Survivor
an excerpt

Survivor
By: KC Sprayberry

PART I: CHOICES
Here again, it's just you and me. Kind like it used to be. (You know you want to) Make a memory: Jon Bon Jovi
PROLOGUE

The familiar streets of Landry, Georgia flashed past eighteen-year-old Julie Bond yet she didn't revel in the feeling of freedom from her house. While she stared out the window, her thoughts lay in a day six months earlier. A day she still thought of as the worst in her life. A day everything changed forever.
What can I do to change what happened? It's impossible for anyone to come back to life. That's only real in science fiction and fantasy. I can't tell Dad I still hear the screams, the shots, and the sudden silence when nothing seemed real.
Dad stopped his Hummer at a stoplight and people crossed the street in front of them. A few pointed at her and she didn't have to open the window to hear their comments. She'd heard them when she visited her friends for the first time since that day.
Why can't people forgive? What is it that they have to hate someone after something like this? Why do they hate me? I only told the truth.
"Chin up, Jewels," Dad said after the light turned green. "It'll be over soon."
"Yeah."
At any other time, her lackluster response would have had him talking to her about her feelings. Today, he eased the Hummer forward and she shivered at the sight of news vans parked around the square. Reporters and videographers clustered around equipment, testing it. A few had already begun the trek around the corner.
I have to stop this madness. It's worse than that day. But how?
Her challenge bothered her as Dad turned onto Duke and then stopped in front of the courthouse. Staring up at the massive concrete building, she focused on the Roman numerals etched across the facing below the roof. Everything about this town was old, announcing its birth long before the Civil War. Not that she wasn't used to old. Ancient villages and cities had long been part of her life. Mom and Dad spent most of their military careers in Europe. For Julie that meant American schools but German, Italian, and Spanish friends. Fluent in four languages, she didn't use them much in the place where Dad brought them four years ago, when he received his last assignment before retiring. Mom had already taken a discharge, saying that she didn't care for the retirement paycheck each month. Like always, she wanted something else and went for it without considering anyone else.
If Mom would just accept she can't control the world, I wouldn't have to make this decision. But I can't let him get away with this. Sure, he's not around to take responsibility for his actions, but someone else shouldn't pay.
"Well," Dad said, turning to right and waiting for traffic to clear before making two more lefts. "We're here."
Fear ran through her body. Julie gulped as he stopped in the handicapped spot and turned off the Hummer.
I can't lie. There's only one way to stop this. Sure hope it works.