––––––––
Even through my addled mind I could hear the boisterous crowd a block west of us, their pitch rising and falling as the president worked them into a frenzy.
The cop forced us out of the car and demanded we get on the ground. My faculties were failing me so I fell down when I tried to get out. Even the pain of falling on my knee couldn't fully hinder the flood of emotions and thoughts drowning me from the thousands of people in the audience.
Then the gunshots started.
The crowd fell silent. More shots echoed through the streets and then pandemonium broke out. The anger that wafted through the air to me changed to confusion and fear as everyone panicked. I could feel the ground vibrating as people began stampeding in all directions.
Confusion stopped the officer in his tracks while he stared at the fleeing people.
"What the—" he said before bleating from his radio interrupted him.
"We got shots fired! Multiple officers down! Get units up here now! We need medical now! Send everyone! The president has been shot!"
"My God." He stood there, looking over the chaotic, onrushing crowd.
Were we too late? Did Murdock already murder the president?
Through my hazy vision I could see the officer’s internal struggle as he tried to decide whether he should continue to detain us or rush to help his brothers in uniform. His eyes darted back and forth from us to the end of the street.
He grabbed his shoulder mic and leaned into it. "Ten-four." Looking down at me, he pushed his gun forward for emphasis. "Stay here! Do not move!"
"I wouldn't go if I were you," I said.
"Shut up and stay down!"
Plunging into the crowd, he disappeared, likely to his death, as more shots rang out.
"What exactly do we hope to accomplish here? I weigh ninety pounds, her IQ is ninety, and you're moving around like you're ninety," Nami said. "You want us to head to the gunshots and Murdock? There's a whole lot of shit-your-pants going on over there."
That pretty much summed up how screwed we were.
"Is ninety good?" Sammy asked.
"I don't expect 'us' to accomplish anything. I'm going in there alone. You guys need to blend in with the crowd and get out of here."
Ahead of us, the elderly woman who hit our car with her cane was knocked to the ground by a heavyset man as he wobbled away from the violence. People always act more like animals than humans when they're scared.
"We need to get her off the sidewalk and against the building or she's going to get trampled to death," I said as I pointed towards her. My arm felt like it was made of lead.
With Sammy's help I struggled onto my good leg and hobbled forward. Panic had overtaken the old woman and she struggled against me when I tried to pull her out of harm's way. As we got closer to the building she seemed to realize what I was trying to do and started pushing with her legs, helping us get the last few feet.
"What's going on?" she asked as she settled against the building.
"A new Apple product must be launching. I need to borrow your cane for a little while," I said.
I tried dodging the stampeding people as best I could while hopping, on my undamaged leg, in the direction of her cane. A shoulder slammed into my chest just as I shifted my weight onto the walking stick, reminding me that something had been knocked loose in there.
The cane itself was stout and knotty with a large knob at the end. Its heft made it strong enough to support my weight. It would make for a nice club if necessary, though I wasn't sure swinging it would be possible in my current condition.
Sammy and Nami watched from the front of the Explorer, not wanting to abandon me.
"Ash, don't go in there. Come with us, please!" Sammy said, her eyes moistening. I could barely hear her over the noise of the rushing people and the thoughts bouncing around in my head. "What can you do against Murdock? You can't even walk!"
"Tits McGee is right; you can't win this. If Murdock doesn't kill you, Smith will."
They were right of course. I couldn't win. Maybe I could even the playing field a bit though.
"Smith tried to kill us. I have to return the favor. Nevada, make sure you get Sammy as far from here as possible."
Blaring sirens approached from almost every direction. If they didn't get out of here soon, they wouldn't be able to at all. Their hesitation told me that they knew this was probably going to be a one-way ticket for me.
"Go, damn it! If you get arrested, who knows what will happen to you."
Nami turned to Sammy and gave her a gentle push in the direction everyone was fleeing. After a few seconds they were swallowed by the group and disappeared.
Pushing off with the cane, I went off to see what trouble I could stir up.