We're Still Alive(Book1)BEING REWRITTEN

Seventy

Jared stood just a few feet behind Tom, out of sight of the other group but close enough to hear their speaker.
   "I guess we're taking it then." What happened next seemed like it was going in slow motion, but at the same time, it seemed too fast to comprehend. He heard the gunshot, and saw Tom drop in front of him with a hole in his head.
   In that tiny amount of time, Jared remembered first meeting Tom, along with Ella and Casey, at the little clothes store back in Idaho. After meeting up at the airport, he'd become the unofficial leader next to Lynn. They'd been through so much together. Now, seeing him dead, Jared wondered if he was dreaming. Ella's painful scream reminded him he wasn't.
   Time sped up again and the people on the roof returned fire, ducking to avoid the oncoming bullets. Getting down to his hands and knees, Jared crept up to the edge of the roof, where Joe and Paige had moved back from. He laid down in his stomach, barely flinching at the bullets that landed near him. He felt like he was dreaming, and he was watching himself from another body as he aimed down the scope of his rifle and started shooting down.
   "Jared! Back up!" Paige yelled over the noise. He ignored her and shot again, taking out a driver. There were more people than Jared expected, definitely more than the people on the roof and the ones guarding downstairs combined.
   The sound of breaking glass broke him out of his daze as he shot a man trying to hide behind the hummer.
   He'd thought that with the attackers' attention on the roof, they might not think to attack the glass doors and windows of the mall. He was wrong. He jumped to his feet and sprinted down the stairs. Looking over the edge of the top floor, he saw six attackers wandering below him. He started to make a dash for the stairs, but was held back when something grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him into a nearby store. He lashed out until he heard Jay's voice.
   "It's me, calm down!" He let go of Jared and led him behind the counter of the Game Stop store, where he was greeted by Avery, Ben, Casey, and Renee. Casey rushed forward to hug him, and Jared almost fell into her arms.
   "What happened?" She whispered as he wiped away a few tears.
   "Tom's dead." He looked down, scared to see Renee's reaction. He heard her crying, and beyond that and the constant gunshots, he picked out the sound of shoes on stairs. He looked at Jay. "Are there others down here?" He whispered. Jay just shrugged. The unfamiliar voices answered Jared's question for him. Ben whimpered, and Avery covered his mouth, whispering soothing words to him. Jared, Casey, and Jay all looked at each other for options. The strangers were getting closer. Jared heard them walk into a nearby store, close to their own, and he motioned for the others to stay where they were. Casey looked like she wanted to protest, but she kept her mouth shut.

   “I’ll go with you.” Jay offered.
   Jared shook his head. "You need to stay here with them. Don’t worry, it’ll be okay." He whispered.
   "That's what you said on the second day." Casey replied quietly. "At the airport, you told me we would be fine. Don't make that a lie. You come back." He nodded, and turned to leave when she pulled him back by the arm and kissed him. Even though they could die here at any second, Jay still smiled at Jared's surprised look. "Don't leave us." Casey whispered, pulling away.
   "I won't." Clearing his mind of the kiss and the surprise and the love he felt for her, Jared crept out from behind the counter. He crouched low and stuck to the wall. Looking out, he didn't see anyone else, but he heard the voices from the store just next to his. He made his way to the door, then stuck to the wall outside until he came to the next store just feet away. As he did, he became aware of more intruders downstairs, and wondered if his group actually had a chance to survive this. Peeking through the windows from the outside, he saw the six figures, all with their backs to him. He had an AR15 in his hands and a 9mm in his belt. He could stand up and just start shooting, but there were enough people inside that he might not kill them all before one of them got him.
   Tom was dead. Jack was dead, and so were Bill and Cassidy and half the people he started out with. Despite the little voice in the back of his head screaming no, he stepped into the doorway and started firing his rifle. One person dropped, then two, then the others turned around before the third and fourth were shot. One of the two still alive reached for his gun, and Jared shot him too. His friend, however, was more successful, and Jared didn't have time to fire his last shot before the bullet tore through his side. He collapsed on the floor, gasping from the sudden pain. The last man walked over to him. Jared knew, just from the man's expression, what he was going to do. Refusing to give  up, he pulled himself into a painful sitting position as the man pointed his gun. His eyes met the stranger's just before a streak of black appeared, and the man screamed in pain and surprise.