Page 118 of Five Survive

“Oh no, Officer Kenny,” her mom said, that kind lilt at the end of her words that Red missed so much. “Have you been hit?”

“Mom, you have to say: Over.”

“Sorry. Over.”

Red smiled, watching the walkie-talkie sputter in and out of life, between then and now.

“Yes, I’ve been hit,” Red said. “They got me.”

“Oh dear, sweetie,” Mom said. “Backup is on the way to administer get-better kisses. Over.”

Red coughed, a rattling in her chest that shouldn’t be there. But there was something else too, something that did belong.

And here it was, the proof that she’d been wrong all these years. Red knew it was coming, just like Mom must have done, on her knees against the concrete, Red on her back against the road. But it wasn’t hate she felt, or regret, or guilt, or blame. They didn’t exist anymore, not here in this place, flickering in and out. She wasn’t thinking about last words, she was thinking about all the words, all the memories. It was love; thorny and complicated and sad and happy. But it was a red feeling too.

“Aha, there you are, Officer Kenny,” her mom said, breaking through the not-there static. “Looks like I got here just in time. You’re going to make it.”

Red giggled, the radio waves carrying her voice through time as Mom wrestled her to the ground, covering her in kisses.

“Mom, stop,” she laughed and laughed and laughed. They both did.

“Love you, Red.”

“Love you, Mom.”

Red blinked away a tear, smiling up at the wide-open nothing of the sky.

Time must move backward here in this in-between place, reversing, because the night was coming back, darkness reclaiming the sky, taking Red with it. But Mom stayed with her, right here in her hand, at the end of all things.

Mom stayed, and so did the stars.

6:00a.m.

Police Radio Transcript from the Chesterfield County Sheriff’s Department, SC

Date: 04/10/2022

Time: 06:06

OFFICER 1:What’s your 10-20?

OFFICER 2:Just coming down Bo Melton Loop, we’ll be with you in a few minutes, hold on¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦. Are you in immediate danger? Tell me what’s going on over there.

OFFICER 1:Not sure. It’s an RV, there’s kids. We have fatalities here. Three deceased. Gunshots, looks like a rifle. We have two in critical condition, they aren’t doing well. Need urgent medical assistance.

OFFICER 2:Medical is being dispatched as we speak. Can you preserve life? Start CPR?

OFFICER 1:…Another two here as well. Superficial injuries. They’re in shock, they can’t tell me what happened. God, there’s blood everywhere.

OFFICER 2:Officer¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦keep talking to me. We’re coming up on your location now, you should be able to hear us soon. The others are on their way.

OFFICER 1:There was another one here too. He was bleeding from the neck. He ran, took off east into the trees.

OFFICER 2:Dispatch, did you catch that?

DISPATCH:Copy.

OFFICER 1:It was me, I shot her. She ran at me. I heard a gunshot. I thought she had a gun in her hand. It’s not, though. It’s not a gun, oh god, what have I done?