Page 129 of The Pacifist
My heart was melting. “I love you even more for saying that.”
Holger, Loki, and Happy were quick to get up when we began dressing. A walk in the park was welcome at any time of the day.
We didn’t hear any music as we walked out. Nor did we hear the attackers when they came up on us from behind.
CHAPTER 29
Revolution
Jonah
As soon as we came out into the park, Happy and Holger got a scent of something and took off.
“Darn it, I should have brought leashes. The same thing happened a few days ago. The rabbits had them on a chase for at least twenty minutes before they came back. I’ll bet they just picked up their trace.”
“Let’s hope it won’t take them twenty minutes to come back this time,” I said and tucked a hand in my left pocket. “It’s cold tonight.”
Loki, the smallest dog, stayed around us.
“Doesn’t he like rabbits?”
“Loki is afraid of the darkness.” Mila and I were close to the house where lights made it possible to navigate the areas with water fountains and seating arrangements. The lights didn’t extend to the whole park, so we walked in the area around the house that was lit up.
One minute we were walking hand in hand talking about the magic of our wedding day. The next minute, Loki barked and growled at some bushes like an animal possessed.
“Shhh, Loki, you’re waking up everyone,” Mila scolded the dog, but he wouldn’t stop. We were walking toward him when, all of a sudden, he made a sound of pain and fell to the ground.
“Loki!” Mila cried out in panic and broke free from my hand to run to him.
“No, Mila.” I grabbed for her elbow to stop her, but a strong force jerked me back, just as men dressed in black from head to toe appeared from the bushes.
“Help! Someone help us!” Mila screamed when a large man picked her up and held a gun to her head.
“Quiet or I’ll shoot you,” he hissed.
I didn’t believe for one second anyone would shoot Mila. The thought was ridiculous, but seeing Mila being manhandled blinded me with fury. Throwing my elbow back in my attacker’s face, I got away from him and was able to attack the man holding Mila. All it did was knock his gun out of his hand and make him let go of her to turn his focus on me instead. He punched me in my face but the adrenaline in my system numbed my pain and I raised my hands to block his next punch.
“No, let me go…”
Mila’s screams made me look back to see her being dragged away by two other men in black. The distraction caused the man I was fighting to take advantage and plant his fist in my face again. This time, I went down and lay flat on the ground with my body not responding.
The man had a black mask covering his face with only holes for his eyes and he was twisting and turning to find something.
His gun.It was dark and I felt something under my hip that had to be the gun he was looking for.
“Come on,” one of the men holding Mila sneered to the man while she wriggled in his arms.
“Nooo.” Her screams were muffled because of his hand covering her mouth. It tore at my soul to see her in danger and I tried to force myself to get up, but my body was unresponsive, like the blow had numbed me somehow.
“Mila…” My voice was weak and my conversation with Mason and the guards came back to me. They had wanted to teach me to fight and I’d insisted I could deescalate a situation with my words. How naïve I’d been, but then a situation like this was unthinkable in the part of the world that I came from.
When a beast came out of the darkness and jumped one of the men dragging Mila, I wondered if I was hallucinating. The menacing growls from the monster mixed with the frightened screams from the man being mauled by the eerie thing. It had to be wishful thinking concocted by my injured brain, but then the monster barked and I realized it was Holger, Mila’s normally calm and loving Great Dane.
“Someone shoot the damn thing,” one of the men wearing black snarled while the man beneath the biggest dog I’d ever seen was kicking his feet and trying to protect his face from Holger’s relentless attacks. I closed my eyes when I saw Holger rip off a chunk of the man’s shoulder.
“I can’t find my gun.” Mila’s first attacker shouted and pointed to another man closest to Mila. “You shoot it.”
A shot was heard, but either he missed Holger, or the dog was too amped up to register it. Mila, however, spread her arms out and stepped between them.
