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Printed from https://writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/2332598-Tyler
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by Enzo Author IconMail Icon
Rated: 13+ · Chapter · Tragedy · #2332598
Two friends find themselves amidst a mass shooting at the railway station in Chicago.
The cold morning air of Chicago was nothing but a knife on exposed skin. as they walked down the stairs to the train station bellow, Tyler couldn’t help but wonder if he should have worn a coat.

“Hopefully it will get warmer once the sun gets higher” Alex said rubbing his cold hands.

“My mom keeps telling me to bring a coat" Tyler joked “this time I wish I had”.

They were walking now into the station, the dirty tiles under their shoes were pocked with small puddles. The station was full of people rushing places, maybe they worked on Saturday, Tyler thought, as he watched a family walk by. A little poodle yapping in the hands of a little girl, her mother smiling at her as she was rolling the stroller with a little boy sleeping inside. the sign overhead showing the arrival times. Tyler looked up to read; Milwaukee District West: Arrival: 8:20.

His watch read 8:04.

“Guess we’ll have to wait a little while,” he said.

They woke up early this weekend to go hiking in the North Park Nature Reserve. The weather was supposed to be warm, but now it didn’t seem like it. He wore only a thin jacket, so did Alex. But even so, he wasn’t worried. They'll be active enough to warm them up.

They have met in college two years ago. Tyler met Alex in cybersecurity, who was studying it alongside computer science, while Tyler took it as a part of science. Tyler dropped out after freshman year and worked at the local movie theatre while Alex continued in computers. They stayed in touch since, and have been meeting in this train station every Saturday for the past year to go hiking.

This weekend was no different from the rest. They met up in the station, and would take the train and walk from the closest stop to the Reserve.

They walked towards the platform, scanning for an empty bench. At last Alex spotted an empty space next to what appeared to be a homeless man a few yards away.

“Gosh, fifteen minutes,” Alex said heartedly, “for once we are early.”

“We are quite the phenomenon indeed,” Tyler answered smiling, as he sat down next to the man in the ragged clothes. They were always running late. Tyler kept oversleeping, or missing his bus, by the time they would meet up at the station they needed to make a run for it.

As Alex sat down beside him, his phone started ringing in his pocket. He took his phone out, the screen reading mom. He silenced it and quickly shoved it back into his jacket pocket.

“Who’s that you’re ghosting?” Alex asked. He took out his own phone and snapped a picture of Tyler’s sour face.

“My mom” he said, looking forward towards the tracks, his face blank.

“She keeps calling you, man,” Alex reminded, “maybe it’s important?”

Tyler sighed, “She is just overly-protective, she’s been getting out of hand lately. Scared I'll catch a cold.”

“She’s right, you know,” Tyler slowly turned his head towards Alex, ready to defend his opinion, “You might die, colds aren’t a joke. Once my grandmother died after she got a cold. She also had cancer, mind you, but it was the cold that took her.”

Tyler couldn’t help but chuckle. Ever since his father died last year in a fatal car crash, his mother has been paranoid for his safety. Starting from worrying when he came home a little late, to calling him a hundred times a day to make sure he was okay.

He looked down at his feet. His shoes caked with dirt; he smeared the small puddle by the platform’s curb. His watch now read 8:11.

“We’ve got nine minutes,” he said aloud.

“I’m used to running to the closing doors of a train, not wait.” Alex laughed.

They sat for a few moments in silence, the station becoming louder as more people arrived to catch their train. Tyler could hear the man next to him snoring. He inched slightly towards Alex.

His looked down on his watch, seven minutes to go. Alex was scrolling on his phone, muttering something about weekend deals. The train station felt alive with its usual rush—heels clicking, announcements echoing, the baby in the stroller waking up crying. But then, amidst it all, a sound cut through the air. A sharp cracking noise, led by the sound of something metal dropping. Tyler looked around.

“Did you hear that?” he turned to Alex.

“What?” Alex muttered, still scrolling. But before Tyler could answer, another cracking sound filled the air, and then another. This time, screams followed.

Tyler shot to his feet as the station erupted in chaos. The air was filled with frantic screaming and scurrying feet as people surged past him, he caught a glimpse of the mother with her children, her hands trembling as she desperately tried to unstrap her toddler. The homeless man, startled awake, was now running for cover, crouching behind a pillar.

His heart was pounding in his chest, he looked over at Alex, his face white like a ghost, his eyes wide in terror. He turned his gaze to the scurrying crowd- just in time for the crowd to part and he locked eyes on a man carrying a semi-automatic, firing deliberately into the mass.

Tyler breathed sharply as the gunman turned towards the platform, cutting through the air with the sounds of whips as he unloaded his rifle.

“We need to go now!” he yelled, as he reached out and got a hold of Alex’s arm.

Alex nodded, but his legs seemed glued to the platform.

“Come on! Come on!” he yelled urgently as Alex opened his mouth, an eerie sound escaping his lips as his hand barely made the gesture towards something- Tyler looked around and saw what Alex was pointing at;

The woman, now holding both her children and running towards the stairs leading to the street. Tyler watched in horror as the shooter, his grey hoodie now stained in a mist of red, pointed his gun towards them.

His breath caught in his chest.

In a blur, he ran forwards into the running crowd, almost tripping on something. He didn’t stop to look.

“GET DOWN” he shouted, throwing himself on top of the woman, dragging her down as bullets tore through the air above their heads. He held onto the small girl, close to the ground when he felt something warm on his hands.

“Get up!” he told her, as her mother still holding the toddler got to her feet as the shooter shifted his focus elsewhere. He was now walking towards the bench where he left Alex, he realized in terror.

“Let’s go!” he yelled and pulled the girl to her feet, her little knees buckled and she fell onto the concrete floor. Her mother frantically called for her,

“Lila! Lila! Get up! Get up!” but when he looked at her face, only blank blue eyes looked back at him. He took out his arm from under her head, his fingers trembling, his hand drenched in warm blood. He looked at the lifeless face in disbelief. Slowly, he crawled back a few feet. His eyes glued on her small hand, limp and lifeless, a charm bracelet around her wrist.

“LILA! GET UP! LILA! LILA!” the woman’s screams pierced his ears. His stomach turned. He turned over shaking, his hands on the pavement, pulled himself to his feet.

Alex, he remembered. He stumbled towards the bench, a man in a suit ran into him, knocking him down, he fell on his face. He dug his nails into the concrete, as he pulled himself up, his temple exploding in pain. As he wabbled to his feet, someone collapsed next to him. Blood was pooling on the floor, from where the bullet pierced his back. He felt warm liquid pouring down his brow. His nostrils filled with the coppery smell of blood and gunpowder.

Tyler put his hands on his knees, breathing sharply. He looked up just as stomach contents hit the floor. He stood up, his eyes darted in all directions. He spotted Alex five yards away, amidst the running people.

Limping on the ground, his leg soaked in red, Alex tried to drag himself to a pillar. The shooter was walking towards him, his rifle steady. Alex threw up his hand, pleading.

“No!” Tyler’s voice was barely a whisper. His mouth filled with the taste of blood. He watched helpless, Frozen in shock as the shooter lowered his gun and pulled the trigger.

The blast rung out, and Alex fell to the floor. His eyes rolling back, his shirt sprayed in crimson.

Tyler stood frozen. A deafening ring filled his ears. Everything else distanced. A fit of rage have come over him, a blind fury that surged through every nerve in his body.

He bellowed, completely mad, and charged towards the shooter. The assailant turned around just in time to see Tyler’s fist collide with his face. They both went down. Tyler got a grip on the rifle and wrestled the shooter on the floor. The man kicked him in the stomach and he let go of the gun, clutching his belly. The shooter got to his knees, Tyler watched as he lifted the gun and brought it down, striking him in the head with the rifle’s butt.

Tyler’s head exploded; he felt blood trickling down from his head into his ear. He heard other gunshots now.

“DROP THE GUN!” Tyler saw a stout security guard, his shirt too tight, covered in sweat. The shooter, now standing, held up his gun and fired. In a desperate attempt, Tyler lunged from his spot on the floor and grabbed the assailant’s leg, the latter collapsed and the shooter fell to the ground. Seemingly angry with Tyler's continued attempts, he turned the gun on him and shot him in the chest. Tyler fell, as another shot rang out, and he watched as the shooter collapsed on the hard concrete floor besides him. His blank eyes now looking back at him, a bullet wound in his cheek. He looked young, Tyler thought. Not even twenty.

Tyler looked back to where Alex was laying, his face was turned away from him. He tried groping the floor, to pull himself to him, but a sharp pain exploded in his head, ripping every nerve in his body to shreds.

Tyler clutched the side of his chest, blood streaming into his hand, trickling onto the floor. He could feel his pulse quicken between his fingers. His breaths became shallow and quick, he tried in vain to fill his lungs with air. His chest exploded in pain, as his head struck the floor, and everything turned black.
















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