“Put down your weapon. I’m not having you accidentally shoot while we do this.”
The man nodded and put the gun in his holster. The other men watched anxiously. Ephraim stepped up to the man. He took the man’s head firmly in his hands. “Are you ready?” he asked loudly.
The man nodded, but it wasn’t him that Ephraim was asking. Madison watched as Chris reached down and pulled out two guns. With his left elbow he shoved Eleanor down, causing her to fall backwards. With his left leg he knocked Joshua and Jill down. It was easy with the way they were sitting. They all fell at once. Chris took aim as Madison covered the kids with her body.
“Now!” Ephraim yelled as Caroline screamed in pain. Madison looked over at the woman as she dropped to the ground. Her body convulsed as smoke rose from her skin. The men shouted orders as Chris began shooting.
Ephraim snapped the man’s neck. He lunged at the next man. A bullet hit him in the side of his leg. “Don’t stop no matter what!” he yelled at Chris. Another bullet tore through his right bicep, but he didn't let the pain slow him down.
Madison looked over at Chris as he fired his guns. His left hand wasn’t as fast as the right one but he seemed in control. She heard more shots fired behind her. They had to take the men out before one of them got killed.
Ephraim moved towards the last man standing. The man was already hit several times, but wouldn’t stop firing. Chris cried out in pain the same time as the man fired another round before Ephraim could grab him. He took out the man with a quick snap of his neck.
“Chris!” Madison screamed.
“Oh f**k,” Chris muttered. He was hit in the same shoulder again as well as the stomach. The gun in his left hand dropped to the ground. He kept the right one pointed at the slump bodies on the floor even as it shook. He was going to pass out soon and he was fighting it. She could see from his face that he wasn’t quite there anymore.
“Chris!” Joshua screamed.
Madison turned to see Caroline sitting on the ground. Heavy white smoke rose from her body. Some of the smoke cleared from her hands with a quick movement. Madison saw the gun too late.
Chris slowly swung his hand around. He muttered a curse and flung himself in front of the kids, taking her down to the floor and out of the line of fire. Several things seemed to happen at once. Ephraim roared in anger, continuous gunshot echoed throughout the room, Chris’s body went limp and then jumped several times as if it had been struck violently. The last thing to occur was the front door slamming open.
Ephraim jumped over the small group, taking a bullet from Caroline’s gun in his leg before it could hit its intended mark. Caroline screamed in pain as she turned to face the intruders.
Eric stormed in, aiming a crossbow at Caroline. He pulled the trigger, sending the arrow flying through the air. It hit her in the heart, slamming her backwards, but not before she managed to pull the trigger one last time. Ephraim dove over her falling body, taking the bullet in his chest that was meant for Eric.
He saw Eric flinch as he expected the shot to complete its aim into his head.
“Fuck,” Eric muttered unsteadily, taking in the scene. Men and women stormed the house as Eric helped Ephraim to his feet.
“It’s Chris.” Ephraim ran half stumbled back to the group. Eleanor was fussing over Chris’s body. He could already see that Chris was unconscious and loosing far too much blood.
Eric dropped by Chris' side. “I need a medic!” he yelled.
Another man dropped next to Chris. He opened a backpack and began securing the wounds. “Two in the shoulder, one in the back, one in the stomach, one in the leg and the last one on the side of his neck.
Madison reached up and took Ephraim’s hand. He gave it a reassuring squeeze and sighed with relief that he couldn’t smell her blood. Chris had saved their baby.
Ephraim watched helplessly as the boy who'd become his son lay dying on the ground. There was nothing he could do to save him. “Joshua’s been shot!” Jill’s voice broke through his pain.
He reached out and yanked a very pale Joshua from the middle of the chaos. He was covered in blood, from the smell of it Chris’s blood. His eyes ran over the frightened little boy. “Where?”
“My tummy hurts,” he cried. “Is Chris going to be okay?” His chin wobbled.
“I hope so.” Ephraim yanked the vest off the little boy and sighed with relief. Joshua had a hell of a purple bruise on his stomach, but no penetration.
“Looks like the vest saved him,” Eric mumbled as he poked his finger into the vest where the bullet entered. “He needs to go to the hospital as well.”
“Chopper’s here.”
“That was quick,” Madison said through sobs.
“When two Sentinels are in danger we don’t play around. I’m just sorry it took so long to get here. We had a false alarm in Boston. We were halfway there when your calls for help came through. We double checked the situation in Boston by phone and found out that it was bogus.”
“A trick to divert you,” Eleanor guessed.
“Yes, ma’am. I do apologize,” Eric said.
She waved him off. “Just get my grandsons to the hospital and you’re forgiven.”
“He’s packed up, let’s move him out,” the medic said.
Several men moved in. “I’ve got him.” Ephraim scooped Chris up, ignoring the pain that shot throughout his body. It wasn’t as bad as it could be since he'd overfed. His wounds were already healing.
He looked at the men evenly who were still reaching to take Chris. “He’s my son.” They nodded and moved back as he ran with Chris in his arms to the waiting chopper. Eric ran behind him carrying a crying Joshua.
Ephraim held Joshua in his arms while they strapped Chris to a board and started an IV. “He needs blood!” the medic yelled.
Eric held out his arm. “Take it! It’s our blood he needs anyway! If they give him human blood it will kill him.” The medic nodded his agreement. Ephraim and Joshua watched as the medic attached an IV from Eric to Chris.
“Ephraim!” Madison yelled over the sounds of the chopper. He turned to see her healthy and well. “We’ll meet you there!”
He nodded.
“I love you!” she yelled.
“I love you, too. Be careful.”
“I will.” She turned.
“Oh, Madison?”
“Yes?” She turned back.
“When this is all over and Chris is better be prepared to have the spanking of a lifetime for not listening to me and scaring the hell out of me!”