Chapter 4 Aftermath

Marie's head shot up as she heard what she was sure was gunfire and screams even though the concert was still going on. All of the sudden people began to scream as five men with guns came into the view of the crowd and began to fire. Marie witnessed the three family members with her get gunned down as they were frozen in fear. Not planning on going down without a fight Marie attacked the closest gunman. All she knew is that she was pissed and that even if she could protect one person it would be all worth it. The gunman shoved her backwards and fired a round striking Marie in the stomach.

As she fell she saw deputies running up and firing at the gunman. Marie prayed that Tomas was far from here and prayed her boys were safe. With trembling fingers while laying on the ground she texted her three boys the two she gave birth to and the one she married and told them that she loved them and would always be watching over them. Her phone tumbled from her fingers as she hit send and her eyes closed telling her to sleep just a bit.

As soon as Tomas and Trent confirmed that the gunman was dead they began moving with the skill that they had gained from just attending R-A-I-D-E-R training. It is the training for active shooters and teaches police officers how to respond and to respond only to the threat before assessing wounded. Tomas and Trent met up with three more deputies and they cleared the exhibit buildings. As they exited the building they could hear gunshots in the direction of the rodeo arena and began heading towards the threat. As they moved they saw wounded people, people hiding, people crying and people who were obviously deceased. As they got near a set of bath rooms two gunmen came out and began firing in their direction. The two were met with a hail of bullets from the deputies and were killed. The group continued clearing around the rodeo arena when a deputy called over the radio that four gunmen were headed towards the back exit which was not too far from the arena. The deputies began to work to intercept them and they met each other near the Himayla ride. Round began to fire as the four gunmen were trying to exit the fairgrounds. Trent went down with a bullet through his calf. As he went down the gunman dashed out the exit gate and jumped into an SUV. Tomas and the other deputies emptied their mags at gunmen and then the SUV was gone. After applying a tourniquet to Trent, Trent called out over the radio asking if there were any other active threats and advising that four gunmen had left the fairgrounds. The sheriff came on the radio and called for any available deputy to finish clearing the fairgrounds and asking dispatch to send for any and all available medical units and officers to respond for a mass casualty event.

As they continued around the fairgrounds Tomas and two other deputies found the scenes of battles that had occurred between officers and the gunmen. Each gunman that was found they secured and removed any weapons before moving on. Once they were certain that it was clear they sent out the call on the radio. They began getting anyone who was not injured to help any that were injured and could be moved to move to the front parking lot where triage was being set up. The deputies were assigned a paramedic and they began going back through the fairgrounds tagging people as they went. Green tags were told to help yellow tags if at all possible and they called out the location of red tags. They placed way too many black tags on either already deceased or victims too far gone. Tomas felt his phone ding and looked to see it was his boys telling him that they were ok that they had hid in one of the fun house trailers and were now helping get people to the front. He told them to stay together and keep him updated about their location. Tomas then saw a second text that had been sent earlier during the chaos. It was from Marie and he felt like he had been hit by a hammer when he read it. He then turned and told his paramedic we need to go over here now as he began running towards the concert stage.

Tomas found his wife's sister, mom and aunt first. They were all together and looked like they had all got hit about the same time. He then found Marie and he knew it was not good. She was barely breathing and there was blood all around her. When he grabbed her hand her eyes fluttered open and she smiled at him. She mouthed I will always love you and then closed her eyes. Marie died in Tomas's arms as he cried for the first time in many years. He just held her and told her he was sorry he could not have been a better husband or that he should have protected her. Tomas finally laid her head down and got up. He could hardly walk and he felt numb as he continued on with the paramedic.

The carnage of the fairground massacre was devastating as any loss of life is too much. In total 122 people died from the sudden and vicious attack. Of the fifteen gunmen who walked into the fair grounds only four made it out and one of those did not live to see the light of day, bleeding out in the back seat of the SUV. Twelve sheriff's deputies were killed in the attack along with three local police officers and two state police officers. As horrible as the attack was, it was one of the milder attacks that occurred that day. The Los Muertos Cartel made a name for themselves and became one of the most hated but feared cartels in a single night. However there was no trace of where they came from, where they were based out of or who might even be their members. The gunmen who were killed had no records, and had never been in trouble with the law in the US or around the globe. They were ghosts and along with ghosts you know that the stories spread but unlike ghosts the Los Muertos Cartel did not disappear and they began to take over any and all illegal trades in the US and South of the border.

Present Day-

The doctor turned to Trent and said he is stable but his heart rate is way up and it almost seems like he is having a nightmare. Trent closed his eyes and then opened them and told the doctor more than likely it is a nightmare and I hope it is about over. Trent stepped out of the room to contact the Undersheriff and Sarah. He knew of his friends' demons and what haunted his dreams and hoped that they would turn better. After giving an update on Tomas's condition and getting an update about what was happening with the investigation Trent walked down to get a drink. Tomas blinked his eyes and in his mind he was now at the funeral for his family members and was standing with his two sons as the coffins were lowered into the ground. He felt a tap on his shoulder and his wife was there motioning for him to follow her. She walked up to where her grave was and pointed at their joint headstones then looked at him and whispered it is not your time. Then she was gone. The nurse that was checking Tomas's vitals watched as his heart rate came down and as it seemed like he was starting to relax. She did not know his story but what she had just seen on the news told her that he was lucky to be alive as there had been some poor deputy gunned down by the woman he was dating and had died on the scene according to the news and they were hunting for his killer, one Vanessa Olivas. The nurse clicked off the news and let the man identified as John Doe on his charts rest.