Writer Wednesday
Excerpt of
Thou Shalt Not Kill by: Theresa Oliver
We ran back as quickly as we could and told the
others, still resting by the river.
Within a few moments, we were back at the cave. Everyone was excited as
we entered. That is, everyone except for the cheerleaders. They complained it was too dirty and dusty,
but even they knew that, although it wasn’t the Ritz, it was shelter from the
elements, wild animals, and from—although we didn’t want to think about
it—terrorists.
We spent some time working together,
clearing the large room of the cave into something livable. There were branches
that had blown into the entrance that we clear away. We needed lights to
explore the rest of the cave system. With all of us working together, the cave
was soon cleared, revealing the gray dust floor and pitted stone walls formed
over thousands of years.
Then my stomach growled loudly, unable
to be ignored. “Now we just have to find some food,” I said aloud, kind of to
myself, but everyone heard.
Derek nodded, his eyebrows pulling
together, and lowered his head, thinking.
“What I wouldn’t give for a rifle,”
Trevor said, shaking his head. “We could go hunting.”
“Yeah, we could go hunting terrorists,”
Scott said mockingly, his smile coming back.
“I was thinking food, but that works,
too.”
“Yeah, we need a rifle.”
Then there was dead silence. Everyone
was staring at Trevor, then at Scott.
Scott said, “Then let’s get one.”
“Now, wait a minute,” Derek intervened,
holding his hand up slightly. “How do you suppose we do that?”
“Well, the terrorists have plenty …”
Scott replied, still smiling. A gleam appeared in his eyes.
“And you think we could just walk right
up and ask for one?” Derek asked sarcastically.
“No, but we could take one,” Trevor said, looking at Scott conspiratorially.
“Yeah right,” I said sarcastically,
fearing what they were thinking, trying to lighten the conversation.
“Yeah, we could,” Trevor said to Scott
seriously, ignoring me. “It wouldn’t be hard.”
“Not if they were dead,” Scott said as
shock reverberated around the room.
“Okay, that’s enough,” I quickly
interrupted. “You aren’t seriously thinking of killing them, are you? Just to
get a gun?”
“Why not?” Trevor yelled. “They sure as
hell didn’t mind killing us, did
they?”
“We’re not dead,” I returned, horrified
at what I was hearing.
“Well, you know what I mean,” Trevor
said, pacing away, addressing everyone in the cave. “We can’t just sit here,
waiting for them to catch us! Waiting to die! And if I’m going down, then I’m
going to take some of them with me!”
An agreeing murmur resounded around the
room.
“What about the commandment Thou Shalt Not Kill, Trevor? Thou shalt not kill!” I shouted to
everyone. “It’s what we’ve been taught. What we believe! And we can’t give up
on that. We can’t give up our beliefs, no matter what they did! We can’t forget
who we are!”
“So if someone comes in here and tries
to kill us, you’ll let them?” Trevor’s voice shook with fury. He clenched his
fists until his knuckles were bone white.
“Self defense is one thing, but planning
murder is another.” I returned his glare.
“You mean to tell me that if someone
came in here and held a gun to my head and you had a gun that you wouldn’t
shoot them?” Trevor was an inch away from my face now. Derek was standing on my
side, ready to intervene if necessary. Then, Trevor grabbed my face hard by the
chin, gritting his teeth, looking me in the eye. “Or what if they were going to
shoot you?”
***
pp. 45-47, Thou Shalt Not Kill, by: Theresa Oliver, set for release ONLINE, 6-8 p.m., this Friday, June 21, 2013! Join us for fun, giveaways, contests and prizes!
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