Rise of Chaos (4/4)

Chuck watched intently. Anger surged within him, along with a sense of helplessness. Bryan groaned, blood seeping once more from his wounds. He hesitated to intervene, fearful of setting off the trio of raiders. But he was running out of time.

He glanced over at Ron and Julia, still stricken, lurking in the store's shadows. Meanwhile, the little girl and her mother, along with the old lady grocer, remained concealed in the opposite corner of the shop.

Chuck observed the scene as a powerless spectator. Abruptly, Billy, lingering in the aisle behind, dropped his bag to the ground. The sight of the policeman taking aim at Jack was evidently too much for him to bear. His breath unsteady, heedless, the unstable youth lifted his rifle and fired at the police officer. The shot reverberated throughout the store, while the bullet glanced off a steel shelf above the officer's head and buried itself in the wall.

In an instant, the lawman threw himself to the ground, taking refuge behind a small display near the counter. The agitated grocer was bellowing like a wounded beast, begging them all to stop. Ron and Julia lay prone further back, while Chuck, already crouched, dragged Bryan's body to safety before huddling lower himself. He knew his gun could prove useful, but the darkness cloaked the attackers too well, making it impossible to tell friend from foe. The mere thought of injuring the woman and her daughter, or some innocent bystander, filled him with dread.

The grocer's wife, the young mother, and little girl sought sanctuary behind the counter, a relatively safer refuge from the random gunfire. Venturing towards the back of the shop would expose them too much.

"Plea-please, stop!" implored the overwhelmed shopkeeper. "Stop, I beg you! I'll give you whatever you want!"

Exasperated by his pleas, Billy impulsively swiveled his firearm towards the grocer and squeezed the trigger. Despite the dark, the unstable outlaw hit his target. The impact was devastating, as the shopkeeper's chest exploded upon being hit. The old grocer, who had served his community for years, fell to the ground, lifeless.

The police officer, incensed, emerged from his hiding place and fired a shot towards Billy, but missed, and Billy scrambled for cover behind a nearby shelf.

The old farmer, who had been watching the scene from a distance, drew his weapon and aimed it directly at Jack. He stared hard at Jack, who, caught off guard, inadvertently met the farmer's steely gaze. In that instant, Jack's face, once blithely confident, turned pale with fear. He knew that he had nowhere to run.

With lightning speed, the two men opened fire. Jack, in his panic, aimed clumsily at his target and fired repeatedly, while the farmer, with the skills of a true marksman, spun the cylinder of his revolver with a deft flick of his wrist, unleashing a barrage of bullets that rained down mercilessly on the frenzied man. Three shots hit Jack, two in his abdomen and one in his chest. The old farmer was not spared either, as two bullets lodged in his chest, causing him to collapse like a lifeless mass on the ground.

As the sound of shots echoed through the store, the three women cowered behind the counter, too terrified to even look up. Little Eva clung silently to her mother. Chuck, Ron, and Julia, still hiding in the shadows, kept their heads down, wary of the stray bullets that whizzed overhead. The police officer, taking cover behind his display, kept his sights trained on his target, looking for a clear shot.

As for Billy, he remained hidden behind his shelf, stunned by the bloody scene that had erupted before him. He was gripped by dread and disbelief as he watched in horror the deadly consequences of their reckless actions. Meanwhile, the woman with the intruders, Chery, watched on in despair, tears streaming down her face, as she witnessed Jack's tragic fate.

Jack fell to his knees. In his final moments, he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye and fired his gun aimlessly. The bullet struck a bag of chips on the counter, just inches away from the police officer. With his last breath, he gazed at his wife, resigned to his fate.

The officer rose to his feet and ended Jack's life with a bullet to the head.

Chery was beside herself with panic, screaming as she took cover behind the counter, gun in hand. She huddled down close to the woman in the white dress and her daughter. The violence of the scene had left her in shock.

Billy, eyes bulging with fury, snapped out of his trance and quickly reloaded his weapon.

"You killed my brother, you filthy scum!" he bellowed.

Consumed by a black fury, Billy surged out from his hiding place and trained his sights on his brother's killer. Chuck, well-hidden and close by, determined to intervene. Just as Billy was about to fire at the police officer, Chuck lunged. The bullet struck the ceiling. Chuck managed to wrench the rifle from Billy's grasp. It scattered across the scratched linoleum floor. Chuck grabbed his pistol from his belt, but Billy was already scrabbling away, after the rifle. He seized Billy by the ankle and brought him crashing to the ground.

The revolver slid beneath a shelf as the two men launched themselves at each other. Billy, livid with fury, pummeled his adversary's face. Chuck shielded himself and tried to push Billy away.

While the two men brawled, Chery, wrought with anxiety, crouched behind the counter with the other women, and clasped the hand of the little girl, pulling her closer. The child's mother gasped in astonishment. Chery rose to her feet, starkly visible in the lamplight, and pointed her pistol at the child's temple.

"Eva!" the mother wailed.

"Mommy!" the little girl cried.

Chery, breathless and bewildered, had no idea what to do next. She had completely lost control of the situation and was now acting recklessly in order to survive. Her wild eyes landed on Jack's lifeless body lying on the ground, riddled with bullets, and her complexion turned ashen.

Catching sight of Billy and Chuck's fierce fighting, she let out a piercing cry.

"Billy, stop this bullshit! Haven't you done enough? Jack is dead, for fuck's sake, stop! I have the little girl, look!"

But the two men fought on, impervious to her plea.

The police officer, until now forgotten, regained his bearings and moved forward to interpose himself and safeguard the little girl. Unfortunately, his abrupt movement betrayed him. Chery promptly leveled her firearm at him, all the while clasping the girl close to her breast.

"You! You killed my husband, you dirty son of a bitch! Drop your weapon or I'll kill her!"

"Let her go," the policeman replied softly. "She has nothing to do with this..."

"I'm gonna kill her, I'm telling you! I'm gonna kill her! Obey!"

"Okay, okay... I'll drop my weapon and you let her go..."

The policeman laid down his pistol on the ground, palms outstretched. Then, with the palm of his right hand facing forward, he approached her.

"The little girl has nothing to do with this... I am unarmed, so release her. It's just between you and me now... Let's settle this calmly, shall we?"

The police officer continued to approach, perhaps too hastily, as Chery panicked and pulled the trigger twice. The first bullet pierced the cop's hand, causing him to howl in pain, and the second one perforated his chest. He collapsed to the floor, writhing in agony. Eva, still in the grip of her captor, covered her eyes with trembling hands.

"That's all you deserved, you dirty pig," Chery shouted triumphantly.

Desperately, Eva's mother emerged from hiding and pounced on Chery. She managed to seize the smoking revolver's barrel as she fought to wrest it from the shooter's grip. Chery thrashed and fired twice but missed her target. Seizing the opportunity, Eva fled and found refuge with Julia in the pitch-black back of the room.

The clash was brief: Eva's mother shoved Chery, who lost her footing. As she fell, she pulled the trigger, and the bullet crashed into the wretched mother's throat. Drenched in a sudden sheet of blood, she toppled backwards, joining the other lifeless corpses upon the ground.

Her daughter, nestled in Julia's embrace, kept her eyes shut, hands covering her ears, appalled by the deafening sound of the gunfire. Chery, on the other hand, remained immobile, fixed to the spot, apparently petrified.

Meanwhile, Chuck had gained the upper hand: having seized Billy's firearm, he dealt a brutal blow with the butt of the weapon. His opponent, still conscious but dazed by the impact, grabbed a can from a nearby shelf and swung fiercely at Chuck's head. The former soldier's vision blurred, the weight of the world bearing down on his skull.

As Chuck regained his senses, Billy struggled to his feet, snatching Chuck's weapon and aiming it directly at him.

"You're a dead man!"

Suddenly, Billy's head exploded, painting Chuck with a grotesque shower of blood and brain matter... He instantly felt the need to retch.

Billy's body collapsed to the floor. The policeman, who had returned from beyond the veil of death, had succeeded in saving Chuck's life with a final breath and a miraculous shot.

Chuck stammered, "Damn..." He was still in shock. The police officer, his hand drenched in blood, managed to offer a faint smile.

Chery lay on the ground nearby, possessed by a wild rage. She rose up suddenly, brandishing her weapon, screaming, "I'll kill you all, you bastards! All of you!"

She charged straight for the policeman, but during the scuffle, Ron had stealthily made his way behind the shelves and found a position near the counter. He knew the danger that this unpredictable woman posed.

In one swift motion, the gamekeeper thrust the blade of his knife into her throat, cutting cleanly from ear to ear. Stunned, Chery froze for a moment, but managed to spin around and shoot a final bullet into Ron's abdomen. Blood gushed from Chery's carotid artery, she crawled towards her husband, Jack, where she lay bleeding, dying.

Silence finally descended upon the store. The oil lamps flickered, their light casting a haunting glow on the chaos. The bloodstains on the counter resembled an abstract painting of a tormented soul. The dead outnumbered the living, and the calm after the storm was deafening.

Ron's cries of pain broke the silence, as he lay writhing on the ground. The grocer's wife, huddled in the back hallway, wailed in terror, like a wounded animal cornered by a pack of wolves.

Julia and Eva remained rooted at the back of the store, silent and shocked. The young girl had not yet grasped what had happened to her mother. She stayed within her own bubble, enclosed in a world where all this violence was absent. Chuck, sitting on the ground, covered in blood, stared at Billy's lifeless body lying on the floor. He still couldn't fathom what had just happened. Even though he had witnessed bloody scenes - even apocalyptic ones - this was different. He was overwhelmed by a terrible bitterness and, at the same time, a sense of relief that it was finally over.

Chuck turned his gaze toward Bryan. The body was bathed in a dark pool of blood. As he approached, he noticed that a stray bullet had pierced Bryan's side. This time, it was over...

"Oh no..." Julia crawled closer and was confronted with the same irrevocable truth: Bryan was no more. Chuck lowered his head, forgetting everything else. Ron's horrifying scream brought him back to reality.

"Go help him," Julia said calmly as she hugged Eva tightly. "Save what can be saved."

Chuck nodded resolutely and rushed to Ron. The gamekeeper writhed in pain on the floor. The grocer's wife screamed again near her husband's body.

"Ron, damn it... are you okay, pal?" asked the trucker. "We'll get you out of here, trust me, it'll be all right! We won't let you down..."

"And Bryan?" asked the wounded man, gritting his teeth.

Chuck shook his head. "He had lost too much blood... And a bullet from one of these assholes hit him in the stomach..."

"Bastards!"

Now Ron wept with rage.

"We'll get you out of here," Chuck repeated aimlessly.

Julia interrupted them.

"The ground is shaking..." the young woman said anxiously.

Chuck turned around. He had not noticed that the shelves were starting to tremble. The ground beneath him quivered. Cans danced on the shelves, vibrating until they floated slightly. Some crashed heavily to the ground. Jars of jam slid and shattered on the floor. Soon the whole room was shaking.

"What is it?" Ron paused for a few seconds to listen. A muffled sound emerged, deep and powerful. Chuck reflexively looked through the window. He was stunned by what he saw. A vision of apocalypse.

"God..." Temporarily leaving Ron, he ran to the door and pushed it open. Before him was an astonishing sight, completely surreal, and yet unmistakably true.

In the distance, before his wide-open eyes, a mushroom cloud rose into the air like a powerful geyser, illuminating the horizon.