Trail of Tears Read Online Free Page A

had lost the very
essence that had made them strong. In short, it had lost its
soul.
    She wasn’t sure that she wanted to be a part
of it anymore. That could be her grief in losing Harris and so many
others, of course, but it just didn’t seem to be worth fighting for
anymore. Any community that could pour heavy fire on a small girl
in order to save itself wasn’t anything she wanted to be part
of.
    She saw something dark move out of the
corner of her eye. It wasn’t movement exactly, more an absence of
light. The dark around her wasn’t complete; the sliver of the moon
still cast enough illumination to allow her to pick her way through
the rubble when the clouds allowed. What she saw was a complete
darkness to her left and she reacted while her conscious mind was
still trying to figure out what might be there.
    There was another movement in the darkness
and her mind suddenly made the breakthrough. She shouted a warning
but her voice was drowned out by the .50 calibre ahead of her. Twin
spouts of flame erupted to her left in a short burst and the .50
calibre suddenly went silent. She brought up her own weapon and
sent controlled bursts in the direction where she had seen the
muzzle flash, but she had no idea if she hit anything. She
continued to fire until the weapon clicked on an empty chamber.
    Her hand dropped to her side, automatically
grabbing a new magazine and ramming it home in a fluid, practised
movement. She shouted a warning behind her and began to place her
shots into the darkness hoping to hit something. Her night vision
was ruined by the flare of the muzzle flash but she began to move
back towards the community while continuing to lay down fire. She
was nearly at the main perimeter when she heard a buzzing and
something slammed into her. For a moment she felt fine, just a
little winded, and then the strength suddenly left her legs and she
fell to the ground. She frowned, puzzled as to why she was on her
knees and then the pain washed through her body. She tried to bring
her weapon up again but her arms wouldn’t work. She tried to call
out again but only managed a faint croak. Something else slammed
into her and suddenly mud splashed her face. Where did that come
from? She wondered and then the darkness pressed inwards,
growing denser before enveloping her entirely.
     
    * * *
    April Cassavettes watched the activity
around her in confusion. For a moment she thought she was in a
dream, helplessly watching everyone pass silently around her but
the pain from their constant jostling convinced her otherwise.
Everyone was rushing, their faces scared, their eyes wide but they
moved too quickly for her to read their lips. She could tell that
there was a lot of shouting from the strain on people’s faces.
    She tried to stop someone but they pulled
from her grasp and hurried on leaving her like flotsam in a deluge.
She was pulled along the corridor with the groups of people but the
press of bodies terrified her. If she fell, no one would hear her.
Would they stop anyway? There was an air of near terror surrounding
the people. They were not yet a panicked mob but it would not take
much to send them over the edge. She had to get away from them. She
continued to be led but began to push her way to the left. The
corridor split ahead, and the main route continued to the right.
There was a smaller corridor that led to a covered course toward
some of the sleeping quarters. If the mob continued on the main
route, which made sense, then she might be able to force her way
into the smaller tributary and allow them to pass.
    She could see the split ahead. It was coming
up so quickly and she was still only in the middle of the throng.
She began to fight her way through the mob but they were too strong
for her. The smaller corridor was only twenty feet ahead now. Her
heart beat faster; she opened her mouth, trying desperately to
utter a sound but her chords were long dead, not even capable of
uttering a desperate sob. The image