Don't try to be the Hero

Jacob pulled up outside Megan's house. He was wearing jeans, a button down blue and green checked shirt, and his football letter jacket. He had washed his car earlier that day and vacuumed the inside. He even used the spray scent at the car wash.

He was so nervous. He had been on dates before, but Megan was special. She was beautiful, and smart, and funny. She wasn't cliquey like the other girls at school. She was kind to everyone. She was the best girl in school, and she had agreed to go out with him. All week, just thinking about it made him break out in a sweat, and now that he was here, his hands were shaking.

He knocked on the door and waited. When it opened, a middle aged man with a pudge and thinning hair answered. “You must be Jacob. I'm Mr. Comer,” the man said. Jacob shook the hand that was held out to him and hoped Mr. Comer didn't notice his damp palms.

Mr. Comer escorted him inside to the living room where Megan and her mom waited. “Hi Jacob. It's nice to meet you,” said Mrs. Comer. He nodded to her. “It's nice to meet you too ma'am.”

Megan was standing next to the couch looking lovely. She was wearing a soft pink dress with a grey shrug. Her hair was a long and silky chestnut brown. Her eyes were stunningly blue, that blue that always took his breath away when he saw her. Sometimes, it was hard to look into her eyes if he wanted to talk to her, they were so blue.

After visiting with her parents, they went to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner, then on to the movie. The new Marvel movie was playing. They got their tickets and went into the theater.

About a quarter of the way into the movie they heard a loud bang. Screams echoed through the theater as the bangs continued. The sounds weren't coming from the screen. A man was standing at the foot of the stairs shooting into the crowd. Jacob grabbed Megan and pulled her down to the floor, covering her with his body.

His heart was pounding. “Are you hit?” he asked her. “No.” She was trembling underneath him. He didn't know what to do other than lay on her to keep her safe. He had to keep her safe.

The man was walking up the stairs now, periodically shooting at people ducked down between the seats. “Oh god,” Jacob thought. “He's trying to kill everyone in the theater.” He didn't know what to do. He had to protect Megan. “Play dead,” he whispered to her. “Act like you've been shot.”

He schooched down toward the end of the row closest to the shooter. If he could stick his leg out and trip the guy up, maybe he would fall on the stairs and drop the gun. He was in good shape, maybe if the guy dropped the gun he could subdue him.

The screams had turned to whimpers and moans. Some people had gotten out through the side exit when the shooting started, but there were bodies littering the way. If they moved now, they didn't stand a chance. The only way was to try to fight the guy. He could hear Megan crying behind him.

He held on to the chair in front of him and waited for the guy to take the last step towards him. He was two rows down, one row down, here we go. Jacob kicked his leg out right as the guy was stepping up to his row. The shooter stumbled, but did not fall. “Oh crap.” Jacob turned to the shooter. There was a powerful impact to his chest, knocking him over. He didn't feel any pain, but put his hand to his chest. His hand came away wet and black. “Oh God.” Then he heard another shot, and Megan cried out behind him.

The world was starting to float away. He couldn't feel the floor under him, he just felt cold. All he could think was “No, not Megan. Not her.” And then the world went black.