Right at that moment, the cafeteria doors slammed open! The shooters stormed in, spraying bullets in every direction.
Everyone in the cafeteria went ballistic. Chaos coursing through each corner of the large room as screams filled the air, blending with the sharp sound of shattering glass and the heavy thud of people crashing into one another. The spread of panic was like a powerful wave, sweeping them up and tossing them into a sea of confusion.
"JUNIPER!" Lisa exclaimed.
But the screams and the gunshots swallowed her call to Juniper. People ran in every direction, pushing, shoving, desperate to escape.
"JUNIPER! REGGIE!" Lisa called again, scared out of her mind as she froze in one place, looking at the dead bodies falling besides her. Her voice cut through the noise, sharp and full of panic.
Just at that moment, a hand fell on her shoulder. It was Reggie, and Juniper was standing next to him.
"I've got Juniper," he said with a tone of urgency, "let's get out of here!"
At that, he swooped her off her feet and dashed away with Juniper by his side. The bullets kept flying by none of them hit Juniper and Reggie. The windows had been shattered, jagged shards clinging to the frames while the rest littered the floor, glistening like deadly stars. Blood smeared the glass and pooled on the ground where people had been hurt in their frantic escape. They were almost out when Juniper heard a familiar voice. Jeremy's.
Her eyes snapped to him immediately—he was down on the ground, his arm and leg had been shot. Juniper saw him struggling to crawl his way out of the cafeteria.
"Jeremy!" She gasped, turning back at once.
"Are you insane?!" Reggie snapped the moment he noticed her going back.
"Juniper, NO!" Lisa screamed.
"I'll be fine," she replied, turning to them, "I need to help Jeremy! Get to safety, I'll join you guys in a flash!"
Reggie's eyes burned with panic. He dropped Lisa and turned to reach out for Juniper, but then a stray scraped his shoulder, missing Lisa's head by inches. Juniper and Lisa gasped, watching him scream and grab on to his shoulder. Juniper's heart beat fast as she watched blood pump out of the wound.
"Reggie!" Lisa screamed, running over to help him…but right at that moment, another set of bullets where coming straight for both of her and Reggie, and suddenly, everything slowed down for Juniper…it was as though time had suddenly turned to a slow jelly, slipping down a bowl.
Everything was in slow motion suddenly. Lisa running to Reggie with her mouth wide as she screamed, the movement of the shooters as slow as possible. The only thing at normal speed was her.
"What the hell?" She said, looking back at Jeremy and then at Reggie.
Then she spotted the bullets going for Reggie and Lisa. One was already close to Lisa's eyes and the other was approaching Reggie's neck. At once, electricity sparked through Juniper's eyes, and without thinking, she dashed.
She ran, grabbing her two friends and going as far as Henderson street, which was several miles away from the school, almost on the other side of town. That was where she stopped.
She dropped Lisa and Reggie on the ground, her shoes were smoking hot, almost catching fire. The sound of the gunshots were gun, there were nothing but the rustling of the trees as the wind blew. Reggie and Lisa were dumbfounded. The pain in Reggie's arm temporarily disappeared as he turned around, utterly surprised.
"What…how?" He asked, looking up at the trees, and then the houses.
"Is this Henderson street?" Lisa asked, looking around. Then her eyes fell on Juniper. She looked at her smoking shoes, and then at her face. "Juniper?!"
But Juniper's mind wasn't on them at the moment.
"I'm sorry guys, I know this is a lot," she said, moving back slowly. "But I'll explain everything, let me just go get Jeremy real fast."
At that, she hopped a bit, and then dashed away, going as fast as lightning…disappearing within the blink of an eye as blue electricity streaked behind her, leaving Reggie and Lisa's jaw dropped in surprise.
Juniper zoomed over to the school in within seconds, back to the broken window. The shooters were still shooting. The cafeteria was a mess. Dead bodies of students and staffs on the floor, a few injured on the floor, the masked shooters singling them out one by one. Juniper wanted to help, but her first priority was Jeremy. Her eyes finally caught him and she went straight for him.
"Jeremy," she said, crouching close to him.
Jeremy, who was barely moving now that his two legs had been shot, looked up at Juniper.
"McClain, are you stupid?! What the hell did you come back for?!" he snapped.
Right at that moment, Juniper sequeled in her mind, freaking out that he knew her and remembered her name. But composed herself, looking as calm as ever on the outside.
"I'm here to help you," she replied, "come on!"
She helped him up, swinging one of his hand on her shoulder.
"As cool as this is, McClain," he said, breathing in raggedy breaths. "This is the dumbess thing anyone had ever done…if we make it out alive…remind me to buy you dinner."
"Oh, we're definitely making it out," Juniper grinned as bullets flew past them. "Hold on tight."
She grabbed his waist, attempting to dash off like she did last time. But nothing happened.
"Oh shit," she said.
"Oh shit? Oh shit what?" Jeremy asked, looking at her.
"It's not working," she said to herself.
"What's not working?"
"No time to explain," she replied, changing her holding position and grabbing hold of his back and his legs, and then pulling him up, much to Jeremy's surprise.
She was about to take a step and run when suddenly, a voice from behind her echoes.
"Where the hell do you think you're going, princess?"
Their hearts flipped. Juniper froze right on the spot were she stood.
"Turn around, NOW!" Another voice exclaimed.
At once she turned. Jeremy in her arms like a bride carried by her groom on her wedding day. The shooters had their guns pointed at them, they wore black ski masks and had very well built bodies. They looked at Juniper for a while, then one of them turned to the other and asked,
"Is she the one?"
The other pulled out a small silver rod that had control buttons on it and he pressed one of the buttons. Suddenly, a small holographic screen hovered slightly above the surface of the rod, showing Juniper's face as clear as day, with some strange language that almost looked like Aramaic characters at the bottom of the picture.
"What the hell?" Juniper and Jeremy said immediately with shock on their faces.
"Yeah, she's the one," the shooter replied. His voice sounding like crisp rock cracking gently.
"Dead or alive?" His companion asked, sending chills down Juniper's spine.
The other looked at Juniper and Jeremy for a while in silence, then he finally spoke.
"Dead!" He growled, dropping his ak 47 gun and pulling out a strange looking handgun from his side holster just like his companion.
"Holy shi–" Jeremy said, as Juniper shook her head, stepping back slowly.
"Don't damage the merchandise," the crisp voice said to his companion, pointing his gun at Juniper.
Juniper gasped, freezing right on the spot now as she tried to activate at least one of her powers, but nothing was working. Tears suddenly started running down her eyes.
"Mom?" she whimpered as they released fire, shooting out what appeared to be black bullets covered with black electricity straight at her. The bullets pierced right through her chest and Jeremy's head, killing them instantly.