13 MAY—4:34 P.M.
EUGENE, OREGON
Swinging an AR-15 rifle to his left, a six-five, muscle-bound man dressed in black tactical clothing—including helmet, goggles, black balaclava, and a chest rig loaded with spare magazines—glimpsed the watch face on his inner wrist. “Sixty seconds!”
Standing on Six-Five’s three o’clock, also wearing tactical clothing and gear, a short and slim black-clad individual pivoted right while scanning the prone customers from behind the sights of an identical AR-15.
*******
FIFTY FEET AWAY...
Her right cheek pressed against the cold tile, her palms flat to the floor on either side of her head, her eyes wide, Julia Witten stared at her boyfriend, her mental voice bouncing off the inside of her skull. Don’t. Don’t do it, Todd.
In a mirror opposite pose from Julia, Todd spied her and clenched his teeth while sliding his right hand across the tile and down to his right ankle.
The terror she had felt a minute ago when the gunmen had entered the bank was now eclipsed by a newfound fear. She managed to shake her head at him while mouthing the word ‘No’ multiple times before she mimed ‘This is not your fight’ to him.
Fifty feet away, Six-Five’s voice: “Thirty seconds!”
*******
FIFTEEN SECONDS LATER...
In clothing and gear matching that of their companions, two men carrying bulging duffle bags over their shoulders hurried from the back of the bank and into the main lobby.
Spotting them, Six-Five twirled an upturned index finger in the air. “Let’s go! Let’s go!”
The newcomers and the short, slim operator headed for the sliding glass entry doors.
Six-Five backpedaled toward the entrance while keeping the muzzle of his rifle trained on the patrons.
“Freeze!”
Their backs to a commanding, unfamiliar voice, the men with duffle bags stopped.
Six-Five whirled around and brought his weapon to bear on a man already pointing a pistol at him.
Todd: “Drop your weap—”
‘Slim’ rotated right and sent a barrage of gunfire downrange.
Ten 55-grain, 5.56mm bullets perforated Todd’s chest and neck.
His torso convulsed, then twisted clockwise, as his trigger finger twitched, and his Glock 43 fired once, sending an errant shot into the ceiling.
The eleventh 5.56mm projectile from Slim’s rifle sped by Todd’s face, exited the building through a window, and struck a woman in her right thigh. She grabbed her leg and went to one knee before collapsing onto the sidewalk.
Todd fell to the floor.
“Todd!” Her screams rising above those coming from panicked customers, Julia pushed away from the floor and scrambled on hands and knees to her fallen man. “No—no—no,” she slipped her left arm under his head and neck while covering his many bullet wounds with her free hand. “Hold on. You’re,” she quickly shifted her now bloodied palm from one dark splotch on his chest to another, “you’re going to be all right. Just stay with me, baby. Just...”
His arms lying limp on the floor at his sides, his right hand still clutching his Glock pistol, Todd looked up at Julia. “Jewel, I lov—” a gurgling sound accompanying his words, he swallowed.
“Save your strength, sweetie. Help is on the way.”
The robbers bolted out of the bank.
Julia whipped her head toward the other patrons and yelled, “Somebody call an ambulance,” before coming back to her man. “We’re going to get you to a hospital. You’ll see. Everything will—”
“I,” he coughed, and a line of red shot out of his mouth and landed on his chin. “I,” he gasped, “love...”
“It’s okay.” She wiped away the blood. “It’s okay. You’re going to be—”
His eyelids drooped.
“No—no. Stay with me. Stay with me.”
He closed his eyes, “...you.” His head lolled away from her a tick later.
Seeing the life flow out of him, her lower lip quivering, her eyes filling with moisture, Julia brought his face to her chest and squeezed him. Three whimpers later, she threw her head back and wailed at the ceiling.
∞=∞=∞=∞=∞=∞=∞
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