Innocents

Innocents: Will

Will Hudson’s POV

 I wheel myself into the interrogation room to see my father’s boss, Officer Cooper, sitting on the other side of the table. The chair that should have been across from him had been moved into a corner. Being in a wheelchair…sucked. I couldn’t do anything normal anymore. But that’s what happens when you get shot, I guess.

 “Hello William.” Office Cooper greets with a sincere smile.

 “I prefer Will.” I say.

 “Okay Will.” Officer Cooper clears his throat before opening the file sitting before him on the table. “I understand that you were in the gym at the time of the shooting.”

 “You mean the war zone?” I snap, but then quickly bite my tongue. “Sorry,” I mutter. “So much happened in that gym, and I had to see it all.”

 “It’s okay.” Officer Cooper consoles. “The gym is where most of the shooting took place. Just start whenever you are ready.”

 I take in a deep breathe, gripping the wheel of my wheelchair. The rubber digs under my fingers nails as I begin to speak. “They just had made the announcement that the school was being placed on lockdown when he came in…”

 *~*~*

 January 24th, 9: 42 A.M.

 I quickly came up behind Allison Macker, and got her in the face with a paintbrush. She squealed in shock as I ran away laughing, collapsing beside my best friend and partner in crime, Derek Sanders. Derek was hysterical already as the Allison came marching over to us, a giant glob of red pain dripping off her face. When her face began to turn the color of the paint, Derek and I bursted out laughing even more.

 “This,” Allison exclaimed while pointing to her face, “Is not funny! You two are seniors, and you have the maturity of five year olds!”

 “Yeah, but the acting like a five year old was so worth it to get you to have that look at your face!” Derek let out one of his famous roaring laughs, rolling around on the gym floor as he did. I laughed even harder as Allison stomped her foot in protest. “This isn’t funny! You got paint all over my poster!”

 “Calm down Allie.” I said, standing up. I wiped tears from my eyes as I continued to speak. “I will fix your poster and even help you make a new one. And why do we even have to be making posters for prom now anyways?”

 “Because it’s our senior year.” Allison stated with a roll of her eyes. “Prom is our last time together before graduation, and I want prom to be perfect for Mike and I.”

 “Fine, fine.” I said. Outside in the hall, and loud bang went off, grabbing everybody’s attention. We had heard several of those bangs in the past ten minutes, and by now, everybody was a little on ease about what was happening outside the small gym. “It is probably just a janitor or something.” Allison called out. “No big deal, back to work everybody!”

 We all turned back towards our work. Derek went to help a girl name Amy as I went to help Allison clean up her poster. I grabbed a towel and slightly swatted Allison as I handed it to her. She smiled at me before wiping the paint off her face. Then we settled down onto the floor to clean up her posters.

 Suddenly, a screeching siren filled the air, and then a panicked voice came over the loudspeaker. “Everybody, please find a safe spot now. The school is being put on lockdown right away. Nobody is to leave their classrooms or wherever they are until the lockdown is over. This is not a drill. Get to a classroom now!”

 We all sat frozen for a moment as the words sunk in. Lockdown. Not a drill. I felt like my body had frozen in place, as was everybody else. “Somebody lock the doors!” A freshman girl across the gym screamed. And just like that, everybody was scrambling around, yelling at each other to lock the doors and to get somewhere safe. Derek and I find each other in the mess, grabbing each other’s shirts. Then someone let out a high pitch scream, and a gun shot went off.

 I turned to see a sophomore boy falling to the ground. In front of him stands the reason the school is on lockdown.

 I back away, both my hands on the back of my head. There is no way this is happening. There is a crazed kid with a gun in the school, and he is just blowing people in the gym away. I watch as another student, a senior, gets gunned down. “We have to get out of here!” Derek screamed above the other screams of panicked kids.

 He grabbed my arm and we began to make a run towards the closest doors, when suddenly three more shots rang out. I screamed, and went face first towards the ground. My legs…I couldn’t feel them. I had been shot, and I couldn’t feel anything in them. “Come on Will!” Derek screamed, trying to pull me up off the ground.

 “I can’t feel them!” I screamed, looking at my blood soaked jeans. “I can’t feel my legs! Help me, dear God, help me! I can’t feel them!”

 More gunshots erupted, and Derek slung me over his shoulder. I watched as the screams faded away, but before the gym massacre disappeared from my sight, I saw Allison’s head get blasted right in the side with a bullet.

 *~*~*

 “Derek managed to get us to a classroom after that.” I say. “But I was so numb. Watching two students get shot before your own eyes, and having to watch your friend got shot is hard. And it’s not like I’m ever going to forget what happened that day either.”

 “I am truly sorry about what happened to your legs.” Officer Cooper pats my hand, as if it reassures me that everything is going to be okay. But its not. I’m paralyzed from the waist down because of three damn bullets. My football scholarship is gone completely. I’m stuck in a wheelchair the rest of my life, and there is nothing I can do about it.

 “Thanks for coming in again.” Officer Cooper stands up from his chair to go open the room door for me, but I quickly move my wheelchair backwards. “I’m not helpless.” I snap before opening the door myself. I glide out into the hallway, and reenter my damaged life.

 *~*~*

 If you go to into the previous chapters, I posted a picture of the main character for that chapter. All chapters will now include a picture.