King had lost himself in the day, it was peaceful and relaxing until it dawned on him the actual date. His storage payment was due, and the facility was about an hour from closing up for the day. Explaining to his girlfriend why he was scrambling to put pants on, he pressed a chaste kiss to her forehead and said he'd be back in a little bit and would bring food back with him. Paying the bill itself was a breeze, he even spent a few extra minutes talking to the older man who ran the office as he always did. The gentleman was a veteran himself, so King always made it a point to be friendly and to check in on him and how his VA appointments were going. With his goodbyes said, he knew there was a Chinese place just around the corner that would be quick and easy enough to stop in and get something for him and Sophie before returning home. It was also something that would fit in his saddlebags and not make a mess.
He had been waiting on the food when his phone rang, a look of confusion when he saw Levi's name on the screen. Swiping the pad of his thumb across the screen, he brought the device up to his ear. "Hey man, wha-" he was cut off.
"They've been shot," came Levi's voice on the other end. His breathing was ragged, the tone of his voice uneven as a silence settled in.
Those words rattled around in King's head, the color all but draining from his face. "WHAT?!" he yelled into his phone, immediately cringing as he looked around at the employees staring at him. "Who? Where? What happened!" There were too many questions that he couldn't ask in public, but he allowed Levi to fill him in. Or at least as much as the other man was able to. When he heard the names and their injuries, panic set in. He already had his food in hand when he quickly slapped down more than enough money to cover it. They were getting a sizable tip that day, and he didn't care. As soon as he was out of the building, he doubled around the back to where he knew of a few homeless people and passed the food off to them. There was no time for eating but he didn't want it going to waste either. "If they're able to be transported, get them to the garage. Try to keep them both as still as possible, look for exit wounds. Pack the injuries with towels, napkins, something to keep pressure. If anyone has any belts, something to help tie them into place. Keep the injured areas as still and stabilized as possible. If someone can stay behind to buy us time with local law enforcement, that'd be a big help. Take the backroads. Call Declan and Harker once you're at the garage." The last bit was something he was certain Levi already knew, but King was practically switching over to auto-pilot as everything was running through his head.
With the two men hanging up, King's fingers fumbled to dial Annie's number - never mind the fact that he had her on speed dial. "Annie, I need you to get to the garage. Don't ask questions. Just grab a bag and any first aid stuff you have and get there. We've got at least two wounded from GSW's. Levi's bringing them. I don't know much more than that." He didn't even give the woman a chance to respond before he quickly hung up and moved onto the next number. He knew he should have been headed home already, but he also knew trying to call people while on his motorcycle would just result in it being impossible to hear him.
King had hoped he would never have to make this kind of call to Sophie, especially not when they just started officially dating, but here he was. "C'mon pick up..pick up pick up pic--Soph! There's a situation. I'll explain when I can, but right now I need you to grab that bag you came over with and get Moose and go to the garage. Don't worry about grabbing anything for him, I'll get it. I need to stop by the house anyway. Please don't wait for me to get there, I'll meet you there in a little bit. Be careful." Another quick hangup and he was shoving his phone into his pocket before starting up the bike, the back end fishtailing a little as he peeled out of the parking lot.
Back at the house, he headed straight upstairs to one of the extra rooms and tugged open the closet doors. He took one of the large duffel bags and tossed it down the hallway, it was his emergeny go-bag, which included stuff for his dog, if there was ever a reason for another lockdown. He hated having to use it. Next was his rucksack that he had turned into his field kit follwed immediately by its bigger version in another duffel bag, and another. Some might call that paranoia, King just called it seeing too much crap overseas to no be prepared for the worst. Lastly, King punched a code into the tall safe, grabbed his already packed tactical vest, a large backpack carefully packed full of firearms, and the case containing his CheyTec. It took multiple trips to load everything into his truck, but as soon as he was done and everything was secured and locked up at the house he was hauling ass to the garage to meet everyone.
Pulling into a covered area, King tossed on his rucksack and grabbed the two duffel bags containing medical supplies before opting to leave everything else in his truck until there was a better time to get them. He wasn't sure what he was walking into but that didn't stop his mind from going in every horrible direction imaginable. Once inside, he tried his best to assess the situation, relying on all his training to try and keep his head above the surface. Total strangers getting hurt was one thing, he could deal with that easily. People he cared about? That made it more difficult and incited a small war inside his head between what was real, what was fictional, what was past, and what was present.
Annie was already working on Ashleigh, his heart sinking upon seeing the form of the unconscious woman. The organ sank even further when his eyes landed on his friend, her son clinging to her. More questions popped into his head as he searched for Levi, knowing the man hadn't strayed far at all. Setting the rucksack down, he pulled out some QuikClot wrap and gauze patches, walking them over to him. "I know that's not all your blood, but I'm sure some of it is. Use these. We'll take care of the girls first." His attention was immediately back on Mercie, worry etched onto his face. She was awake, to an extent, and she didn't seem to be in grave danger, but of course his mind refused to let him believe that.
"Hey, can you pass Jonah off to Levi or someone, I need to work on you." He tried to keep his voice calm, but his facial expressions betrayed him. He checked to make sure she was only hit in that one place, it was a small relief to find out it was a through and through. Looking at both the entrance and exit wounds and as much of the wound he could see, he made a safe assumption that the bullet hadn't fractured off into pieces or did any damage to her bone structure. Another small relief, but it was still bleeding quite a bit. King warned her that what he was about to do next wouldn't feel to good and to find a comfortable position to lay in before he began flushing the wound. Once he was satisfied it had been cleansed, he grabbed a couple more QuikClot patches and gauze from his kit, packing the wound itself and sealing the entrance and exit holes. Once the bleeding stopped he would be able to stitch her up, which was exactly what he told her while applying the temporary bandages.
On the outside King seemed calm and collected, making sure things were getting done on the medical front. When in realtiy, beneath his surface, he was losing the war with his mind. Scenes were flashing behind his eyes, his breathing increased and his hands were beginning to grow shaky. He did his best to hide that from those around him. While waiting for Mercie's wound to clot up, he went to check on Levi who was still insisting he was fine. Nothing seemed too serious on him and King figured Annie could check on him when she was done working on Ashleigh.
It was the commotion of everything that was making it harder for him to mask everything. People were coming and going, chaos had subsided but panic took over for some. He wasn't sure how much time had passed when he went back to check the status of his friend's bleeding. Soaking the edge of the patch, he gently peeled it back enough to see that the blood had stopped flowing so freely. Doing the same to the other patch, he removed both and the gauze as well before going to a side pocket on the kit and retrieving a bottle of Lidocaine and a new, sterile, individually packed, syringe. Another warning of a few pokes was given before he began numbing both areas for stitching purposes. The shaking of his hand becoming visible as he tried to steady the needle. He hit all his intended points, though it took him a bit between each one to settle himself. Each blink brought him closer and closer to being overseas, his night terror turning more into a living nightmare in the form of mini flashbacks.
Setting up to begin suturing, King closed his eyes and let out a breathe. That was his unfolding. When his eyes slowly opened, they were blank, vacant of anything. He had completely disassociated himself from the situation, he barely registered Annie telling him to go outside, that she and the others had it from there. He wasn't even sure if he had made it outside on his own accord or if someone had ushered him out there, all he knew is there was cold air on his cheeks and an attack on his mind going on inside his head. The more he stepped outside, the more he lost his grip.
King's hands ran through his hair, his panic increasing as it got louder inside his brain. "Stop it. No, don't go in there. It's not secure." He wasn't aware that he was by himself, he thought he was talking to a fellow soldier in his unit. As far as he knew, he was back overseas, relieving his own personal hell in real time rather than in his nightmares. That's when he heard the rapid gunfire, he screamed for everyone to get down, diving behind what he thought was broken wall from a home that had been destroyed. There were no gunshots, only in his head, and that wall he he dove behind was really just a car in the junkyard. His arms and hands coverd his head as he curled up on his side, both his remaining leg and the prosthetic drawn up to his chest as a gut-wrenching scream ripped from his lips. Each time a grenade, gun, or other explosive device went off in his head he flinched and tried to fold in on himself even further.
He would remain there until either someone found him or the flashback passed on its own.
Though, it'd probably be best to leave him outside. There were far bigger things going on inside that needed to be taken care of first versus the guy who couldn't even escape his own head.