Chapter 7: Shots Fired

“Welcome to Welding and Fabrication,” Trinity greeted the room full of faces. She stood in the front of the class with her back to the whiteboard, upon which she wrote out the rules and expectations of the program as well as other pertinent information she felt to be helpful. Beside her stood Brent Casey and Gabe Johnson, whom she introduced before turning it over to her boss. While he made his introductory remarks, she took Gabe out to the cutting room and reviewed the operation of the shears, brakes, pipe-cutting torch, metal-cutting bandsaw, and the main manifold system that he would be responsible for at the beginning and end of every day. Much of it was a simple review for the kid since he had only just recently graduated from the program, but she was nothing if not thorough in her training. She had already tested him out on the forklift and showed him where the spare propane bottles were stored, next to the argon, acetylene, and oxygen tanks.

Once the students began exiting the classroom, she took over the orientation while her boss retreated to the office. There were 35 new students enrolled in the early program, including three females, but only 20 oxyacetylene stations forcing several to share workspaces. 18 others were returning to move into the various other modalities. Besides the oxyacetylene area, the shop also featured 30 partitioned booths that could accommodate stick, wire, or MIG. While Gabe began showing the new students around the rest of the fabrication areas, she took her class roster and began assigning the advanced students their assigned booths and going over the procedures for operating their welders and checking out rods from the huge oven that kept them heated to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. One of her returning students was an older fellow named Dan and she asked him to orient the GMAW students in procuring their metal for practicing on, including how to prepare the venerable X-box.

She only had three MIG students so she begged their patience while she went through the wire feed process with the remaining group. By 9:30 am everyone was settled into their respective areas and the shop became noisy with the sounds of exhaust fans, welders, slag hammers, bench grinders, the shear, and the general commotion one expected in a shop full of metal workers. Tomorrow, it would get even louder when the returning Fab students began their programs. For safety purposes, everyone entering the shop was required to have eye and ear protection as well as steel-toed boots.

The Oxy students had to work as a group to cut up a sheet of 1/8” steel into the blanks they would need for their welding projects. It was particularly chaotic with all of them gathered around the shear, taking turns operating the powerful guillotine. Trinity kept a watchful eye over them to make sure nobody did anything foolish to risk bodily injury or amputation. The machine made a loud whining sound every time the hydraulics engaged. Shouts of “Clear!” echoed through the shop with every cut, followed by a loud clank as another 6-foot strip of metal dropped out the back end.

This was her element and she was content to be surrounded by the sounds and smells of burning metal and oxidizing smoke. She was taken completely by surprise when a loud airhorn blasted through the chaos and jerked everyone’s attention from their work. She spun towards the hallway entrance and saw Mr. Casey holding the horn overhead. He turned and smashed the large red button that cut off power to all the welders and shop equipment, throwing the massive room into a confusing murmur of voices.

“Attention in the shop!” he bellowed. “This is NOT a drill! There has been gunfire reported on the campus! I repeat there have been shots fired on the campus! I want everyone to proceed to the classroom immediately!”

Trinity felt a dreadful chill sweep through her chest and arms as her worst fears were suddenly realized in a split second. She tore off her gloves and whistled through her fingers to the group of new students. “Let’s go! Right now!” she yelled, leading them toward the door where the classroom was located. There were anxious shouts and cries of panic as everyone heard the loud pops of repeated gunfire from somewhere outside the building. “Move!” she shouted causing everyone to rush towards the shelter. She tried to count heads as they ran inside the room but lost track quickly when she was distracted by another burst of gunfire nearby. It took only fifteen seconds for everyone to file into the room but it seemed like forever to her as she commanded them to get down low and turned the light out. “Stay here until the all-clear is given,” she ordered calmly before shutting off the overhead lights and ordering Dan to lock the door after she stepped out.

She ran through the shop making sure all the booths were vacated, Brent had disappeared so she dashed into the office and retrieved her Glock and custom-made short sword ‘Musashi’ from her bag. Her actions were reflexive as she chambered a round before slipping both weapons through her belt. She ran back into the shop killing the overhead sodium lights as she moved past the main panel, blanketing the entire area in dim shadows. She heard the forklift entering the covered loading dock and raced outside to flag down Gabe who was wearing double hearing protection. He didn’t notice her at first as he carefully backed the lift into its station. He was 20 yards away from her when she saw the dark figure step through the open bay doorway, holding a dark military-style assault weapon.

Time seemed to slow as she took in the intruder, dressed in black tactical gear, with webbed bandoliers holding extra magazines. His face was concealed behind a balaclava and he wore a Kevlar tactical helmet on his head. He was peering towards the Grinding room directly across from the loading ramp. She skidded to a halt, drawing her pistol as the forklift engine cut off.

“Gabe!” she screamed trying to get her friend’s attention, as he climbed out of the machine with his back to the gunman. He looked up at her as he pulled off the ear muffs, and froze in shock as he recognized the gun in her hands. “Get down!”

The gunman had already turned his attention towards the boy and was bringing his weapon to bear when she opened fire, striking him several times in the torso. He stumbled backward and inadvertently fired several rounds into the concrete floor causing bullets to ricochet randomly, before retreating back outside.

Gabe had fallen to the deck on his face and Trinity raced over to him as she kept her eyes and gun trained on the large open bay door. “Come on!” she screamed to him grabbing a handful of his jacket and pulling him to his knees. “Gabe! Let’s go!”

His groaning made her glance down and she cried out in shock as she recognized the bloody stain that was spreading across his upper abdomen. “Oh Fuck!” she gasped as she reached down and pulled him to his feet. “Come on buddy! Help me out!” He hissed painfully as she draped his arm over her shoulder and dragged him towards the rear shop entrance. She tried to keep her attention behind them as she half-carried him towards the darkened room. She was almost to the door when shots rang out behind her. Bullets smashed into the wall ahead of them to their left. She dove forward letting Gabe crumple beside her as she rolled onto her back and pointed her pistol at the gunman behind them. He was standing just inside the doorway and dove back outside as soon as she returned fire. Frantically scooting backward through the doorway, she dragged the moaning teenager behind her leaving a trail of bright blood on the stained concrete floor. As they were enshrouded in the dim shadows of the interior she rolled to her right and pulled the boy to cover.

“Gabe!” she hissed into his ear. “Are you still with me kid?”

He groaned in agony beside her. “Oh God, Trinity! I’ve been shot!” She felt his face in the dim light and found his skin cool and clammy from shock.

‘Fuck!’ she raged near panic. ‘What do I do?’ There was a first aid kit on the wall by the office and that was on the opposite side of the shop. She heard footsteps approaching the doorway from the loading bay. ‘Fucker has body armor!’ she realized. No way he could still be standing after taking center mass rounds, without it. Where would he be unprotected? The knees? Throat? Face? She couldn’t remember if he wore goggles or not. With only seconds to act, she chose to holster her gun and draw her gleaming black blade from her belt. As soon as she began creeping back towards the door her boots crunched softly on broken chipboard from where the bullets had penetrated the wall. The footsteps halted beyond the doorway and she cursed under her breath as she quickly slashed through her bootlaces and removed the steel-toed BoonDockers. She stood silently in her bare feet and stepped forward until her body was pressed against a huge pillar of channel steel, right next to the portal. She held her breath as she watched the externally lit doorway darken from the shooter’s silhouette.

Suddenly Gabe groaned miserably again and the gunman opened fire from just outside. The rapid-fire shots were deafening inside the enclosed chamber as Trinity cried out in shock despite having her earplugs in. The bright muzzle flash lit up the entire room in an eerie splash of shadows, not unlike the flickering arcs from the welders. She blinked away the bright spots as she dropped into a squat. The shooter was not aiming for anything in particular, just spraying his bullets widely into the room. She heard several of the entry hallway windows shatter 30 yards away from her. After 5 agonizingly long seconds, the firing ceased and she heard him release the magazine, letting it clatter to the ground.

Her attack was swift and savage as she lunged to her feet and spun into the doorway — leading with the deadly point of her twenty-inch blade. As soon as she saw the figure she made a minute adjustment in her trajectory, thrusting the sword tip at an angle towards his throat. She stepped into the attack and drove the weapon with all her strength. It penetrated his neck just beneath the chin, piercing his skull and the fiberglass shell of his tactical helmet — to erupt from the back of his cranium with a sickening sound. He convulsed as his body fell forward. She released the knife as he collapsed, stepping aside and yelping as her bare foot landed on a blistering hot brass shell casing. The gunman landed in such a way that Musashi’s pommel struck the hard cement floor first, running the blade completely through his head.

She limped back to Gabe and checked to make sure he was still breathing. His breaths were rapid and shallow and she felt him trembling beneath her hand. “Hang in there, Gabe,” she told him softly. “I’m gonna get the first-aid kit.” She left his side and ran across the darkened shop toward the other door to the entry hallway. It was partially illuminated by the red Exit sign above it. She winced with every step on her burned heel. Reaching the wall where the kit was mounted, she hissed in pain as she stepped on several shards of broken glass from the blown-out windows. She glanced through the opening and saw several holes penetrating the office door window across from her. “Brent! Are you in there?” she called out.

Suddenly the exterior door to her right opened, flooding the entryway with blinding sunlight. She turned towards the entrance and froze when she recognized the stalky figure of a second gunman. It was Carson! She recognized him even with his face concealed behind the black mask and helmet.

“Hello Cunt!” he snarled as he lifted his rifle towards her. She was a sitting duck! The shop grew darker as the exterior door closed behind him.

‘Move Idiot!’ she thought to herself and dove for the floor just as the loud staccato of gunfire once more disrupted the heavy silence. Several more windows burst inwards as bullets flew over her head into the shop. She lost her grip on the first-aid kit and rolled to her right trying to reach the partition booths that occupied that entire end of the building. Her sympathetic nervous system was so spun up that she barely noticed the dozens of cuts she sustained as she hit the floor and rolled through the broken glass as she crawled desperately away from the gunman.

‘Fuck! Shit!’ she panted as she ducked into one of the nearby booths, colliding with the heavy Miller welder that took up most of the space beneath the bench. Her impact jarred the entire row of stations.

“Run and hide Bitch!” Aaron shouted after her as he leveled his rifle toward the first row of booths and opened fire again, spraying the metallic partitions with high-velocity, jacketed rounds.

Trinity screamed in terror as the bullets smashed through the booths over her head. She dived through a narrow opening to the next aisle and scrambled under the next series of benches. She gasped harshly for breath as she tried to think of her options. She realized in the grip of her panic that she was leading him toward the classroom full of innocent students. Looking up she scanned the open row of welding stations. With no better plan, she turned back toward her attacker and lifted herself onto the second bench from the opening. She winced as she scraped her lacerated hands and feet on the rough metal surface.

“Here ... cunty, cunty, cunty,” he called mockingly as his steps sounded from just beyond the welding stations. “Not so snotty and condescending now ... are you?”

She pursed her lips and tried to control her breathing as her mind began narrowing its focus on the most immediate threat to her existence. Holding on to the pipe stanchion that held the articulating arm, she carefully stood, ignoring the pain in her feet. She pulled her Glock from her belt and gripped it firmly with both hands. She immediately felt a sense of calm resolve and her mind settled as she listened to the approaching footsteps.

A light beam flared into existence and illuminated the aisle between the welding stations. It swept left and right, then high and low as the gunman searched for her. “You might as well come out. I’m gonna get you regardless,” he taunted from less than a meter away. Two more steps and he would be right beside her. “If you play nice, I won’t shoot your kneecaps out before I rape your nasty little cunt.”

Silently she took in another steadying breath and slowly raised her gun, aiming where she estimated his head would appear. Another step and the barrel of the rifle appeared with the Tac Light clipped beneath it.

“Here ... Trinity,” he sang calmly as he advanced another step. His arms and feet appeared and his light shined across the non-reflective black partition that separated her from the next station. Then it swept across the aisle to the opposite row of booths. Finally, his head appeared, glancing away from her to his left — and she saw that he was wearing the same style of tactical helmet as the other gunman.

“Hey fucker,” she growled in a low voice, standing over him and placing the green dot on the side of his head through her optics lens.

She was fortunate that he was not formally trained. This was evident by the fact that he turned his head to face her — before bringing his weapon to bear. She could see his astonished expression as he jerked his gun around. He was a split second too late.

As soon as her green dot centered on his face, she squeezed her trigger, firing at near point-blank range. Her bullet struck just between his right eye and the bridge of his nose. The muzzle flash illuminated the gruesome spray of blood and brain matter that erupted from the back of his head as the hollow point blew away a large portion of his occipital lobe. He dropped to the floor and the assault rifle clattered noisily beside his corpse.

Trinity remained where she was for several seconds — standing over him on the bench, holding her gun out as she took another deep breath and blew it out with a shudder. Then she carefully climbed down from the bench top to the cool floor. She was startled when the dead body kicked out reflexively. She turned to look out into the shop. ‘Gabe!’ she suddenly remembered and padded quickly back to where she left the medical kit. Her bare feet slipped across the concrete from her blood and she hissed painfully as the broken glass cut into her soles. She scooped up the white plastic case and dashed back over towards the loading dock door where she spotted the youth crumpled against the wall beside the I-beam.