All She Can Take

F I F T Y - S E V E N

"You trying to fucking kill me?" The gun tumbled from her hands and clattered to the ground as he lifted her by her neck until her feet dragged on the cement. "Trying to shoot me!" He laughed maniacally. "You're not the first and won't be the last!" He seethed. Saliva flew into her face as he dragged her toward the tracks. His grip tightened and her neck cracked painfully as she pounded his arms and chest with her fists.

"No." She croaked out.

"No? Now, it's no?" He snarled. Sid felt his grip loosen on her throat. Relief flooded her but only for a moment before she realized she was falling. Her feet were floating up over her head. She reached out but grabbed nothing but air. She landed hard, her head bouncing violently off of the rail.

No.

No.

Panic sat on her chest. Keeping her in place even though she desperately wanted to get up. But she didn't have a good idea of where she had landed and if she moved one inch in the wrong direction and hit the third rail, over seven hundred volts may course through her body. The fall didn't kill her but if her body made contact with that electrified piece of steel she would surely die. Her neck throbbed and pain shot down through her arms and legs whenever she tried to move. Kru leered at her angrily from above. Shouting at her.

"You're tough? You're just another stupid little bitch about to die. All this over your pops! Roland wasn't shit. Nothing but a pussy." He spat angrily in her direction. Sid couldn't feel if it hit her or not because her extremities were now beginning to go numb as the throbbing in her neck and head continued.

His screaming continued and the pain endured. She was on the same tracks where her father took his last breath. The lights above fading in and out as her vision blurred. Her plan could not have been going any worst, she thought. A rumbling started faintly against her back. Shock was setting in, she rationalized, but it soon realized that it at all. It got stronger. Her body vibrated. The train. Sid tried to turn her head to see which direction it was coming from, but she heard an audible crunch in her neck when she did, and her nerves sent shock waves of pain through her body. A scream escaped from deep inside her gut.

For a second she contemplated pleading for her life. Begging Kru to save her. Promising to stay out of his way or become one of his hands. Whatever it would take for her to not die here. For her to see AJ's beautiful face again. For her to wrap her arms around her Mom and make up for years of not doing so. For her to lay herself bare in front of Phil again, wrap herself in his arms, and experience a freedom she was robbed of for so long. Hot tears rolled down the side of her face, pooling in her ears. She ached knowing that she would not be able to do those things again.

There was no way she would ask Kru to save her life.

He couldn't have that power. For him to continue to believe he was some sort of savior was worse than death. She opened her mouth and released a scream. Like the last howl of a wounded animal before they accepted death.

She looked up at Kru as he stood there, almost salivating at her impending death. "I win. No matter what, I win." He bellowed.

As the rattle of the train grew nearer she closed her eyes and hoped her body would go completely numb before the train's impact.

"Nah, brother."

Sidney's eyes fluttered open. Kru spun around. His eyes, full of confusion, darted back to the wooden bench where the homeless man once slept to find it empty. Phil, layers of clothes draped over his hunched frame, stood in front of him now. Phil was noticeably in pain but he was on his feet, clutching his side with one hand while the other held the gun pointed directly at Kru. Phil clicked the safety off the gun.