Chapter 14-- Rally

Part 1--


Two days before the rally, McClayne was ready to go.

He had moved, at great expense, everything of value out of his house and had it sent ahead to a storage building in Pass Christian. Then, he packed his car, with new DeepSouth Region plates and tags instead of his Capitol Region ones, with his clothing and toiletries. The final piece to this plan was to leave after midnight on the 12th so that he could get out of the Region under the cover of darkness. The next day, the "robbery and murder" of his old persona would take place. By then, Jed McClayne would be long gone, and Josiah Daniels would emerge in Mississippi instead.

He had placed a call the day before from his secure phone to Marysa. She was doing fine and making friends as "Maryssa Daniels". Adding the extra letter S was her idea. Even her son was getting into it.

"Brandon wants to change his name, too," Marysa told Josiah.

"To what?"

"'Vincent Brandon Daniels'. He says we can still call him Brandon though," Marysa laughed.

"I can't wait to meet him, Marysa," Josiah said. "You did tell him how old I am, right? He's not expecting a guy your age to show up."

"He's aware that you're in your sixties, and he's cool with it, darlin'," Marysa said.

"Okay," Josiah said. "I'd hate to disappoint the boy right out of the gate."

"Mama's sending him down this evening, so he'll be here to meet you when you arrive," said Marysa.

"I'm looking forward to it, my dearest," Josiah said. "God, I've missed you so!"

"I've missed you, too, Josiah," Marysa said. "There's so much to tell you when you get here!"

"We'll have to play that by ear," Josiah said. "I have no idea how tired I'll be when I get there."

"I'll have a light lunch for you whenever you arrive, darlin'," Marysa said.

"I'll see you in about 24 hours, my sweet," Josiah said. "I love you, my precious girl!"

"I love you too, Josiah."

McClayne ended the call. He wanted to leave right then, but he knew that timing was key. After dark will be better, he thought. Then the hit crew can do whatever they want to this place and the poor schmuck they get to play me.

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David was at Daley Plaza, watching the construction of the massive stage that will serve as the platform for the rally. Its sheer size dumbfounded him, but it was the specs that he, Jordan, and the other band members discussed.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. David fished it out and saw that it was Dan on the other end. "Yeah, Danny, what's up?"

"There have been sigificant threats on your life today, David," Dan said. "At least one is from the guy who had been staking out your house for the last two months."

"The guy who shot Jeremiah?" David asked.

"Yes, and we should be aware that he is left handed and will aim for the right side of the body," said Dan. "Jeremiah's injury is in the right leg. A right handed shooter would target the left side of the body."

"It's too bad we can't have Jeremiah as a shooter at the rally," David said. "He's just been cleared to go back to training, but even they're going to make him work up to where he was prior to his injury."

"We have Nik and twenty others trained by Morbus," Dan said. "And our ace in the hole, if we need her."

"I hope we don't need Julia," David said. "I hope that nothing happens, but you know it will."

"None of the rest of us are safe, either," Dan said. "Even Jordan's gotten death threats."

David sighed. "I know, Danny. I will give my life for her if that's what it takes. No one fucks with my wife or family and gets away with it."

"We all feel the same way about our families, brother," Dan said. "So we'll have the best protection available to us."

David a few words more, then ended the call with Dan.

The stage was going up without much effort. The best set builders in the country were putting it together. There was even enough space for a small person about Julia's size to stand up comfortably. Anyone over five-foot-three would have to bend down, or even crawl, to get through to the other side. Then they'd have to go through miles of cables in the process. It would not be an easy trip if someone got the idea to hide under the stage. The risk of electrocution would be too great.

All David wanted was for this damn war to be over once and for all.

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The evening before the rally, four dark figures stormed Jed McClayne's residence in Georgetown. They were looking to rob the Committee Chairman, and hoping to find him and his mistress at home.

Two of the figures ran up the stairs and sneaked into the master bedroom. There, the Chairman slept alone. He never got a chance to awaken to defend himself, because one of the figures shot the man in the head as he slept.

They then went to a second bedroom, the one where McClayne's alleged mistress slept. They found no one in the room. No indication that anyone, male or female, had slept in the bed in the last two weeks. There were no personal effects indicating that anyone had even occupied the room.

Maybe there was no mistress, and they had been misled.

The two figures downstairs removed valuables from the walls and the downstairs bedroom that McClayne had used as an office. They stole the laptop computer, a tablet computer, and some cash found in one of the desk drawers in an envelope that was marked "Andrea gift".

After they were done ransacking the house and killing the lone occupant, they set the place on fire and took their leave.

Fifteen minutes later, one of the figures broke into another man's house. They placed another envelope in a desk drawer that was marked "payment". The envelope was empty.

The figure left the second man's home and rejoined his fellow criminals. They drove back to a decrepid looking building on the eastern border of town. They emerged from their vehicle and entered the building.

The leader of the group then removed his mask, and following his lead, the others did the same. The leader spoke,

"That's it, boys. Jed McClayne has officially disappeared. May God have mercy on his soul."

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Police and fire crews converged on the McClayne residence, someone in the neighborhood having called them to report a fire. The building was fully engulfed in flames, and fire crews could not get close enough to the fire to rescue anyone who may have been inside.

Three hours later, after the flames had been extinguished, police cautiously entered the home and made their way upstairs. In the master bedroom, they found the remains of a man assumed to be Committee Chairman Jed McClayne. The body was unrecognizable, and only sophisticated testing could determine his identity. It would be up to the forensics people to figure out if this poor soul was indeed Jed McClayne. For now, it was assumed that it was.

The fire captain held a news conference in front of the home.

"At 6:25 this morning, a fire was reported at the home of Committee Chairman Jedidiah E. McClayne. After it was extinguished, a body was found in an upstairs bedroom, and it is assumed at this time that it is the remains of the Chairman, as it is approximately the same height as Mr. McClayne. We will know more after testing has been done on the body."

Reporters asked questions, but the fire captain was not taking any.

The news reverberated around the Capitol Region that the Committee Chairman was dead. Flags were immediately lowered to half staff, and all New Government business was suspended for the next three days.

When word of McClayne's demise reached Carl Parks, he was at first shocked. Then he realized his good fortune. He was now the Committee Chairman, and he was going to do what McClayne failed to do.

Eliminate David Draiman.

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By 6pm on the day before the rally, Josiah Daniels had arrived home in Pass Christian. The look on Maryssa's face was priceless as she ran out to meet him. He picked her up and swung her around in his arms. "Oh, I've missed you so much, Josiah!" Maryssa exclaimed.

Josiah noticed the nine year old boy standing on the porch. He walked with Maryssa and offered his hand to the boy. "I'm Josiah," he said; "You have to be Brandon."

Brandon shook Josiah's hand and said, "Yes, sir."

They all went inside, to where Maryssa had prepared supper: Ham hocks and beans, a salad, a vegetable plate, and wine for Josiah. Maryssa and Brandon had ginger ale instead. Josiah noticed this.

"No wine for you, my dear?" he asked. "That's not like you."

"I've decided to stop drinking wine for the time being," Maryssa said. "To see if I feel better. And so far, I feel pretty good. Even better now that you're finally home."

"Maybe I need to try that," said Josiah. "Though relaxation techniques have brought my blood pressure down some."

"That's great, Josiah!" said Maryssa. "I know you worried about it a lot lately."

After supper, Josiah and Brandon took a walk to get to know each other a little better. Maryssa looked out the window at her son and her husband walking off in the distance. They'd only be gone a short time. Then it would be time for Brandon to get ready for bed. He was start at his new school on Monday, and needed to get into the routine of going to bed early.

Maryssa sighed. She never thought that life could be this sweet.

She hoped the news she had to tell Josiah didn't change that.

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The morning of the rally arrived, along with the news of the apparent death of Committee Chairman Jed McClayne. David didn't take this news too well. That meant that Carl Parks would be the new Chairman, and that he was ten times as harsh with punishments than Jed McClayne ever was. David feared more unjust imprisonments of Disturbed Ones and other Undesirables, with the return of the torture that marked the Illegal government's early years. And Parks advocated that Undesirables be denied higher education and gave colleges and universities the power to dismiss thousands of students for no reason and demand the immediate return of any funding they'd been awarded. Failure to pay would result in imprisonment. David hoped that cooler heads would prevail, because everyone deserved to take advantage of higher education. Parks wanted Undesirables to be ignorant and dependent on the Illegal Government for everything.

"That means kids like Jeremiah wouldn't be able to continue their education because of something they can't help," David fumed at breakfast that morning. "This is something I definitely need to add to the speech! Even McClayne thought that everyone should be educated."

"I wouldn't be able to go back and finish my Masters, then," Jordan said. "Because I'm an Undesirable as defined by the current government. Julia wouldn't even be allowed to start college for the same reason. Carl Parks needs to go!"

"He hasn't had time to put anything like that into motion," David said. "There are others on the committee who might be able to talk Parks out of that line of thinking. His new co-Chairman would most likely be Lane Sizemore, who has always had thinking similar to McClayne's. Hopefully they will balance each other out."

"That needs to be in your speech anyway," Jordan said.

"I agree. Even more of a reason to march on the White House," David said. "Sarah Kathryn can't handle a big crowd like that alone, and that would work to our advantage."

"Well, hasn't she practically turned everything over to the Committee because her husband's in the psych ward?" asked Jordan.

"Not from what I've seen. It seems that she's rallied and working harder than ever," David said. "Or maybe it's an act, I don't know."

"Not to change the subject, David," Jordan said; "but the arrangements to watch the children during the rally have been set. Two adults will take all the children to our old underground safehouse for the duration of the rally. It's been well stocked with toys, games, food, clothing, baby items, and monitors so that they can watch the rally if they choose."

"I knew you'd find a use for that old place," David said. "I know you hated living there."

"I detest that place," Jordan said, "but it's the most ideal location to keep the children safe."

"I'd rather have them there than in Chicago today anyway."

Just then, the twins got up and ran into the kitchen where their parents were. "It's rally day! It's rally day!" Kimber said excitedly.

"When do we get to go?" Niki asked.

Jordan got their girls their breakfast, while David told his daughters,

"You two aren't going to the rally. You're staying in the underground safehouse with Auntie Kristin and Auntie Tina and all the other kids."

Kimber pouted, "We never get to do anything fun."

"It's not safe for little ones like you two," their mother said. "There will be lots of people and no one can watch you. So you'll stay here with all the other kids. I'm sure you'll find something fun to do."

"No fair," Niki said. "Joolz gets to go."

"Julia is a big girl," David said. "She gets to do a lot of things you don't get to."

"Like live with a boy," Kimber said.

"Yes, Kimber, she gets to do that, too," her father said. "When you're older like Julia, then you can do more things, but for now, you and Niki are little girls, and little girls don't argue with their parents."

"Yes, Daddy," said Kimber, knowing she'd better listen to her father.

Wow, David thought, that shut her up!

Jordan looked over at him and smiled a knowing smile.

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Josiah and Maryssa awoke early and made love. Afterwards, they lay in each other's arms and talked softly. Then Josiah asked Maryssa again why she didn't drink wine the night before at supper.

"I can't, Josiah."

"Why not? What's stopping you?" asked Josiah.

"It's not good for me right now."

Josiah was going to ask something about why right at that time she decided to stop drinking wine, then it dawned on him. He said,

"Maryssa, my girl...are you...expecting?"

The smile on her face said it all. "Yes," she said.

"You have no idea how happy that makes me, Maryssa!" Josiah said. "I was going to ask you if you thought that us having a child was a good idea, and that could we try. But apparently, it's already happened. When can we expect this bundle of joy?"

"Late July, Josiah."

"How long have you known?"

"For sure, just about two weeks, before I left Biloxi, but I suspected it before I left the Capitol Region because my period didn't come in mid December like it was supposed to. And I'm regular like clockwork," she said. "The mid part of every month since Brandon was a year old."

"And you didn't tell him yet, which is why you didn't tell me the real reason last night at supper," said Josiah.

"I want to wait until it's a little more obvious before I do."

"I agree...I can't believe I'm getting a second chance to be a father!" he said excitedly; "I wasn't the best one the first time out, always away working."

"I'm so glad you're happy, Josiah!" Maryssa said. "I was kinda nervous about telling you. I had no idea how you'd feel about it."

"I'm having a child with the woman I love," Josiah said. "How could I not be happy?"

Then he hugged Maryssa. A new life. Josiah thanked God for having mercy on him. It had been much too long since he was this happy.

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Part 2--

Rally day got started early at the rally site. Microphones and speakers were being wired and soundchecked; last minute adjustments made to the stage; the security detail were getting last minute instructions and assignments; the band's instruments were being delivered so that they could be assembled and/or tuned.

David and Jordan arrived around nine-thirty, three hours before the start time. At the reception tent is where they went their separate ways to take care of the tasks they were each responsible for. Julia and Ryan, and Jeremiah and Jasmine arrived soon after. Joe and Tracy, and KateLynn decided that they would not attend, but wished everyone good luck the night before.

The chatter was about the apparent death of Committee Chairman McClayne, and his likely successor, Carl Parks. No one had anything good to say about Parks. He was seen by many as the Devil incarnate, who looked forward to ruling the Committee with an iron fist. Some likened him to Josef Stalin, and even Hitler.

Paramedics were being given instructions about possible threats to the speakers and the band. Others were assigned to keep an eye on the crowd for those who may take ill in large groups. A staff of doctors and nurses were assigned to the Emergency tent. Jasmine had volunteered for duty, but because she was not yet an RN, they couldn't use her. David had her brought to the backstage area instead, in case her skills were required.

All the preparations were necessary, and would be needed. Though no one, from the speakers, to the band, to the security detail, would ever guess how chaotic this day would become.

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Sarah Kathryn made her first trip to the facility where her husband had been taken after his mental breakdown. She had gone to see if she could at least talk to her husband of more than thirty years. When she saw him, however, he just stared at her and said one word: "Casey."

Sarah Kathryn knew who Casey was; she had been her sister-in-law until her death several years earlier. She had become an Undesirable because she was married to a man who was of a different culture. Neil had begged Jed McClayne not to imprison his only sister, but it fell on deaf ears. Casey had been beaten to death by prison guards when she refused to tell them where her husband and children were. They had left the country at Casey's request after Sarah Kathryn was installed as President for Life. Casey had felt betrayed that her sister in law would have her deemed as Undesirable. Neil had heard that her last words were, "Where's Neily?"

I hate being President for Life, Sarah Kathryn thought. I'd do anything to either get myself assassinated, or be declared an Undesirable. Both options led to death. Her life was not worth living if Neil remained in this catatonic state, even though she thought she knew he had been cheating on her.

She left the facility soon after arriving, because seeing Neil in that state upset her. She was further upset that morning when she learned that Jed McClayne had died in a fire. She hated Carl Parks with a white hot passion. She knew she had to be especially careful around him. She couldn't believe this evil, thoughtless, and corrupt man was now in charge of the Committee. She knew of some of the laws he wanted her to sign, and she strongly disagreed with many of them.

On her way back to the White House, she wondered if she could hire someone to kill her and make it look like an accident. A hunting accident, perhaps.

But not until she was sure that Carl Parks wouldn't become the next President for Life.

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"When is this show going to get on the road?" Julia asked no one in particular. It was getting close to the twelve-thirty start time, and there were four speakers who would talk before members of the band would. The concert would be the final thing on the agenda for the day.

Concealed under her coat was a handgun. A Glock. It was the biggest and baddest gun she had in her personal arsenal, and she only had to use it one time. To kill the New Army soldiers who came looking for her and her brothers after Peter and Kiera were murdered when she was twelve. She had decided that if she had to kill anyone today, the Glock was the best gun to have. She hoped that she wouldn't need it. Morbus has a similar one, and it was on his person at all times.

She was stunned by the size of the crowd that came to see the rally. Dan had estimated that nearly one hundred thousand people had come from all parts of the country to see David and the rest of Disturbed speak and perform in the band's hometown.

She saw Jordan, Jeremiah and Jasmine off to one side of the stage. Morbus took up his position on the right side of the stage because of the intel about the man who shot Jeremiah just before Christmas. Julia had no idea how many hired killers the Illegals had in the crowd, but if she was needed, she was ready. She absentmindedly patted the Glock under her coat.

Julia climbed onto the stage and went to where her mother, brother, and Jasmine stood. Ryan would be in the crowd with friends of his.

At twelve-thirty on the dot, Jordan made her way to the microphone at the front of the stage, where she announced the first speaker.

The Rally had begun.

----------

Dan had been wrong about the headcount of the crowd. Instead of one hundred thousand, it was closer to a quarter million Disturbed Ones who had come to hear speakers and music.

"Holy shit, really?" John said, amazed. He was the only one of the four who was not born and/or raised in Chicago, having replaced the original bassist years before.

"I'm serious as a heart attack, Johnny," Dan said. "A quarter million hearty souls came out in this weather to support the cause. It boggles the mind!"

"Well, we can't disappoint them, then, can we, brothers?" David said. "This is a free gig, but we'll leave them wanting to do more than just support the cause. They're going to be the agents for change. This war has gone on for nearly two decades now, and it's about time it ends."

"Damn right!" exclaimed Mike.

The first four speakers got the crowd riled up, so when Mike went out to speak, he got all kinds of applause. He only spoke for a few moments, mostly about his desire for his children to grow up in a free republic.

John went on after him, and told the crowd that from the day he joined the band full time, he believed in the cause, even before there was a war. "I believe in the message our music sends to those who are willing to listen. Are you willing to listen, my brothers and sisters in the cause?!"

The crowd went crazy! They were still cheering when Dan approached the microphone. He spoke passionately for fifteen minutes about taking back what was rightfully theirs. "The United States was founded for the people, by the people, and that's not what we have now. We have a country run by a few who govern the many through fear and intimidation; through harsh punishments for crimes we have no idea we've committed; through racial and religious profiling and stereotyping; this MUST and WILL end!"

David, being the last to speak before the band performed, noticed that there were no obvious signs of hired killers either in the crowd or in the backstage area. Maybe this day will go off without a hitch after all, he thought.

He then took Dan's place at the mic, and began to speak.

And all hell was about to break loose.

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He saw his target approach the microphone, the last of the speakers before the band performed. He'd listen to what Draiman had to say, then take aim. He was in the crowd that was closest to the stage.

On the left hand side.

Draiman spoke passionately for nearly half an hour, his words resonating with the crowd around him. He was interrupted several times by cheers and applause.

When he had finished speaking, he mentioned that the band would play, and to give them about fifteen minutes to get everything in place.

The shooter took his gun from under his coat, and aimed for Draiman's right side.

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Morbus saw this motion from his position just off stage. He started running towards David when he saw the gun raise. "DAVID! HIT THE FLOOR! NOW!" he yelled.

David did what he was told as he, too, had seen the shooter in the crowd. The gun fired, David hit the deck, and Morbus collapsed on top of him. David heard the bodyguard moan and knew he'd been hit.

Jordan saw both David and Morbus go down and ran to them. Before David could tell her to stay put she was on her way to them. Another shot rang out and Jordan dropped to the stage.

"JORDAN!" David screamed at the top of his lungs. He tried to get to her, but Morbus' weight kept him pinned to the stage. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jasmine drop to her hands and knees and crawled towards Jordan. Jeremiah was right behind her, crouched down, protecting his woman from any more bullets.

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Nik saw a female shooter bolt from the crowd and head up the aisle towards the entrance to the rally. He took off at a dead run after her. She tripped on the concrete walkway and fell to the ground. As Nik approached her, she said, "Nik don't shoot, it's me, Julia!"

Nik knew that was a lie. He turned her over and saw that the woman was a good five years older than Julia, and was too tall. He pointed his gun at her and said,

"You're a terrible liar, dear heart. You're too old and too tall to be Julia Terranova."

Other security detail came to Nik's aid and had the woman arrested. "Resistance scum!" she seethed.

"Julia Terranova would shoot herself before she'd shoot her own mother, bitch!" Nik said as the shooter was led away.

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Julia couldn't believe what she was seeing. Both Morbus and her mother had taken bullets. David was freaking out, and Jasmine and Jeremiah were trying to give aid to the fallen.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the shooter emerge from under the stage, hoping to leave the venue that way before he was caught. Jeremiah recognized the man from behind, and told Julia, "That's the guy who shot me!"

Julia took off after the man, literally leaping over the eight steps that led to the stage. She landed on her feet and ran after the man as fast as the boots she wore would allow.

He almost made it out of the plaza, and got tripped up on electrical cords that had been taped down to the sidewalk. He fell face first onto the sidewalk and before he knew it, there was weight pressing against his spine between his shoulder blades. He was pinned to where he lay. Then, an evil sounding female voice was saying,

"You shot my brother before Christmas, you shot a man I've known my whole life today, tell me why I should allow you to live."

He took a chance that the female voice belonged to Julia Terranova and said,

"But Julia, I am your brother! It's me, Jeremiah!"

Julia turned the man over, and he looked about as much like Jeremiah as she did. She replaced her foot on the man's chest, and if her hundred pounds broke his sternum and crushed his heart, she didn't care.

"Unless you've become a full caucasian and shrunk five inches in the last half hour, there's no way in hell you're Jeremiah Donovan! Shall we try again, motherfucker?"

Before he had a chance to answer, police and security detail officers were there to take the man in custody.

"You're supposed to be dead!" he screamed at her.

"How unfortunate for you that I'm not, huh, asshole."

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While waiting for a doctor to arrive to take a look at the two people on stage who had been shot, Jasmine was able to temporarily stop the bleeding where Jordan had been shot in the leg.

"Jasmine..." Jordan said, drifting in and out of consciousness, "David, is he okay?"

"Morbus took a bullet for him, Jordan," Jasmine said. "I've stopped the bleeding in your leg for now. You're lucky. Looks like the bullet missed the main source of bloodflow in your leg. A doctor will be here shortly to take a further look, then off to the hospital with you."

"Thank...you, Jasmine," Jordan said. "Please help Morbus..."

Jeremiah was still there, covering Jasmine from any more attempts on the lives of those onstage. He looked up in time to see a third shooter, aiming a gun at Jasmine's head.

He didn't have a weapon on him, but saw the Glock Morbus kept in the waistband of his pants. He grabbed it, turned back around, and aimed it at the shooter who had his finger on the trigger to shoot the woman Jeremiah loved.

Before the shooter could shoot, however, he felt the gun being shot out of his grasp. He looked and saw Jeremiah pointing a gun at him and he put up his hands. The shooter knew of Jeremiah, and hoped the Undesirable allowed him to live.

Instead, Jeremiah shot the man in the stomach, the bullet knicking the spine before exiting out his back. This caused the shooter to fall backwards off the stage. Whether the bullet killed him or the fall did, Jeremiah didn't care.

"No one fucks with me!" he screamed.

He looked over at Jasmine, who had gone to Morbus' aid.

She had no idea how close she came to dying that day.

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Part 3--


"I'm going and that's all there is to it," David said when he insisted he be allowed to accompany Jordan to the hospital in the ambulance.

"Mr. Draiman, you're in shock," the EMT told him.

"Fucking right I'm in shock! Some motherfucker tried to kill my wife!"

"She's going to be all right," the EMT said. "The young lady who did triage on your wife did an excellent job stopping the bleeding. Is she a nurse?"

"She's an LPN at the Disturbed Ones hospital on the compound. Her name is Jasmine Cantrell and she's the girlfriend of my former ward Jeremiah Donovan."

"She's good at what she does," said the EMT. "If she's not in an RN program, she should be."

"I think she is," David said. "Now are you going to allow me to go with my wife or not?"

"Come on, then," said the EMT. "We'll get you checked out too."

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Nik came looking for Jeremiah. He saw Ryan in the crowd and brought him along.

"What the fuck just happened, Nik?" Ryan said. "Who got hit besides Morbus?"

"Jordan got hit, and it looked like someone was trying to kill either Jeremiah or Jasmine. I think Jere killed that shooter. Two are in custody."

"Julia's going to be pissed!" Ryan said. "I've got to find her!"

"Come with me, then. I'm trying to find Jeremiah to see if he's okay," said Nik. "He just got cleared a few days ago to go back to training with the sniper team near where he goes to school."

Jeremiah was sitting on the steps leading to the backstage area. He held Jasmine next to him, and was holding Julia's hand. The other members of the band were near them, too.

Julia saw Ryan first and ran to him. She hugged him tight, sobbing.

"Jere, you okay, brother?" Nik said as he approached Jeremiah and Jasmine.

"Yeah, I think so," Jeremiah said. "Someone pointed a gun at Jasmine and I shot him." Jeremiah still had Morbus' Glock in his hand. "No one fucks with my girl and gets away with it alive!"

Jasmine, Nik noticed, seemed to be ill at ease. She looked very pale for a person of her coloring. "You okay, Jasmine? You look pale."

"I had no idea anyone wanted to kill me until Jere told me," she said. "I was just doing what I was trained to do."

"You guys all did well," Dan said. "Except for the fun with guns going on, the rally was pretty much a success."

"Guys," Julia said. "I'm going to the hospital to see my mom. I should have killed the bastard who shot Morbus. Tried to tell me he was you, Jere."

"He's the same guy who shot me," Jeremiah said. "And to think I wanted to thank him for bringing Jasmine and me back together."

"Go see your mom, Julia," Jasmine said; "I'll be okay. I got my Jere and my life, and I am grateful."

Jasmine gave Julia a hug, then Ryan and Julia left to which hospital in Chicago her mother had been taken to.

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