Gunshots were going off in the distance. I knew that if I wanted to see her one last time I would need to be fast. I promised myself that after this I wouldn’t come back. I didn’t want to drag her into this mess.
I ran quickly behind the counters hoping that no one would see me. I slowly pushed my way through the office door. My heart twisted in my chest at the thought of this being the last moment I’d ever see her and the kids. I reminded myself This needs to be a quick goodbye. If my boss finds me with her, she’ll be dragged into this too.. The kids spotted me through the crack of the door.
“DAD!” They hobbled over to me. With the force of six kids hitting me, I stepped back and knocked into a shelf. Medical equipment started falling around us, the glass shattering drowned out the gunshots. My wife turned to me with fear vibrant in her eyes. I began to look at the children to make sure they were okay and that’s when I heard it. A persistent whistling noise began in the other room. This was it. They were coming to get me. I turned to my children and quickly placed a kiss on each of them. I pushed them towards their mother and I whispered to her, “Take the children and run. Don’t look back. I’ll find you when it’s safe.”.
I turned to the cabinet closest to me, grabbing the last sedatives. When I turned back around, they were gone. I had done my job as a father and husband: to protect them. The gunshots had ceased and the whistling came closer.
“Rex,” My boss bursted through the door with a sleazy smile creeping up his face, “did you find what I asked you to look for?”. I sat there wagging my tail with the sedatives in my mouth. I nudged my snout towards the rest of the box. “That’s a good boy Rex,” He paused to take a look around, “I could have sworn I heard other dogs back here.” He tightened a collar around my neck and pulled me outside.