Thursday, October 20, 2011

Chapter Forty-Four


The Atlantic


Getting shot is never easy.
The hatch-door burst in, kicked by the two goons I’d heard.  I was betting Deep Voice was in front. He yipped, “Oh shit!” as he hit the tripwire and  stumbled.
When this kind of stuff happens, life slows down.  In no-shit slow motion Deep Voice pitched forward. His pistol skittered across the deck and his face jellied as his head bounced a few times.  Nasal stood stock still in the hatch, mouth open, pistol clutched in both hands but pointed at the deck. 
So I shot him.
I pumped two dead-center chest, and as I had practiced thousands of times before, another into his forehead.  I moved off my spot and walked in freeze-frame slowness to Deep Voice, kicked him in the ribs with my steel-tipped boot, then unleashed a round into the back of his skull.  The noise, though loud, sounded distant.  The smell of cordite was familiar and good.
I could sense the same sensations I had experienced before – albeit a long time ago:  a tinge of nausea, disorientation as my sense of time collapsed back into the present, and the shakes from too much adrenaline.  I pushed through and knelt down beside Deep Voice.  I holstered my 1911 and started to reach for his wallet when the body twitched. 
I hate it when they do that.
I fought back the peptic taste, reached again for the wallet and held it aloft.  My hands shook slightly as I looked through it for ID.  Nothing.  I started to drop it when a sound pinged behind me.
I heard the pin drop and saw the canister spin past, bounce off the deck in slow motion and rebound off the far bulkhead.
FUCK!
The flash-bang went off, stunning every system in my body and mind.  Then a sledgehammer hit my shoulder and spun me around. I fell back, face up, onto the deck.  Two masked figures loomed over me, pistols with cans aimed at my forehead.
Getting shot is never easy.

1 comment:

  1. this tickled me so that I am compelled to post it from Claire's blog

    FishOrMan Says:
    October 21st, 2011 at 4:56 pm
    My Kindle wouldn’t let me leave a comment for Jake, (free 3G internet so who am I to complain), but I wanted him to know I have been reading it to my wife. She reads alot and says she really enjoys his writing.* I am not a big fan of fiction but found myself reading ahead when the wife wasn’t around. There are two big thumbs up for him.

    * Although, she was a little miffed when he picked on Bob Ross, the PBS painter. “Happy little trees.” :)

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