Arachnoextinction Chapter 19: Chapter Nineteen - Not a Gentle Lover

Read chapter 19 of Arachnoextinction by ShowerKrogan on NovelPedia.

Darren had his gun aimed at the crack in the door; as soon as it opened, he would be able to see anything on the other side. Justin had one hand on the door handle, and the other holding a handgun at his side. I stood in front of the rest of the group and raised my gun toward the door. For a small object, it was surprisingly heavy. I could already feel weariness creeping into my arms as I waited for the door to open. Despite the weight, the grip felt nice in my hand. A perfect fit. I felt powerful and in control for the first time since I had gotten here. But, that feeling was fleeting. My pointer finger rested on the trigger; I was at the ready. I played an important role and was trying to force confidence onto myself. If anything got past those two, it would be up to me to stop it. I thought about that for a moment while shifting my stance to better balance myself. If anything got past those two, we would all die a horrible and painful death. I always thought I would die in a peaceful and American way, like a car wreck or being shot in the street. But eaten? By spiders, no less! Just not the way I had envisioned. My face was calm and cool, but I hoped no one noticed the gun jostling in my hands. A small hand rested on my shoulder. "We'll be fine, you got this," Karen whispered in my ear before backing away from me. I smiled and regained control of the gun. I was ready. Ready and willing, yes. Ready and able? I guess we would find out. Justin held up three fingers, then two, then one… I gripped the gun so tight my fingers were beginning to hurt. He opened the door and raised his gun in a fluid motion; he ripped open the door with so much force, it slammed into the wall. At the sound of the door banging into the wall, I let out a yell, clenched my eyes, and my finger squeezed the trigger from the surprise of the sudden sound. The gun went off into the empty doorway. Justin and Darren dove out of the line of fire; the group behind me ducked down and covered themselves. The sound from the door slamming and the gunshot echoed through the hallway and the stairwell. I cringed as the sound bounced around; they definitely knew where we were now. Darren and Justin turned to look at me, death dripping from their glares. “Finger. Off. The trigger,” Justin said without his face moving. He was almost as scary as the gun going off. When nothing came through the door at us, Justin nodded to Darren. Darren went through the door, scanning everywhere from the floor to the ceiling in such fluid motions with near inhuman speed. "Clear in here," he called out as he disappeared from view down the stairs. "Alright, follow close behind, but leave room to scramble if needed. No talking until Darren or I give the okay," Justin said and started waving his arm to get us to go. When I approached the door, Justin grabbed my hand and had me bring the gun up, aiming it straight ahead. He slid my pointer finger away from the trigger and onto the side of the weapon. “Finger stays here until you are pulling the trigger,” he said and then waved me through. It had been several years since I had held a gun, much less shot one. Add on the stress of this situation, and I didn’t remember much from my few lessons as a kid. So, here’s hoping I didn’t accidentally kill someone! I led the group through the door. The stairs were the only part of the upper floors not made of glass, the one part we really needed to see through. They were a faded gray metal and did not help our attempt at silent moving. Each step, no matter how soft, made a slight noise. If the spiders were nearby, they would be able to detect our location easily as we made our way down the different flights. There wasn't much room on the stairs. We walked two to a line, side by side, as we followed Darren. Even with his checking every inch of the stairwell for the spiders, I couldn't help but keep my eyes moving, alert for any hint of movement. We made it down two floors before Darren held up his hand to s