how I lost her

Jonas stood before a rack of weapons, his gaze was flicking between the guns as he imagine, how or weather his recruited team would be able to use the weapons.

They had never shot a gun according to them.

Although, he had be training them for this pass five hours now, since Serinal came back from the hospital, they haved been practicing.

Behind a little porch over there, Lily was seen struggling to lift a heavy rifle, her arms where obviously straining with the effort as she tries to lift it.

Jonas watched her, his eyes narrowing. He wondered why she was even carrying it, the last time he remembered, he had only thought her how to shoot with a pistol and not a rifle.

"You're not going to be able to use that," he announced, his voice firm, as he motion for her to drop it.

Lily looked up at him, frustration flashing in her eyes, she was really, having a hectic time carrying that gun, but she just tries to hide it, so as for Jonas to see her determination on the mission.

"But I've to try it, it's my turn," she protested, still struggling to adjust the rifle, trying to aim at a log.

Jonas had earlier brought a log and set in a distance for them to target at with their various guns, and now it was lily's turn, but Jonas nevered recall telling her to use a rifle.

As she tries to adjust the gun aiming at the log. Her eyes widened in alarm as the weapon in her hands seemed to jerked back, turning to the opposite direction.

A deafening boom filled the air, and a bullet flew from the barrel, piercing the window and hitting Jonas's car that was by the right side of the log with a resounding clang. It shattered the side mirrors of the front passager sit.

She actually didn't know how it happened, she was as shocked as everyone could probably be by now.

The garage fell silent, as everyone turned to stare at Lily in horror. Zilia's mouth dropped open, her eyes went wide with shock, as she stared at her sister.

Serinal herself let out a low whistle, that if interpreted correctly, could be saying 'Someone has gotten herself into a big trouble.' she drop the racks that she was carrying and was waiting to see Jonas reaction.

Jerry's jaw hung slack in the moment as he heard the sound, he dropped his own gun and turned towards his dad direction, to see his reaction as well.

However, mike was the first to break the silence as the anticipation in him got the hang of him.

"Did you just... shoot Jonas's car?" he asked, his voice was barely above a whisper.

It's was pretty clear that she did shot the car, but mike just wanted to add a more intense humor to the scene.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Jonas's voice finally rose, as he strode towards Lily, his face was flushed with anger.

"You could have hurt someone! If someone was there"

Lily looked down at her feet, her shoulders hunched, she clearly expected that from Jonas, actually, she was a bit to get nervous on why Jonas hasn't reacted up till this moment.

"I... I'm sorry," she said, her voice trembling."I didn't mean to do that. It was an accident."

Jonas suddenly stopped in his tracks as he heard lily apologizing, his expression getting softening slightly, for some reasons, he didn't want to lose it on her.

"Hmmm. It's okay," he said, his voice more gentle. He felt he took it too had with his niece. "Just... be more careful next time."

Lily nodded, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment, it was as if the whole world where watching this particular scene of hers, and she felt like disappearing from the scene.

"You know, something like this stopped me from carrying guns to the jungles for research, who knows? I might one day get there and shoot a human mistaking it to be an animal or something. You know, ever since that day, I drop the damn gun" Jonas said, his voice sounding solemn.

"What day?" Lily asked her voice barley a whisper, as her face lit up in curiosity.

"My wife, she was shot dead, a long time ago. They framed it to be an accident, but that doesn't make it any easier."

Lily's eyes widened in shock, even zilia that was behind coming to the scene looks shock as she heard, that aunt Lidia, was shot.

"Oh my gosh, shot? I thought they said it was an accident" Lily said, her voice barely a whisper.

Jonas took a deep breath, his hands shaking slightly, as he slammed the pistol in his head to the floor.

"That was bullshit lies from the cop's, i was there when she was shot, it was so unexpected." He pause as he try relating the event.

"Or maybe it was me, right? I mean, I was there, i should have done something, maybe i could…. I could have save her" he whispered to himself soberly.

Lily's eyes were full of compassion as she looked at Jonas, she could see his compunction on his face even as he tries to hide it with his wry chuckled.

"I'm so sorry, it really painful" she said, but she was still interested on knowing what truely happened, at least, from the witness who was there, which of course, was Jonas. "So, what actually happened?"

Jonas swallowed hard, he had been expecting her to ask that anyway, and he wasn't wrong, his eyes where glistening with unshed tears.

"It was a long time ago kid, It was a beautiful, sunny day," Jonas began, his voice catching in his throat as he tries to give a chuckled to the memories.

"We had just finished shopping, and we were on our way home. As we were driving, we noticed a fuel tanker truck behind us, following all our tracks. We noticed something suspicious and decided to slow down and let the truck get ahead of us, but we had no idea that they were robbers." He said, casting his face down, to prevent them from seeing his unshed tears.

"As they got closer to us. Suddenly, they shot at my wife's side mirror - twice actually. The second shot hit my wife, and I lost control of the car. We crashed into a ditch. I mean everything seemed to happen in slow motion that day." Jonas paused for a while to relate how every single moment occured, he then continues.

"The truck loomed in the rearview mirror, and i could see the driver pointing a gun at the side mirror. There was this flash of light, and a deafening crack as the first shot rang out. I literally saw my wife's body flinch, and then I felt the car swerving out of control from my hands as I was getting distracted with what I noticed."

"The second shot hit the mirror, shattering the glass this time. The car spun around, and i felt my head slamming into the window. Then everything just went black." Jonas said, his voice barely whispering.

"I tried to tell the police that we had been attacked," Jonas continued, his voice getting heavy with emotion.

"But they wouldn't believe me. They insisted that the accident was the cause of my wife's death. Of course that wasn't true. I knew we had been targeted. I could see it in the driver's eyes. I could feel it in the way he aimed his gun at us."

Jonas's voice broke, and his eyes filled with tears. The others in the garage watched him, all their expressions where now full of empathy and understanding.

"I never got to show her how much I loved her," jonas said, his eyes welling up with tears.

"I never got to say goodbye."

Jerry nodded, his own eyes brimming with emotions, as he heard his dad retelling how his mother died.

"I know how you feel dad," he said, his was voice soft and pained. "I lost mom, too. I never got to tell her how much I loved her, either."

There was a heavy silence in the garage, as everyone seemed to caught up in the sadness of the moment, it seemed as if time had stopped it self.

The garage now was filled with a somber silence, as the reality of Jonas's loss seems to sank in them. Zilia eyes were filled with compassion, and she spoke up first.

"I'm so sorry about your loss," she said, her voice soft and sincere. "We're all here for you now."

Lily and Jerry nodded, their faces expressing solemn. Jerry reached out and placed his hand on his father's arm.

"I'm here for you, dad," he said, his voice shaking slightly.

"It's okay, we have to move on," Jonas said, his voice full of resolve now, as he had somehow wiped off his falling tears without no one noticing.

"We have to get ready for what's ahead of us." His eyes were steely, his face turned determined suddenly.

"We all should gather our weapons and prepare for the journey," he said, his voice firm.

He suspended the moment, as he didn't want to think about those memories for long, but even at that, he couldn't flushed it a way from his mind.

The others nodded, their faces where now set with determination as the realization of the task ahead sank in them.

They all knew the task ahead of them would be difficult, but they were ready to face it, after all, there was going to be a free'wish' for everyone.

Few moments later, everyone resume to their duties, Lily was now busy packing clothes into a bag, while zilia was organizing the food supplies into the van. Mike, Serinal, and Jerry were all loading the guns into the vehicle, making sure they were secure.

As they continued their preparations, the sun began to set, casting long shadows across the parking lot.

"Alright, people," Jonas said, clapping his hands. "That's enough for today. We'll finish up in the morning and be on our way."

There was a collective sigh of relief on them, and they began to disperse, heading to their rooms for the night, tomorrow would be that big day, they all had been preparing for.