I t’s really hard to describe what happens from here on.
In the dark, everything happens so fast. Blood spatters everywhere, and the only cause of it is the mysterious Carter Pillar.
First, he stuffed the cigar into the Executioner’s throat, snatched the knife from his hands, and stuck it into his back. Then, using the Executioner as a shield, he turned around and started shooting from a machine gun with one hand.
I duck under the table then crawl on all fours to the other side. Whatever is going on, all I think of are the kids. I come up from the other side and run toward them.
With one sneaky look behind me, I see the Pillar is raiding everyone with one machine gun and using the Executioner as a shield. The Pillar shoots like a professional, his face unaffected, cold like stone.
I gather the kids into the Jeep again and get to the wheel, about to drive away.
Then I look back. Should I wait for the Pillar, who is taking the Executioner’s men all on his own? Is he going to survive this?
Don’t do it, Alice! Just drive away.
For some out-of-this-world reason, I can’t. I turn around and drive through the war.
“Pillar,” I shout. “I’m coming. Hop in!”
Annoyed, he turns around and starts shooting at the men shooting at the Jeep now. “Who told you to come back?”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” I retort. “I should’ve left you here to die.”
The Pillar jumps in, still holding onto the Executioner. The children scream when they see him in the car. The Pillar pulls him to the far side, away from them.
“Where to now?” I shout in the rearview mirror.
“Drive through the mushrooms.” The Pillar pulls out a small device and dials a number. “A chopper is coming for us now.”
I don’t have the guts to ask about the chopper or what just happened. Anything to save us before the machine gun men catch us.
In the mirror, I see the Pillar gently pull a kid’s hand and look at the lost fingers. He pats the kid’s hand and nods. The kid nods back.
I keep holding on to the wheel, chugging through the muddy ground and mushrooms.
The chopper shows up in the distance. The Executioner’s men are still on our tail.
“They’ll land right there.” He points. “Slow down a bit until they do.”
“I can’t slow down with those men tailing us.”
“Figure it out, Alice,” the Pillar roars.
“Alice save us!” the kids chirp.
“Yeah, of course.” The Pillar rolls his eyes. “I kill the bad guys, then it’s ‘Alice save us.’”