Page 3 of The Only Shot that Mattered

“Kenna, move your fucking feet. Let’s go,” he hissed, tugging on her arm so hard this time she thought it might come off and go with him toward freedom while the rest of her stayed there to die.

But it didn’t come off. Her body stayed in one complete piece as they ran past the bodies, all six of them. Cam let go of her hand so he could run faster, confident now that Kenna would keep up.

They were almost around the corner and at the exit when Kenna’s Dunks slid, causing her feet to come out from under her. She smacked her head on the ground and blinked in a daze as ringing sounded in her ears.

Another shot pierced through the ringing, and this time it was most definitely closer, only a hallway over, if she had to guess. Screams filled the air, while a few more kids made a run for the exit.

But once again, Kenna was stuck. This time, she knew she wouldn’t be able to get back up. It wasn’t because of her head. It wasn’t even because she saw stars or some shit like the cartoons she used to watch with her brother might suggest.

Her brother.

He was the reason she couldn’t move. She wouldn’t move.

They had their mother’s eyes. Pale green, almost like the ocean when there was too much algae on the shore. Their dad always joked that the half white in her blessed their children with pretty eyes. It wasn’t until that moment that Kenna realized just how gorgeous they were. She pressed her cheek into the floor, blinking rapidly to clear the tears so she could look at them. She wanted to look into them forever.

Slowly, she reached out and cupped her brother’s cheek, smiling at him. She wasn’t sure why. It felt like the wrong thing to do at that moment, but she couldn’t stop herself. There she lay, holding her brother’s bloody cheek… smiling, crying, and looking into his pretty, unblinking eyes.

“Don’t worry, Shad. I’m here,” she whispered, still smiling. Still crying.

Two strong hands grabbed her by her green, fitted shirt, now stained with blood, and she was wrenched up into a standing position.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” It was Cam, and he was no longer whispering. She realized tears of panic streamed down his face as he looked at her, still smiling. Still crying. “You can’t go losing it now, Kenna?—”

She saw the moment his eyes found Rashad. He glanced down for just a second and then did a double take, a gasp leaving his lips.

Another shot rang out. Closer.

Warning bells went off inside her, but she couldn’t be bothered. She smiled down at her brother and moved to lie back down beside him, but Cam gripped her waist, throwing her over his shoulder this time, leaving no room for her to stay behind.

“No!” The cry that erupted from her disrupted the souls that were transitioning in that very hallway. She felt everything still around her, aside from Cam. He didn’t stop. He didn’t care about her beating on his back or kicking at his front. He didn’t care that she kept screaming at the top of her lungs for her brother, calling attention to them.

Kenna thrashed around and tried to wiggle free, but Cam pulled strength from God Himself and held her in place while he kept running.

When they reached the entrance, Kenna let out one last wounded cry, but it was cut off by a loud explosion.

Kenna completely tunedout the world around her as she focused on the screen in front of her. Today, she worked at her computer instead of the TV. She loved that her job allowed her to do something different every day.

She worked for a company that designed video games, and it had become her entire life. As a child, she and Rashad always loved playing video games together. Before he died, she wanted to be an emergency physician, working in an ER. After he died, there was no way she could find the heart to do that. Without even trying, she knew her brother’s lifeless eyes would haunt her every single day through her injured patients.

Instead, she chose to do something low key that honored Rashad. Without a doubt in her mind, he would be her biggest hype man if he was still there, and he would definitely think she had the coolest job on the planet. She would have to agree. Not only was it fun, but it itched the side of her brain that needed toproblem solve, and it kept her safe in her bubble, right inside her home.

“Too cute,” she muttered as she smiled at the sim she created on the game. Currently, she was testing the build option for a new game that would rival The Sims. This one was more in depth, though, like a role play game where users could interact online. The game was expansive and had taken up her time over the last two years. They were finally in the fun phase and able to test everything out, so she basically spent her days playing the game and searching for bugs.

“I know you fuckin’ lyin’.”

Startled, Kenna whirled around in the pink gaming chair she sat in and found her best friend standing in the doorway of her gaming room. “Cam! You have to stop doing that. I almost peed my pants.”

“We all know you’re good for that.” He rolled his eyes and sauntered into the room.

Kenna grabbed a pen off her desk and threw it at him. It hit him square in the forehead as he sat down on the comfortable tan love seat.

“Ouch!” he yelped and rubbed his forehead, nearly taking an eye out with his long red nails. “Now why the hell did you go and do that?”

“You know I hate when you joke about that day,” Kenna muttered.

Cam shrugged and picked at his nails. She knew that he joked about the school shooting to cope. He needed to get his ass in therapy like Kenna had done, but Cam was pretty closed off when it came to his feelings. She knew that although it happened over a decade ago, it still affected him. He would never admit it though. He liked to pretend like everything was sunshine and daisies, and Kenna had long ago stopped trying to get him todeal with the trauma. Hell, she had done all she needed to do to cope and was still a mess, so she couldn’t judge.

She shook her head at him before turning back to her computer screen. She logged out of the program, already knowing she wouldn’t get any work done while Cam was there.

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