I hobbled as quickly and quietly as I could, my arm extended to zap her.  But I made too much noise and she turned before I got a clear shot at her.  This was our only hope, I threw myself in her direction and grabbed her, pressing the taser into her side as hard as I could. But I wasn't fast enough. At the same time as I zapped her, she pulled the trigger.

We both fell to the floor in a heap. Sarah was unconscious but continued to spasm. As for me if I thought I had been in pain before it didn't even compare to the explosion that had gone off in my chest. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't see, and then I died.  I had a feeling I wouldn't make it but I had to try.

.....

Weirdo and I sat motionlessly. The initial shock of seeing me appear at the door of my room swaying and brandishing the taser wore off quickly. It wasn't too hard to work out that somehow, somewhere along another timeline I had jumped back to this version of us. Is that how I look, damn I'm a mess? I was having trouble feeling my legs as I sat on the floor so I imagined it was taking a lot of effort for the other me to stand. I willed myself to suck it up. Being brave isn't something that comes naturally to me.

I don't know about Weirdo but I held my breath as I saw me dragging myself away from the door.  His arms tightened around me. "Stop now. This has gone too far." He said trying to fill the silence.

Sarah was waving the gun around. If Weirdo hadn't bothered to empty the gun it was still loaded. I never thought of asking him. I knew for a fact I definitely never removed the bullets.   My eyes were drawn back to where I stood. It appeared I was going to make my move.

I took a couple of wobbly steps, unfortunately, they weren't quiet or fast enough not to catch Sarah's attention and she turned. Too drunk to recognise or worry about who was behind her she was ready to take them on.

Both Weirdo and I instinctively moved forward but it all happened so quickly. The other me jumped the short distance between them. The taser landed on Sarah's side. I heard her whimper and a soft buzzing noise but almost at the same instant, I heard the loud pop of the gun go off between them. Both dropped at the same time. It was only when they hit the floor and fell apart that we saw, I had been shot in the chest. Within seconds blood was pooling around me.

Before either of us could crawl to where I lay, Weirdo and I saw the other me take one last long ragged breath, then my features slackened. Finally, my eyes closed.

....

I'm not sure how long we sat there. Strangely,  I wasn't surprised to see another me but I was horrified to see another dead me, a bloody beaten version of me.  Weirdo was holding on to me so tightly it was painful. The whack I had gotten across my shoulders had luckily not broken any bones and I could move my top half, even though it was painful. But my lower back was killing me and my legs were now just a mass of pins and needles.

"Get me up," I whispered. The house was so silent that it felt appropriate to whisper.   I could see Ben still standing like a statue with his hands on his face as if he was keeping in a scream that was just about to escape. Weirdo finally moved and pulled me up with his one good arm. His arm was definitely dislocated, it dangled awkwardly from his shoulder. He pulled the covers of the bed in my room and l helped me get comfortable.  He went off to make us a pot of strong coffee.  We needed to work out what we were going to do.

I propped myself up against the wall while I waited for him to come back. My mind was madly ticking over trying to work out what our options were. I heard noises in the hall, muffled groans, little whimpers, and a faint buzz or two.

When Weirdo came in he had a pot of coffee into which he poured the remaining scotch and handed my cigarettes and lighter....that's why I love the guy. He dropped a wrapped ice back into the back of my pants to help with the pain.

"We have a dead body and an unconscious murdering bitch in the hallway. What are we going to do?"   Weirdo sat at the table and looked at me as if this sort of thing happens every day. He happily told me he tied her to the banister with duct tape, she was going anywhere. Especially as he had zapped her two more times.

Weirdo's voice cracked when he said that he had covered me with the doona until we work out what to do. Tears started to well up in his eyes. "You must have realised there was a chance you could end up d...  end d... end up that way. You were already in a bad way....and you...still managed to save us."  That was it, he started to blubber like a baby. Maybe it will hit me at some point but I'm alive, in pain but alive and I wasn't going to dwell on the other me lying in the hallway.