Chapter 9

I wake up coughing. There is someone crying close to me. I'm not sure who it is. There is so much smoke everywhere. I hear a siren in the distance and there are people running.

That's when I hear it.

Gunshots.

Something's happening.

“Gem...Gem are you ok?” Rahmell's voice says.

He is turning to my right. I can barely see his face through all the smoke. He leans down and I can see that he's bleeding from his forehead. There is a gash. There is blood all over him. My heart races.

“What just happened?”

“Gem look at me. I'm going to need you to stay completely still.”

“Rahmell what's going on?”

Rahmell has this worried look on his face. He's standing over me. I see him point to my leg at that moment and notice that there is piece of glass jammed clean through my leg. I start to panick as soon as I see it. My heart races. I think I'm about to faint.

Rahmell holds my head together keeping me from fainting and keeping me from completely going crazy in this moment.

“I'm here...I'm here...”

“I can see the bone.”

“Shh...I'm here, I need to get it out. I need you to hold completely still ok? Look in my eyes. No matter what just look in my eyes.”

What beautiful eyes those were by the way. I stare at Rahmell. He holds my hand with one hand and thrusts the shard of glass out of my leg. I scream like a little bitch. I scream at the top of my lungs and even then it doesn't matter. The convention is echoing with screams, moans, sirens, crying and gunshots. All hell has broken out.

Rahmell takes off his shirt. He continues to look at me as he is bareshirt. I have to admit the sight of his strong lean muscles calms me all the fucking way down. His tight chest and biceps distract me from the pain in my wound and seeing him without a shirt on made me want to be just a little bit more strong and masculine.

Rahmell wraps the shirt around my leg.

“Keep pressure on it OK?” he asks, “I'm going to carry you.”

“Where the fuck are we going Melly?”

“I don't know...”


Rahmell keeps his word. He lifts me up and cradles me in my arms as though I weigh nothing at all. I wrap my arms around his neck and rest my head on his neckline.

From Rahmell's arms I get my first look around the convention.

The only words that come out are.

“Oh shit.”

I can barely see much but one of the walls seems like a part of the walls seemed like they have partially collapsed. There is rubble everywhere and there are bodies. There are lots and lots of bodies everywhere. The smoke is coming from a collapsed rainbow tunnel. It seems like a fire has begun down in the shaft of the tunnel.

A crowd of people are attempting to make their way to the fire escape. Rahmell joins that crowd.


“My mother. She had a bomb sewed into her and pretended it was her baby. She was probably able to get past security with that.”

I look at Rahmell.

“Rahmell I'm...sorry...”

I'm not sure why I'm apologizing to Rahmell. I'm not sure if it's because I realize that his mother was the cause of this terrorist attack or if it's because his mother just died. Either way he doesn't seem to want to come to terms with it. His relationship with his mother is the only part of him that he's always kept away from me as best as he could. I wonder if he knew she was capable of something like this. The serious look on his face doesn't seem surprised. He just seems sure right now.

We descend staircase following a group of other survivors from the attack. We keep walking and Rahmell is holding me in his arms.

That's when we hear it.

Gunshots!

“They're coming!” a voice screams from the stairs.

People are stampeding all of a sudden. They are running back up the stairs away from the gunshots. Three men push past Rahmell pushinng him into the railing and knocking him over. He almost drops me as he attempts to huddle his arms around me to protect me.

The gunshots are getting closer and closer.

Soon we realize there are pistols aimed right in our face.

“Move!”

The voices are female. They're is a distinct accent that I hear when they speak. They glare at us.

“My friend is injured...he needs medical help,” Rahmell tells the person.

“Go back to your rooms or die...”

The woman shoots a gunshot into the air. The other masked people aim their guns at Rahmell. These aren't pistols. These are laser assault rifles.

These people are terrorists.”

“He needs help.”

“Rahmell let's go...” I tell him.

“You're bleeding out we have to leave this place,” Rahmell argues.

I see the look in these womens' eyes. I see the stares. Something is wrong. Something is definitely wrong here.

“Rahmell...let's go,” I warn him.

Rahmell reluctantly heads back up the stairs.

We walk all the way up to our floor. It seems like the terrorists have lined up all around the stairwell. They are blocking people from leaving with their assault rifles.

“We need to go back out. Maybe they'll let us leave if they know you're injured,” Rahmell responds.

“No...they won't...”

He must have missed the smell of death in the stairway. These women weren't going to keep asking us. They were going to shoot us. They were going to kill us.

“How do you know?”


“Rahmell. Those women were Amazons.”


=========================================================================

We get back to the room. The power is completely out everywhere. Rahmell places me down on the sofa and runs to my room to get me clean bandages. By the time he comes out it also becomes clear that we are not alone.

“Melly...”

I turn to see Amethyst.

Rahmell is surprised to see her. He is even more surprised when she runs into his arms and hugs him tightly at that moment.

“Melly?” I ask.

This may not be the time to be jealous but why the fuck was she calling Rahmell by the nickname that I gave him.

“I didn't know you called me that,” Rahmell acknowledges almost realizing at that moment that things might be a little awkward and also that she'd taken it upon herself to adopt my nickname for Rahmell.

“Melly I'm so scared. What's going on out there?”

I roll my eyes. Amethyst was playing the damsel in distress right now and honestly it was annoying as fuck. Amethyst wraps her arms so tight around Rahmell that I think she is damn near fucking suffocating him.

“Terrorists,” he says and damn near pushes her off before telling her, “I need to clean Gem's wound.”

“You're joking,” she said.

“What is so funny about terrorists?” I ask my sister.

“I wasn't talking to you,” Amethyst snaps back and rolls her eyes.

I roll my eyes back. How annoying can this girl really fucking be at this moment. She is pouting like a little puppy when Rahmell leaves her to go get something to treat my wound. She damn near stands in the fucking doorway like a lost child until he comes back and even follows him towards me. She sits on the couch and glares at my wound clearly scared at how deep it is.

“FUCK!” I scream out when Rahmell pours alcohol on my wound.

“Stop being a baby,” Rahmell states.

“Give me a piece of glass, let me stab it through your leg and put alcohol on it and see how you react,” I tell Rahmell.

Rahmell smiles at me, “I'm a G. I'll be fine.”

“Bullshit when you caught the Flu back in the day you swore up and down you had the Maneater Outbreak and you cried like a little bitch for 4 days straight.”

We're laughing at that moment. I don't know why all of a sudden the two of us are broken into a shared laughter of levity at the memory of Rahmell mistaking the flu for the murderous disease.

“I wasn't the only one crying,” Rahmell responds, “If I remember correctly.”

I can't stop laughing.

“I remember. I sat at the side of your bed and prayed for nights that you wouldn't die. When we found out it was just the flu we both looked so fucking stupid.”

We're laughing about the memory the whole time that he dresses my wound and puts a proper bandage on it.

I almost forget Amethyst is in the room until she speaks.

“I don't mean to interrupt but----maybe we should call the cops instead of laughing,” Amethyst responds.

“You go do that,” Rahmell responds.

Amethyst leaves at the room at that moment.

Rahmell and I exchange glances.

“She's annoying as fuck,” I finally tell him.

“Fuck I know,” he agrees, “She's your sister.”

“She's your soon-to-be baby's mother.”

More laughter.

We stop short just until Amethyst walks back into the room, “My cellphone isn't working. The hologram phones are all dead. The internet isn't working. Everything's down.”

“Impossible,” Rahmell states before digging in his own pocket. He pulls out his own cellphone and stares at it for a minute before looking at Amethyst and then at me, “She's right. Everything is out. It's almost like there is some sort of interference.”

Amethyst sits on her desk at that moment.

“Oh God. Oh God we need to get out of here.”

“We can't leave,” I tell her.

“Why the hell not! We need to get out of here! We NEED to!”

She's panicking. I sigh at that moment. Rahmell has gone over to her to comfort her. He is still shirtless and she's probably getting all her life having strong sexy Rahmell tap her on the back and let her know that everything is going to be ok.

I can't take this shit.

I head over to the fridge limping. All the food in there is going to go bad. Luckily I am able to pull out a bottle that I'm thinking Rahmell left in the fridge.

“Are you joking?” Rahmell asks me.

“What? I'm in the middle of a terrorist attack. I think a drink is worth it right now,” I explain to him.

“Get off your feet...”

Rahmell runs over to me abandoning Amethyst. He grabs me off my feed and continues to baby me realizing that I'm putting weight on my sprained ankle. I can't help but to notice Amethyst's watching me. She is clearly keeping my eyes on me.

“You don't have to run back and forth,” I tell Rahmell, “Amethyst needs you.”

I don't know if he notices the look in her face. Amethyst is scared. She's pregnant. She probably needed a man like Rahmell there to protect her and make her feel safe in a time like this. Right now all I needed was my bottle of wine. I'd get over seeing Rahmell hug all up on Amethyst.

Rahmell doesn't go back to Amethyst. He doesn't even take his eyes off of me.

“You need me more,” he explains, “When you thought I was dying back in the day you didn't leave me and I don't plan on leaving you either.”

He places his hand on my hand softly.

Amethyst's eyes pierce at us.

“I'll go see if I can get a signal somewhere else,” Amethyst states.

She leaves the living room and goes to the room. For a moment I feel bad for her. Rahmell could care less that she's left. He isn't even looking at her.

“You should be nicer to her,” I say when Amethyst leaves, “She's carrying a little Melly in her stomach.”

“She'll be aight...” he responds, “I'm was going to have that convo with her today...and then this happened.”

“What convo?”

He sighs, “You know that we should be friends.”

I shake my head, “Rahmell don't do that.”

“Wait what?”

“Don't break up with her when she's pregnant with your kid,” I respond, “Trust me. I've grown up around females all my life. That's what makes them resent men. That's why feminists are so popular in New Florida.”

Rahmell sighs. I'm not sure if he agrees with me about not talking to her or not. He seems to want to change the subject instead.

“So you think these are Amazons doing this, huh? The feminists?” he asks.

I nod. I remember the look in the eyes of those masked women on the stairs. I'd seen women from other places. There was a particular strength the women in New Florida had. They had this very particular vice about them especially when they looked at men. It was this deep routed resentment.

“Yes. Isn't your mother a feminist extremist?” I ask.

“How the fuck are feminists this far north?” Rahmell asks.

The feminists were a group that came around about 10 years ago. They had been a huge issue in the past in New Florida. Back then it was such a big issue that other nations offered aid to help my grandfather take care of them. The radical Feminists called themselves XY. I never forgot when a group of them got their hands on some guns and shot up a hospital to send my father a message so that he could step down. They refused to be governed by a man.

Before we can even think about the answer to that the lights click back on. Amethyst runs back in the room. Rahmell doesn't notice it but I do. Amethyst has been crying. As soon as she runs back into the room seems excited.

“We're saved.”


I shake my head.

“No we're not.”

The two of them look at me.

I had a feeling about this.

“What do you mean? The powers back on.”

“Your phone isn't though...is it?” I ask.

Amethyst looks at her phone. She grunts when she stares at it, “No. How did you know that Gem?”

“There were two many strange things happening since I came to the convention,” I state, “A terrorist attack is one thing. The Feminist Extremists that I knew wouldn't have just blown up the convention, they would have killed us all. They didn't. They spared us. It's almost like they have evolved.”

Rahmell hesitates, “New leadership?”

“Exactly.”

“What are you two always talking about?” Amethyst asks lost at that moment, “We need to get out of here.”

“There's no where to go. The power was turned on purposely. Turn on the hologram television,” I state.

Amethyst walks over to the television. She turns it on. The noise fills the room and the words PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT flashes over and over and over.

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT.

Amethyst shocks as an image pulls up on the screen at that moment.

“Oh my god. Grandmother.”

I'm not surprised as I look on the hologram. Amethyst walks right over to the hologram. She touches it. Of course Grandmother can't see her. Grandmother is sending this to multiple people over a wide network. This isn't just the hotel. This is everywhere.

“My name is Matina Zoe, I am the first lady of New Florida,” my grandmother explains at that moment, “As you are seeing this message the nation of New Florida has taken hostages at the Geneva Convention. The hostages include the president of the District of Columbia. We also have ambassadors from nearly every single nation of the old United States here. This is not a prank. This is not a hoax. A list of demands will be sent over at at 12 pm if our demands are not met more and more hostages will be killed.”

With that Ma Zoe's message ends and the lights in the convention click off all of a sudden.

Amethyst drops to her knees.

Telling Amethyst I told you so wouldn't do it justice. I should have stopped this. I should have seen this coming from a mile away.

Ma Zoe had radicalized.

“He'll come back, stop pacing,” I tell Amethyst.

Rahmell has gone to look around and check out the convention to see if he could find a way for us to get out of here. My Grandmother wasn't here. We were in danger. These extremists that she sent to the District seemed like they meant business and honestly I was scared my heart was in my chest.

“I have the right to be afraid,” she explains.

He's been gone for 3 hours. Truth is I am a little afraid too. I probably would be joining her in her pacing if my leg wasn't fucked up. However I promised Rahmell that I'd try to keep Amethyst calm if only for the baby's sake.

“You don't need to stress,” I explain, “Rahmell is the smartest guy I know. He won't get caught in those hallways.”

“You would know huh?” she states.

Strange.

I knew it was a bad idea for Rahmell to leave me alone with Amethyst but I didn't have much of a choice. I couldn't walk and Amethyst was too scared to leave the suite that we were in. We were just sitting in the dark and the awkwardness between my sister and I got worse every minute. Soon I didn't know how to react to her.

“I would know. He's my best friend.”

She smiles at that moment, “I know some things too about him. I know how big his dick is. I know how it feels when it enters me. I know how his nut feels entering filling me up as he faints over me gasping for air and telling me how much he loves me.”

I want to call bullshit on the love part but I think my face says it all.

“What---you want some type of award because he fucked you?”

“I'd like acknowledgment,” Amethyst states, “I want you to acknowledge that I'm his girlfriend. I want you to stop trying to steal his attention from me.”

“I can steal something he gives freely,” I argue.

“And for his attention what the fuck could you give him.”

“Plenty,” I respond, “Girl he barely likes you. If he did he wouldn't want to spend all his time with me. Sister. Let's be clear. He wants PLENTY from me.”

Amethyst laughs at that moment, “Plenty like what? I have his baby in my stomach. What do the people in the District say? Procreation is everything.”

She's laughing. Amethyst has a broad smile on her face in that moment. Just at that moment the door opens. I watch as Rahmell runs inside. He isn't alone. He has Karington and Quincy with him. Something's wrong.

Quincy has someone in his hand.

Shaddius.

“Oh fuck. Shaddius,” I state.

I watch at that moment as Shaddius is in Quincy's arms. Shaddius is bruised up pretty bad at that moment. Not just one of his legs are fucked up but both of his legs are fucked up. His right eye is completely closed. Shaddius has this look that just seems like he was closer to the blast than anyone else. Karington is in pretty bad shape too. He looks like he's lost a finger or two and has wrapped it up. His eye are blood shot red and he struggles to get to the couch with the help of Rahmell.

“Oh my god,” I state, “Are you guys OK?”

Shaddius shakes his head, “Man they are fucking going crazy out there.”

“Rahmell I need to talk to you,” Amethyst states.

I know what it's about. She's in her feelings over the argument we just had. Amethyst isn't the type to just let things go. No. She wasn't going to let things go even if there were injured people in the room who needed medical help. She is completely useless. It takes me having to hop across the room with one leg to get the kid to break it back and start treating Shaddius.

“Not now,” Rahmell tells her, “Gem you need help with that?”

I'm glad he's blowing her off. I guess I definitely regret feeling bad about it in the first place. I almost want to laugh when he blows her off again.

“I got it Melly,” I tell him.

I look down at Shaddius. I'm pressing a heat pad to his legs. The skin has burned off on his legs. The top layer is red to the point that I can start seeing white puss come out from underneath. Shaddius squirms as I press the heat on there.

“You know if you wanted to hear me scream you could have gotten me drunk first,” Shaddius tells me, “At least ask me on a date.”

I smile at the thought of it, “Would you have said yes?”

Shaddius laughs, “Are you serious? Hell yeah I would have said yes. That's all I wanted. If I would have stayed with you like I wanted earlier I wouldn't be in this situation.”

Melly and the others are looking at Shaddius. It's hard to look at him. He looks like he's in real pain.

“He needs a doctor---like now,” Rahmell tells me, “He won't make it.”

Shaddius shakes his head at that moment, “Doctor? Why the hell would I need a doctor when I have an angel right here with me.”

“Stop talking Shaddius,” I tell him, “Take off your shirt...”

Shaddius takes off his shirt. I want to see if he has any wounds. That's when I see it. It smells like rotted flesh. A part of his abdomen is gone. My heart is beating. All of a sudden I feel sick to my stomach. I'm not the only one. Amethyst goes to trashcan and starts hurling at the sight of it.

“It's bad...isn't it?” Shaddius asks hesitatantly.

I look at the wound. I can see parts of his intestines through his flesh. His blood is completely soaked. Everything is wet. Everything is red. My heart is beating. I can't do take this. I can't fucking take this.

I am about to break down looking at Shaddius. I don't know how to answer his question.

That is when I feel Rahmell put his hand on my shoulder.

He grabs me off the floor, “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

Rahmell grabs me. He pulls me into the bathroom. He shuts the door behind us. I don't know why we are in here.

“What is going on? I need to be helping Shaddius,” I tell him.

Rahmell looks at me hard, “He's not going to make it.”

My world stops at that moment. It is literally like time stops. I get lost in Rahmells eyes and the words linger on in the tight bathroom. I watch his lips stay in the same position that they were when he mutters the words “it”. I stand there for a minute and struggle to maintain my composure but I am losing my balance.

I fall over, “Fuck.”

Rahmell catches me, “You're still bleeding. You need a doctor.”

I shake my head, “I'm fine. Shaddius. Shaddius is the one who needs a doctor.”

Rahmell shakes his head, “Gem...look at me.”

“I don't have time for this. We have to see if we can stop the bleeding. We have to see if we can try to find a way to get him out of here. Maybe there is a way out back.”

“Amazon terrorists are everywhere. EVERYWHERE. They have taken over the whole lower floor. I don't know how your grandmother was able to control the terminals like this and sneak so many terrorists in but she did it.”

“The hacker.”

“What?”

“We traded a hacker from Columbia. That's why she wanted a hacker so bad,” I explain.

My grandmother was planning this from the very start. She wanted me to come here and get her a hacker. I did. I traded with Shaddius. Shaddius trusted me to get my grandmother a hacker and because of my grandmother this had happened to him. Because Shaddius trusted me this had happened to him.

“Listen there is no escaping this place,” Rahmell explained, “There is no getting past the terrorists. We are hostages here.”

“I can talk to my grandmother.”

“You think your grandmother gives a fuck about you?” Rahmell asks me, “She sent you here. She didn't tell you her plan knowing damn well she was going to blow this place up. You were collateral damage to her. The Stingers are still in jail. She abandoned them. She doesn't give a damn. She's just like my mother. I've seen it. I've seen those eyes that she had in that hologram before. Your grandmother has radicalized.”

“Then we can treat Shaddius here. At least for now.”

“Listen to me.”

“NO RAHMELL!”

Tears are in my eyes. There are tears that keep falling down.

“Listen to me Gem. Please listen to me. He's not going to make it. It's a miracle he is even alive right now. His insides aren't even in his body anymore. He has internal bleeding. He has has extreme trauma to the head. He has a matter of minutes...if he's lucky,” Rahmell explains.

I'm crying like a little fucking baby at this point. Shaddius might not have been this perfect guy for me but he was someone who was willing to try. He was someone who was willing to be there for me. Shaddius was someone who was willing to love me.

And a part of me wondered if sooner or later I'd be able to love Shaddius back.

“Get off me. I'll fix him. You don't know what the fuck you're talking about.”

“Listen to me Gem. Gem. Stop pulling away. Listen to me Gem!”

“FUCK YOU MELLY!”

Rahmell holds me. He grapples his arms around me. He holds me super tight at that moment, “Listen to me baby.”

Baby?

Rahmell had just called me baby.

For some reason it calms me down. It stops me from hesitating. I pull away and look at him not sure if he realized what he just said.

“Yes?”

“I know how much this hurts. But I don't want you to regret the things you didn't do and the things you didn't say. You have to say goodbye. You have to tell Shaddius goodbye.”

Rahmell looks at me.

My swallow.

Rahmell is being strong with me right now but also being gentle at the same time. It's hard to explain how the two things work together when it comes to Rahmell. I know he is telling me exactly what I need to here but he is holding me in a way that I feel like I'm not alone when he says it.

When the two of us walk back into the living room it is clear that the others have realized what is happening to Shaddius.

Amethyst is still throwing up.

Karington is squirming in pain so much that all he does is look at Shaddius and make this odd panting noise like a sad dog.

Quincy is tearing up though. He's well enough to have a reaction to what is going on and Quincy is completely losing it. He is on the floor and he's crying his eyes out.

I take my step forward to Shaddius.

“Why so emotional?” I hear Shaddius ask me, “Just like an Amazon woman.”

“Shaddius...”

Shaddius stops me, “You're beautiful you know that.”

“I'm sorry this happened to you,” I explain to Shaddius, “I know we had a plan. If only I had believed you earlier. If only I had trusted you earlier and not turned my back on you.”

Shaddius laughs. He laughs so much that he starts coughing.

He's coughing blood.

Quincy breaks down into pure wailing when he sees Shaddius cough out blood. He's holding onto his hand.

“You guys need to stop crying. You need to stop feeling sorry for me,” Shaddius explains, “Listen I don't have any grudges or any regrets. I'm an ambassador. I came to represent my country and I like to think I did that in the best way. I made a deal with a sexy ass guy and I'm just upset that I couldn't carry out my end of the bargain.”

“I had no idea my grandmother was so extreme. I should have removed her a long time ago,” I explain.

“I'm pretty sure every leader in the world is thinking the same thing,” he states choking on his blood and pausing, “You don't regret a thing ok. I don't. Rahmell you better take care of things around here.”

Rahmell looks up, “I will.”

“I'm not just talking about the cutie either. Quincy will need you. Karington too.”

I look at Shaddius's friends. Karington is watching silently. Quincy is balling.

Rahmell nods, “I'll take care of them. I'll get them out of this convention. I promise.”

Rahmell puts a hand on my shoulder.

Shaddius turns to me, “Gem. I have to tell you something though. I have to tell you something Gem. You know what's funny?”

“What?”

“When I met you---I---”

Nothing.

“Shaddius?”

Shaddius doesn't respond. He just stares at me.

He has a smile on his face as though he's about to break out into laughter. It's the most peaceful look I've ever seen on Shaddius. For the first time he isn't being rude and defensive. Right now Shaddius is at peace. He was an ambassador who came to represent his country. He had made some great deals. He'd served his country.

He's dead with his eyes open and a smile across his face. I know at that moment that I'll never figure out what he was going to say.

I'd never figure out what was so funny.

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