Page 66 of Resurrect Me

“Set down your guns,” I say. “And knives.”

I look at my wife, who’s still clutching the gun. “You too, Tace.”

“Oh. Right,” she says and drops the weapon with a clang.

We push our way through the heavy glass doors and enter the night. The police’s lights are blinding at first, and I blink rapidly until my eyes have adjusted.

There’s lots of yelling and the police making demands. I open my mouth, but the words don’t come out. I’m frozen.

And then a familiar voice rises above the din.

“They’re with me! Stop! Don’t shoot!” It’s Reggie.

“They’re not the ones you want,” Clyde backs him up.

I look to my left and Reggie’s standing next to a Deputy. “That’s Lazaris…or…Solomon, as you all might remember him. His wife, Tacy Rountree, and our men Shawn and Thor.”

“Drop your weapons!” A sheriff shouts and the group of officers obey.

I let out a long exhale and someone ushers me to the back of an ambulance. Tacy goes in a different direction. A paramedic throws a blanket around my shoulders, but I make a mad dash towards my wife, and it falls off me immediately.

“Tacy!” I sidle up beside her, just as a paramedic eases her onto a stretcher.

“Hi,” she says and touches my face. “We did it. Didn’t we?”

She is so beaten and tired, and yet strangely feral and otherworldly. Like a fairy queen who’s just defeated her mortal enemy.

I nod and kiss her hand. “Yes, we did.”

“But The Org’s stronghold…it’s still there,” she points out.

“I know, but don’t worry about that, Babydoll. We’ll take care of it,” I assure her. “Just go to the hospital and focus on healing. Okay? Your face is swollen. I’m worried about your cheekbone.”

As they load her in the back of the ambulance, a blast rings out and shakes me to my core. I turn to look at the building. A cloud of black smoke billows out the top floor’s windows as brilliant red flames lick the roof. Someone lit it on fire.

“Looks like someone took care of it,” Tacy says and the ambulance doors close.

There’s an air of fear and more sirens join the thrall as fire engines pull up. Men in navy blue and yellow jumpsuits rush to put out the flames.

But the explosion and the fire that broke out wasn’t easy to control. It was almost as if someone had set a chemical lab on fire. In the end…the stronghold was burnt to ashes and the CEO and Governor dead. The rest of The Org members who were in the building bolted but were immediately arrested. Reggie had given all our evidence to the FBI.

The Org’s revolting plans of population control were exposed to the public and things began feeling somewhat normal. Duselizab was pulled from the market and banned. There was a purging of the government in our region and state – anyone who had any dealings with the CEO or shareholders of The Org, or Declan Harvey, was fired. Some even went to jail.

I moved back home with my children and wife. Sure, my story was blasted all over national news. The man who came back from the dead. Lazaris King, vigilante. Rebel. Redeemer. And I felt my mission was complete…and the city and our state had found peace. At least…most of us had. Just not Tacy.

Chapter 32

Tacy

“I don’t know how to live with myself,” I admit to Aris. “I can’t forgive myself for everything I’ve done.”

“Tacy, you’re not a bad person. You must know that by now,” I remind her. “Remember the research you did and how you tried to stop them from giving that toxic medication? How you lost your job to save your children and yourself? And others? Those are not things a bad person does.”

I shake my head as tears stream down my face. “I’ve made up my mind, Aris. I’m turning myself in.”

“For what?”

“For the murder of those men in Washington. For the murder of…of…my mother.”

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