Dark Fall

Chapter 53 - Family Vacation

Terra rounded the corner to find two uniformed Blue Uprising soldiers standing in the hallway just inside the emergency entrance. One pointed his rifle toward Zoe, a menacing scowl on his weathered face. The second soldier, with blood smeared on his uniform, stood behind the first with rifle ready. A burly hospital security guard laid leaning against a wall, his hand pressing against a bloody wound on his shoulder.

Zoe took a defiant stance, standing tall. "Back down, sergeant! Your wounded will be treated like everyone else."

He contorted his face and spat, "Now! Or you will be the next casualty!"

Zoe advanced slowly on the soldier with a steeled expression on her face. The scowl on the soldier's face morphed briefly into confusion at her boldness. She stopped directly in front of him, nearly touching the gun barrel with her chest.

Her fierce eyes locked on to his."I said back down! No one will be treated in front of a weapon!"

Terra's heart accelerated. She knew what Zoe was about to do, but it was ill-advised, especially with the position of the second soldier. Shifting into the aura, Terra focused on the second soldier's rifle.

In a flash move, Zoe pushed the rifle barrel up and to the left with one hand while landing a jab to the sergeant's throat with the other. He grunted as she twisted and flung him to the floor with a hip throw. But before she could take his gun away, the sergeant swept his leg across Zoe's ankles. She landed hard on her back with a hollow thump. Zoe gasped with wide eyes as the second soldier aimed his rifle at her and pulled the trigger.

Click.

He pulled the trigger again.

Click.

Unknown to the soldier, Terra had induced a blocking electrical charge, countering the rifle's electromagnetic pulse so that it would not fire. Anger growing to rage, Terra directed a strong pressure push against the soldier, sending him tumbling down the hallway and crashing into a cart along the wall, upending its contents of bandages onto himself.

Nobody threatens my family or my friends!

The sergeant grabbed his rifle from the floor and raised it towards Terra. Lifting her hand and closing her fist, she telekinetically tore the weapon from his hands. He rose by an unseen force, floating in the air, his flailing having no effect. Eyes widening, his face paled as the rifle also drifted up, turned, and pointed at his head.

Silence stilled the hallway, and all eyes turned to Terra. She walked closer with her hand extended as if to choke the sergeant. He represented everything in the world that would harm those she loved. A voice within her urged a brutal vengeance, here and now. But she paused as Will's words came back to her: 'you have a good heart, look to it for guidance.'

Mercy, her heart said.

The rage that filled her mind faded away.

The rifle before the terrified sergeant shifted away, coming apart in the air. The power cells and darts unloaded themselves. Next, the latching mechanism unlocked and the barrel, armature, and stock separated. All these pieces floated in an orderly formation until Terra released them as she dropped her hand. They clattered to the floor, the sound echoing in the otherwise unnaturally quiet hallway.

Terra walked up to the dumbfounded sergeant and spoke in an even tone. "This is what will happen. You and your men will surrender all weapons. We will stabilize your wounded, and then you will return to your unit. Do you understand?"

After the sergeant gulped and nodded, Terra let him down and released her hold. He wavered, bent over, gasping to catch his breath.

"Good." Terra motioned to a hospital security guard who had just arrived. "Please assist the sergeant and have the wounded taken to triage."