Free Cough by Jacqueline Druga Page A

Blood dripped steadily onto the interior roof.
    “Emir,” Stokes squatted down. “Emir.” He reached inside trying to feel if he were alive. The second he touched Emir’s neck, Emir opened his eyes.
    “Find it,” Emir struggled to speak. His face bunched up in pain. “Find it.”
    Stokes nodded. He knew what Emir referenced. Find it. But where?
     
    “Thomas!” Macy screamed out, then stopped when she reached the front end. The sight of the smashed check outlines threw her into a heart wrenching frenzy.
    Carts were smashed, bodies were on top of each other. So much blood.
    God, please, she begged in her mind, please let him be alive.
    They had been at register three and Macy made her way there. She heard the pleas for help, but couldn’t stop to aid anyone. Not until she knew the fate of her son.
    Seeing the third checkout line didn’t help. It was right dab center of where the SUV landed.
    There was nothing but bodies. Smashed bodies, under carts, under ceiling tiles and the remains of the checkout counter. Macy screamed out, a deep long cry when she spotted that patriotic bag she tossed in her cart. It was covered in blood. Desperate, Macy dove to the floor. Lifeless arms and legs stuck out of the wreckage. Nothing recognizable until she started tossing away items to dig through the debris. With each item she tossed she prayed harder and then froze.
    Clementine.
    Her frail hand poked out of the carnage, and the removal of a few more items exposed her face. Her eyes were open, wide and void of life.
    Where was her son?
    “Thomas!” She screamed out her loudest. “Thomas!”
    “Mommy!”
    Thomas?
    The sound of her sounds voice came from behind her.
    “Mom.”
    It came from her gut, she felt it roll from the pit of her stomach through her chest. A release and she gurgled out a cry of gratefulness. Stumbling to a stand, Macy turned around.
    Thomas stood there. Unharmed.
    She lunged for him and grasped her child tightly to her chest. “Oh my God. You’re alive.”
    “Clementine.” He cried as he gabbed on to his mother.
    “I know, baby.”
    “She saw it. She told me to run. I did, Mommy. I did.”
    Upon his words, Macy clutched tighter to her son. So many were hurt, dead, but Macy couldn’t do anything else at that moment but hold her child. Hold him in deep appreciation, because it was nothing short of a miracle that he had survived.
     
    The sack.
    Stokes had to find the sack containing the twelve vials of the virus. It was more imperative than anything else he could do. If he had to save lives at the moment, he was doing so.
    Finding that sack meant saving lives.
    Emir died. Not five seconds after he told Stokes to find it, his eyes went blank. Stokes supposed he looked like some sort of looter, frantically searching through the SUV. If asked, he would have to tell. But everyone was too engrossed with all the injured to pay attention to what he was doing. Not only did he have to find that sack, he had to call headquarters to tell them, He only hoped when he did call, he reported that he secured the virus.
    The search of the SUV bred nothing. It wasn’t inside, the smashed windows were an exit for it. But where. It could have flown anywhere. Like Charles it could be on the street. Or it could be in the store somewhere. Stokes not only hoped he’d find it, but hoped he found it intact. That was the important factor.
    After searching the interior of the SUV, he stood.
    Think. Think,
    Store first or street. Where would it be?
    He looked around the destroyed bargain store. More than likely, like Charles, the sack flew out of the vehicle long it slammed into the store. Deciding to check the street, Stokes turned to leave the store and that was when he realized the search was over.
    Just as he walked by the back end of the SUV, he saw the strap to the case. It was twisted around the rear passenger tire. He felt a sense of hope until he pulled on the strap and freed the sack.
    Every ounce of his being just