"You have no choice, put the gun down!" Nathan shouted. Several officers surrounded a woman on the roof of the Hilton hotel, as she held a gun in her right hand. It was a dark, cold evening. Rain clouds were looming above the scene, as the wind blew harshly. "And then what!? You're just going to...Stick me in a cell somewhere and take all of my information!?" she screamed back. "You're surrounded, there's no escape! Put the gun down now or we will be forced to fire!" one of the officers, Chadwick, warned.
Nathan looked between the officers, and then to the woman. He looked at his gun, before lowering it. "Everybody, guns down." he said, the officers around him lowering their weapons. Nathan looked at her for a moment before slowly walking forward. The woman quickly rose her gun to Nathan's eyes before he abruptly stopped. "Hey," he tossed his gun to the side. "I've got no gun, now. There's no reason to shoot." he calmly explained, his hands raised up. She quickly glanced around at the others. "You...Them too!" she pressured. Nathan looked to them, before waving his hand down. The men all dropped their guns at that moment. "See, all the guns are down. There's no reason to worry." he said, reassuringly. The officers looked between each other nervously, unsure of what was going to happen. "Just, put your gun down, too. That's all I ask." he said.
She looked at him for a moment, tensing up and gripping her gun harder, before slowly lowering it. Nathan smiled, nodding slowly. "It's okay, we're not going to hurt you." he followed. She looked at him very closely as he spoke. "Now just let me come and take you-" he stopped as she shot her gun at his feet. "You're not taking me anywhere!" she panicked. A small amount of time passed, as her feet shifted and Nathan dashed forward. She quickly spun around and leaped off of the roof, Nathan launching himself after her.
The remaining officers all dashed to the edge of the roof, staring down at the scene. Nathan managed to grab on to the woman, securing her in his arms and turning his back to the ground. "You're not escaping this time!" he shouted. Few seconds passed before they hit the ground.
Eugene, Oregon - 2024
Nathan Clarke strolled down the streets of the city, making his way to his friend's home. It was a rather sunny day, with few clouds in the sky. The time was about noon, and the streets were busy with the lunch rush. This friend of Nathan's lived quite close to the Eugene Police Department, near the Willamette River. Nathan's phone began to ring while he was walking. He took his phone out and answered the call. "Hey, Nathan! Where are you, man? You were supposed to be here ten minutes ago." the voice opened. Nathan chuckled, "Sorry, I got caught up at Carl's Jr. a bit longer than I wanted to." he replied. "Yeah, it's fine, man. I just wanted to know you were still coming." Philip responded, hanging up. The abrupt end to the conversation was strange to Nathan, but he continued walking anyway.
Not even ten minutes later, Nathan had arrived. He rang the doorbell, waiting patiently. Quickly, Philip opened the door. "How are you doing, man?" he asked. Nathan nodded, with a quick "Fine." and walked inside. Philip offered some coffee, to which Nathan declined. Making his way to Philip's kitchen counter, Nathan stretched his shoulders. He leaned down on the counter and sighed. "Everything good, Nate?" Philip questioned. Nathan looked down for a moment, before responding. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine...It's just that..." he paused. "Just that what?" Philip pressured, now a little worried. "My cousin, Amelia, was supposed to move into Eugene a couple days ago, but...There's been nothing but silence for a week or two, now." he answered, troubled.
Philip scratched his bald head, walking around the counter, placing his right hand on Nathan's shoulder. "I'm sure it's fine. Moving is difficult, especially that far. You said she's from Arkansas, right?" he curiously asked. "Yeah, she's from Conway." he answered, thoughtfully. "You sure you're alright, man? These past few days you've been...I don't know...You seem, well, lost." Philip asked once more. "I'm fine, Philip. Jeez, every time I come over here I never expect to get interrogated." he snapped back, on edge. "Alright, alright, man. I'll back off." Philip quietly replied.
Nathan's phone began to ring again. He took it out and answered the call quickly. "Nathan, get your stuff and dash to the coffee shop on Country Club Road...There's been a shooting." a man explained. Nathan quickly shot up and dashed out the door, not even saying goodbye to Philip.
Nathan arrived to the crime scene, the same man who was on the phone approaching him. "Six dead, four injured. Go inside, find what you can." he immediately instructed. Nathan made haste to the shop's interior. Opening the door, there were bullet casings and blood on the floor. The smell of coffee was prominent. Nathan slowly made his way to the back, stepping behind the counter. The moment his foot stepped behind the counter, a woman rose up, quickly dashing to tackle him.
He grabbed her arms to stop her. "Calm down! Calm down." he spoke. She dropped her arms, clearly in shock. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. They, they..." she barely managed to get words out through tears. "Slow down, calm down. What happened, do you remember?" he inquired. She sniffed, taking a deep breath. "Okay, I...There was a girl, and she...She came in the front door, and she..." the woman stopped, taking another deep breath. "Alright, just, stay here and calm down. I'll be back soon, try to think." he said, slowly turning and walking away.
Nathan scanned the room, spotting nothing. He walked outside to see one of the least injured. "Hey. Do you remember anything about the attacker?" he asked, kneeling down. The person looked up at him, confused. "I...They were wearing...They were wearing a brown coat, a brown...A brown, long coat. They had a beanie on, I...I don't remember anything else." they responded. Nathan nodded, patting them on the shoulder. "Alright, thanks." he said, getting up, jotting the notes down on a piece of paper.
He walked back inside, approaching the girl he saw earlier. "Alright, can you remember anything?" he asked. She looked at him, before nodding, shakily. "Yeah, I, uh...Yeah. A girl came inside, and she...She didn't want money, but she...She said something about 'saving us' from some kind of apocalypse, or something...She was tall, but she wasn't skinny, no, she was...She was tall and she was big. That's all I can remember." she said, still shaking. Nathan nodded, noting what she said along her speech. "Alright, thank you, ma'am. I recommend staying here until you've calmed down." he said, before turning and walking away.
He left the shop, before he was stopped by the man from earlier. "Got anything?" he asked. Nathan nodded, looking at his notes. "Just a few things, I'm going to register them." he replied, walking away. The man nodded as well in response, looking at him while he walked away, before looking back at the shop.
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