Never Forget

“Come on Hailey,” the man yelled, grabbing her hand.

Hailey felt like her arm was pulled from her socket as she struggled to keep up with her father's pace.

“Dad! Dad!” she screamed.

Dad looked back only long enough to say, “We don’t have time.”

The pulling became worse and Hailey had to run faster or deal with the pain. She looked back to see a crowd of people rushing after them. Her eyes peeled forward to a revolving door that spun as the first few from the mob made it through. A man passed them on the left only to get tackled by a few of the infected. Behind her, Hailey could hear screaming mixed with the horrifying laughs. Those were the sick ones.

Hailey wanted to help the man, but the last time she tried to say something her father dragged her by the strap on her backpack. Now, there was only life or death. Something that Hailey was quickly coming to understand.

They reached the revolving door. Dad didn’t wait as he slammed his bulky frame into the glass door causing a domino effect that made the entirety of the revolving door spin faster. Hailey cleared it right in time. They were nearly inside the building when the door suddenly stopped. A horrifying scream came from behind them and Hailey looked back to see a woman jammed in the door. From behind, the crowd slammed into her causing the door to slowly pull her apart.

“Don’t look, Hailey! Look at the ground,” Dad screamed.

He looked at the door and back at the woman. Without thinking he pulled a handgun from his belt line.

“Come here baby,” Dad said as he pulled Hailey close to his body.

Hailey jumped from the sound of several gunshots. She looked up to see her father kicking in the glass barrier that encased the revolving door. People screamed from behind her. Hailey looked back to see dozens of people trying to get into the building. Several of the faces were covered with blood and instead of fear, they smiled back. Those were the sick ones. The crazies.

Dad was kicking in the glass over and over. He cursed to himself, fully aware of the ticking clock that was their survival.

“Come on!” Dad screamed, rearing back one more time.

The glass gave and her father passed through dragging Hailey with him. She felt a sharp pain in her wrist and saw blood starting to run down her forearm. The urge to panic set in, except her father’s grip ripped her forward. Her thoughts of pain died out as Hailey struggled to breathe from pure exhaustion.

“Almost there,” Dad said loudly.

An elevator door stood open as a few of the people watched Hailey and her Dad run for their lives.

“Hold it!” Dad screamed. “Hold that door!”

Crashing erupted behind them. Hailey looked to see the crowd of people and infected pouring into a small opening. It was like watching a dam burst and all the water rushing towards them. Hailey felt herself run faster now, which pushed the pain in her lungs and wrist to the back of her mind. She looked forward only to see the doors closing.

“No!” Dad screamed.

He let go of her arm and ran for the door. Just as it was about to close his hand cleared it sending the doors flying wide open. Hailey stumbled into the elevator smacking into a woman who held her daughter close to her body.

Her father was now slamming the button. “Come on close it! Close it!”

The rush of the crowd was almost there. Hailey watched her father look up and raise his pistol.

“Daddy, N—“

The gunshots blocked out any word she said. Her father fired until the doors closed. Bodies slammed into the door making everyone in the elevator flinch with each impact. Muffled cries were drowned out as the elevator flew upward.

A few people in the elevator stared at Dad. Hailey’s father just stared straight ahead ignoring the very people that had tried to leave him and his daughter for dead on the ground floor. Hailey watched her father reload his handgun and shove it back into his belt line. He looked down at her trying to force a smile, but his face turned into a panic.

“Your bleeding, honey,” He said frantically.

Hailey looked down to see her whole arm soaked with blood. Oddly enough she never felt anything, but the shock of seeing her own blood made her feel light-headed. Strong hands grabbed her as she felt pressure on her hand. She looked down to see her father tearing his shirt sleeve off and then wrapping it tightly around her wrist.

He made eye contact with her. “You gotta keep pressure on it, okay?”

All Hailey could do was nod. Her hand slipped into her father's as she watched the dashboard in the elevator light up. This was all just a bad dream in her mind. Hailey had no idea how or why she was in this situation.

This morning Dad had pulled Hailey from her bed and said that they had to leave. When Hailey asked about Mom, Dad just said that she was going to see some doctors, but they had to leave. So she listened to him. All around them, people were going insane and it didn’t matter if they were sick or not. Chaos had seemed to infect anyone and everyone. All that was left was the survival of the fittest. All that was left was for them was to run.

The elevator hit level thirty-four and then slowed to the final level of thirty-five. Everyone inside the elevator tensed up as the free for all was about to commence. Just then, the doors opened and Hailey was pushed from behind. Dad pushed his way past using his large frame as a battering ram.

“Almost there Hailey,” Dad said.

Signs showed Dad where the roof was making him cut corners quickly. Hailey was pulled through an industrial door, where the loud thumping of a helicopter could be heard. Looking back, Hailey saw the group from the elevator running after them. They all ran up the metal stairs until shouting could be heard from the rooftop. The sound of the helicopter was overwhelming now. Hailey had to put her hands over her ears.

Dad pushed the door open making the harsh sun berate Hailey’s eyes. To Hailey’s surprise, Dad had stopped running. She looked out at the roof to see a crowd of people surrounding the helicopter.

“We are only taking children,” A man yelled over a loudspeaker. It was barely audible from the propeller blades of the large military chopper.

The group from the elevator passed by them all and Dad grabbed Hailey by the hand. They walked back inside and he shut the door.

“Hailey, sweetie,” Dad said taking a knee in front of her. Tears started to run down his dark skin. “I need you to take this,” he said, pulling the pistol from his belt line. It was encased in a holster.

“What? Daddy, you need it! I don’t want it.” Hailey protested.

Dad shook his head. “I’m not going to be needing it anymore.”

“But Dad…”

“You take it!” He turned her around and shoved the pistol into her backpack. “You remember what I taught you. What did I teach you?”

Hailey was sobbing heavily now. “Aim small miss small.”

Dad smiled as he held back tears. “That’s right,” He said brushing back her hair.

He reached his hands under the neckline of his shirt and pulled Mom’s gold heart shaped locket over his head.

“Mommy wanted you to have this,” He said. Tears streamed down his face, but he kept his composure. “She said never forget.” he opened it showing a picture of all three of them.

“Daddy,” Hailey pleaded. She felt the locket pushed into her hand.

Dad shook his head. “None of that, baby girl.”

A horrifying cacophony of laughter came from below the stairs.

“Hailey they are coming,” Dad said frantically. “It’s time to go.”

He quickly wrapped his arms around her and picked her up. Hailey buried her face in his chest as the door to the roof opened.

“Take my daughter,” Dad yelled at the top of his lungs.

Hailey held him with all of her might.

“Take her!” Dad screamed.

People yelled over the helicopter blades, and she even felt Dad run over a couple of people as he pushed Hailey higher into the air. She tried to hold on, but when she looked up she saw a soldier with a rifle grabbing her by the waist.

“Daddy,” Hailey screamed at the top of her lungs.

She looked out among the sea of faces and her eyes finally settled on her father. He stood there smiling with tears streaming down his face. Daddy mouthed the words “I love you” as he pushed back his tears. The soldier held her tight. People started to scream as the door was ripped open and dozens of smiling faces overwhelmed the landing pad. The helicopter lifted off gaining altitude.

Hailey locked eyes with her father, who was still looking at her. She held the locket in her hand fiercely as Dad blew her a final kiss and smiled.

“Daddy,” Hailey whispered.

The man she loved grew distant. The swarm of infected swirled into the crowd. Hailey watched as the building grew smaller. The helicopter dipped left and gained in speed. Before she knew it, the vast city of Los Angeles was a speck. Hailey put the locket around her neck and looked down at it. She opened the gold heart to see her Daddy smiling at her again. Suddenly, a large flash erupted all around her. The helicopter began to spin violently and the feeling of free fall overtook Hailey’s senses. The last thing Hailey saw was the top of a mountain and the darkness that followed.

****

Hailey’s eyes flew open as she grabbed the hand that touched her. She pulled it towards her and twisted.

“Alright, alright,” the man laughed.

Taking a deep breath Hailey released the man’s hand letting him stand back up. Her hand fell away from her father’s pistol that was holstered on her side. The man who touched her was light-skinned with a short beard that hid half of a scar was on his left cheek. He was wearing body armor with a rifle slung over the front of his body.

“Hell of a grip on you,” the man said, wiggling his fingers back to life.

“Learned that from my father,” Hailey muttered.

A smile emerged from the man. “He taught you well.”

“That he did, Colonel Forbes.”

The Colonel's smile faded as looked back at Hailey. “We are heading out in five. I suggest you get ready.”

Hailey nodded only once as Colonel Forbes checked on the rest of his men. In one smooth motion, she pulled her father’s pistol from the holster on her thigh and looked at it. With her other hand, she grabbed the heart-shaped locket that hung around her neck. Opening it she saw her father smiling back at her, the same smile before he had died all those years ago. A tear fell from her cheek as she kissed the photo.

“I’ll never forget,” She whispered to herself.

Just then Colonel Forbes called out to the squad. “Load up, because tonight we are going hunting.”

Hailey stowed the locket under her body armor and stood grabbing her rifle. On the buttstock of that rifle, the words ‘aim small miss small’ were carved into the polymer stock. She closed her eyes taking a deep breath. When she opened them, Colonel Forbes was standing right in front of her.

“You ready?” He said with intense eyes.

Hailey looked at him calmly. “I’ve been ready, Colonel.”