Vivian Apple Needs a Miracle by Katie Coyle

me up, sets me on my feet, but my legs tremble so hard I think they’ll buckle.
No accomplices present.
Sometimes late at night, Julian goes on runs to the northernmost point of the cliff side and back. Sometimes Frankie patrols the caves around the pool to ensure they’re all empty. But how can all the soldiers be gone now? How could we have made it this far only to get snatched up this easily? My arms are pulled roughly behind my back, and when I struggle, the person pulling them groans. I realize it’s a woman.
    Beside us, someone sighs. “Just knock her out. I’ll do it, if you think you can’t take her.”
    I move my head a fraction. The man who’s just spoken leans over Harp’s bed and scoops something into his arms. When he straightens up, I see Harp’s body, limp and lifeless, her head lolling back on her neck.
    â€œHarp!” I try to struggle out of the woman’s grasp, and one arm gets loose, but then I feel a sharp blow between my shoulder blades, knocking the wind out of me. The man carrying Harp laughs; he moves toward the back exit. The woman pulls me against her with one arm. The other arm reaches toward the man with the flashlight.
    â€œCan I use that a second?”
    â€œDon’t hit her too hard,” he warns, handing it over. “Blackmore wants them alive.”
    My heart thumps painfully. I pull with all my energy against the woman’s hold, but she’s far stronger. I have less than seconds. If she knocks me out, there’s nothing I can do to help Harp. I shout in frustration and feel the woman’s arm rear back, the heavy flashlight in her fist. Then the room is flooded with light. At first I don’t understand—I’ve never seen Cliff House lit. The Peacemakers react with panic. The woman freezes, but the other three retrieve guns from holsters I didn’t notice before. The one carrying Harp drops her to pull out his, and in the second before she hits the floor, I see her arm jut out to break her fall.
    â€œEasy does it,” calls the man who seems to be in charge. He looks around, trying to identify the source of the lights. “Don’t do anything stupid now. Let’s talk this through—these girls can’t be worth that much to you.”
    I look up, hoping to see Diego march in with guns blazing, the remaining soldiers flanking him, controlled and furious. But I don’t see anyone but the Peacemakers, and Harp’s body on the floor, eyes shut tight.
    â€œRandy,” the man mutters. “Call for backup.”
    Randy nods, taking his phone from his pocket. He hasn’t quite brought it to his ear when I see a flash of movement from across the room and hear Randy’s accompanying howl of pain as he drops the phone. He turns slightly and I see the knife protruding deeply into his hand. The man who held Harp is closest to the movement; he reacts quickly, shooting twice in that direction. There’s a yelp from behind the bar. My stomach turns—Frankie.
    â€œWhat the
fuck!
” Randy screams.
    â€œLanguage, Randy!”
    â€œFuck you, Nelson—there’s a
knife
in my hand.” Tears stream down his face as he turns to where I’m held and points his gun at me.
    â€œRandy, don’t!” shouts the female Peacemaker. I feel her grip on me loosen just a little. “You’re not thinking clearly!”
    â€œThey want her alive, Randy,” says Nelson urgently. “We have to keep her alive. You swore on the Book of Frick.”
    â€œYeah, well, that was before I got
stabbed in the fucking hand!
” Randy shouts.
    He fires.
    But before he does, in the half moment between his voice hitting my ears and his finger pulling the trigger, I drop to the floor as heavily as I can. The Peacemaker’s hold on me breaks as the room explodes into sound and fire—I hear her scream, clutching her shoulder; Randy’s bullet has hit her where my head just