The eight horses galloped straight onto the university property and split into two groups of four. The first group headed west and the second aimed straight onto campus, storming past and over parked cars. Students walking across the campus initially watched the galloping horses in awe. Several were almost run over, however, so many in close proximity scattered in fear, dropping their books and papers. The horses galloped past a short row of trees and when they passed the last tree, the machine guns came out.
Chris, a campus professor (who happened to be armed), was strolling across campus when he heard the screaming students. On instinct, he immediately jumped into action. He ran a speedy one hundred yards, dodging around cars when suddenly he skidded to a stop. “Armored knights on horses?” he exclaimed. “What the hell is this?”
His eyes immediately registered the situation and he assessed his surroundings. Students were running in all directions, but something was wrong. Not just the shocking fact that armored knights on horses were charging through campus, but they seemed to be armed. “Couldn’t be submachine guns,” he yelled out, unclipping and pulling out his concealed handgun. The knights were riding parallel to his position so he pivoted in their direction and began running on an intercept course. His Army training was kicking in and he was on pure adrenaline now. He leapt onto a car when he heard the clacking of a machine gun. Skidding, he rolled over, hitting the ground and taking cover behind the trunk. He could not tell if those shots were aimed in his direction or not. Suddenly, his question was answered. He clearly heard ping, ping, ping as the car he was using as cover was sparking as bullets hit it.
“That’s my ticket!” He popped to his knee and aimed his gun at the lead giant horse. He pulled the trigger three times, hitting the rider. The knight clearly felt the bullets hitting him. Why didn’t he fall? Chris had no idea. The giant horse slammed its hooves onto the hood of a parked car, crushing it as the knight aimed and fired at him. Chris flattened himself on the ground, avoiding the salvo of lead. Dirt and concrete sprayed up around him. He glanced hopelessly at his handgun, realizing that he was outgunned big time.
He almost found the situation funny that he was only recently thinking how mundane and relatively boring his days had become, and now of all things knights on horses were actually shooting at him! He sat up and backed up against the tire. Then, in a crouched position, he ran over to the next car. He peeked over the edge of the trunk and saw three of the horses run up the steps of the archaeology department. Why the hell are they going in there? He ducked back down just as a teenage girl crouched next to him. He slammed his hand on her head, shoving her to the ground. “Stay down.” He did not know the location of the fourth knight.
“Okay,” she said, frightened.
He leaned against the tire on the passenger’s side and tried to rationalize what was going on. The way the horse crushed that car meant that these horses were much bigger than normal, but why were they attacking students? He glanced back at the young girl, then at other students as they were running around in terror. Is this a terrorist attack? Whatever it was, he knew he was right in the middle of it. He’d have to sort it out later.
He scooted over to the front of the car in an attempt to get a bearing on the fourth knight. He saw him. He was running laterally to his position and Chris saw that the big knight moved way too fast for his size. He scooted around the bumper and took aim at the knight’s legs. He waited for the perfect shot and timed his breathing. The knight was running and looking side to side; most likely for who was shooting at him. Chris pulled the trigger, hitting him.
The knight skidded to a stop and the helmeted head turned and looked directly at him. That was when Chris noticed the enormous size of the knight and the red cross on his chest. Now Chris was in trouble and he knew it. The knight was charging in his direction which put him in a challenging position. He had just seconds to relocate or his number was up.
Chris had to decide what to do. He had to draw the fire away from the girl, which meant that he had to draw fire to himself. “Am I ready to rumble?” he whispered to himself. He glanced down at the girl and said, “Stay here,” and stood up, showing himself over the car. He gave the charging knight only a split second to get his aim and then he started running. The knight was still thirty yards away, and at that distance, machine guns were not as accurate. That is, unless these guys were soldiers, and by the way they moved, they probably were. He moved as fast as he could but the knight did not fire. Chris continued running, changing directions in an unpredictable zig-zag manner, just in case his pursuer decided to. He took cover behind a tree just as he heard gunfire. Peeking around the tree, he couldn’t believe what he saw. As the knight ran past the car, he shot the girl. “No way,” Chris cried out in disbelief. Soldiers don’t shoot unarmed civilians. He raised his gun, aiming directly at the knight’s metal helmet, and fired.
The bullets bounced off harmlessly and he ducked back around the tree. He saw one of the other knights run out of the archaeology building and begin circling around the back. What are they looking for? At that moment, he heard sirens in the distance. That meant that help was on the way. He knew the police had no idea what type of situation they would be running into. He glanced in the other direction and decided that was his last option. The corner of another building was fifteen yards from him. If he could make it, he would be safe.
If not, oh well.
Chris bolted out and ran as fast as he could, but this time the knight, being closer, fired. The bullets sprayed around him but he made it to the corner and ran down the side, jumping over bushes. He just made it to the edge before the other huge knight rounded the corner.
Two police cars screeched to a stop in his direction. He waved towards them as he ran, and the officers jumped out. He felt a wave of despair as the officers whipped out their handguns. There was no way they could hold off that knight with handguns. He saw their eyes light up as they noticed him waving at them. “Get bigger guns,” Chris yelled, but they didn’t hear him. He angled his momentum left so they could see the knight when he came around the corner. Without looking back, Chris knew by the shocked look on their faces that they had gotten sight of the knights.
Chris dove behind a bush and scampered behind a tree trunk just as the knight got a bearing on him and fired. The sound of bullets hitting metal, then yelling, and then silence. He knew what had just happened. The knight had killed the officers instantly which meant he would be focusing again on his original target... him.
Chris leaned his head around the tree trunk and looked under the bush. Both police officers were lying on the ground motionless. He realized that he was probably going to be dead any second. His adrenaline began to surge. It was plainly about survival now. Fighting this medieval knight was not an option, but he expected to feel bullets penetrating his body any second. Will he even feel it? Will he just die? Will his soul continue on, or will it be just blackness as his life ended? For the strangest reason, he thought about going to church. Church was about God and the afterlife...
He snapped out of it, and slowly placed his useless gun on the ground in a ceremonial sense. Then, rising up on one knee, he grabbed the gun off the ground, shutting out his un-Army like suicidal thoughts. If he was going to die, he was going down fighting. He took a deep breath, stood up, and looked around. He didn’t see the armed knight so he ran in the opposite direction, then remembered something.
Didn’t police cars have automatic weapons in their trunks? Chris turned and doubled his way back to the police car, ducking behind everything he could find as cover. He still did not know where the knights were. Staying low, he found himself by the driver’s side door of the police car. The two officers were lying on the ground in contorted positions, still holding their guns tight. Slowly, he opened the door, reached in, and unlatched the trunk. He backed out, made his way to the rear of the car, and lifted the trunk a few inches. “Bingo,” he said, eyeing an AR-15, the civilian version of an M-16. It was not as powerful as an AK-74 but still had stopping power. He grabbed it and quickly found a loaded magazine. He loaded it, cocked it, and backed up, keeping his posture as low as possible. He eyed the dead officers again, noting they were both wearing wedding bands.
“It’s time for a little payback,” he said, welling up with anger. Only a second later, he saw the first knight. He was almost in patrol mode looking for a target. Apparently, the officers didn’t have a chance to call for backup since no more sirens were audible in the distance.
“Very well,” he said. He was on his own for now.