The Radius | Book 2 | Living In The Radius

by Muga, D. M.

  He makes his way back downstairs to the kitchen and makes himself a sandwich. He searches through the cupboard.

  “I know I still saw a few bags left…” He says as he searches through the cupboard of food.

  “Ah! There they are.” He says as he pulls out a small bag of Doritos from the cupboard. “No sandwich is complete without chips inside of it.”

  Afterward, he goes to the refrigerator and pulls out the jug of tea that Holly had made the previous day, pouring himself a glass.

  Pleased with himself and his lunch, he sits down at the dining room table and goes to eat. He begins to think of his fiancé in the shower and why she had to take a second shower.

  He laughs and spits out some of his food. “She may just have to take another shower before the day’s over.”

  While eating his lunch, his mind shifts to the beginning of the Blue Hole Radius and how he got to where he was.

  Blue Hole Radius… he laughs. What a stupid fucking name. They could have come up with a better name than that. What about ‘time trap’ or ‘time sphere’ or even ‘the radius prison.’

  Richard smiles as he eats his lunch, making fun of the people from the future and everything that got him here, to his new world.

  Richard may not have known what was going on after 1301 on May 19th, 2023. However, he knew that it was his opportunity to make a new life for himself, and eventually a new name.

  Seven weeks earlier, Richard Clark was in “Chino” or CIM (Chino California Institution for Men). He was sentenced in 2020 and was only his third-year in out of a twenty-five-year sentence. He was put away on the distribution of illicit drugs and weapons trafficking charges. If they had nailed him for all of his attributes, he would surely be serving at least double that sentence.

  During the middle of the night, after the Blue Hole Radius had been lifted and the world had turned to chaos, Richard Clark seized his opportunity. First, he killed his overweight and annoying cellmate, Freddie, in their cell. He followed this up with calling over one of the few guards remaining to help his cellmate, who was no longer breathing.

  The Correctional Officer, Sergeant Roger Stevens, took the bait and allowed Richard to gain the upper hand. After smashing the guard’s head into the wall, he donned the guard’s clothes and proceeded to exit the cellblock. He tricked the other guard into letting him out, with him thinking he was his fellow guard in the darkness of night, only to be shot point blank in the face by Richard. The next guard Richard had allowed to live, and even set a prison riot into motion. Which gave him the distraction he needed to find his way to Roger Stevens’ locker and eventually out of Chino.

  Richard was even able to acquire the late Sergeant Stevens’ tan Toyota truck and headed for the man’s home, after seeing a picture of his fiancé.

  After Richard reached Roger Stevens’ home, he took his fiancé, Holly Clark, for his own... under force for the first of many times. He also saw it fitting to take over his identity, since the world was in such disarray, shifting over to becoming Corrections Officer Richard Stevens.

  Richard does remember being extremely irate that the snitch that had sent him to prison was already dead by the time he had gotten to him. Nonetheless, he was able to take his frustration out on Ms. Holly Clark.

  It was then that he decided to head for the luxury homes of Lake Arrowhead, with the intention of taking one for his own and newly acquired fiancé. He did have a run-in with local wannabe gangsters, under the MS13 gang. Richard had dealt with them swiftly and found his way to the home he was now living in.

  Having evicted the previous tenants, he was quite happy with his new home. He had even made a few friends with some firefighters, after having helped them with their MS13 gangster problem. It was slightly a problem of his own, too. Since he wanted to keep the new life that he had earned as Richard Stevens, with his beautiful and somewhat young fiancé, 25 years old, and a few years older than he liked, Holly Clark.

  So, help these simple townsfolk he did. He even found a way to kill a nosy cop in the process, Jim Bradley. Richard found excitement in how easy it was to blame the nosy Deputy’s death on the MS13 gang.

  He found himself even having a few beers with those firefighters over the last seven weeks. They had become somewhat okay friends through the process. John, Mike, and Tom had come over on several occasions and Richard did find it nice to have acquired friends in his newfound life, as well as people to stick up for him, if anyone else didn't entirely trust Richard Stevens.

  He was aware that not everyone trusted him as quickly as the firefighters did. There was the Deputy's twin, who was also a Deputy in town. That encounter had given Richard a shock when seeing him for the first time, but he had a good laugh later on. There was also the Deputy’s friend Ben Reilly and that pretty light-skinned girl, Eileen something. They had almost posed a real problem for Richard that night... There was also the expired Sheriff, but he was no longer an issue.

  Richard was very happy with himself for the events that transpired over the last seven weeks. As he saw it, his death toll had to be close to, and even over, twenty. There had been around twenty dead MS13 gangster wannabes on the night of the MS13 Battle, and Richard clearly remembered taking out at least half of them.

  So, Richard figured his count to be closer to thirty, so far, post Blue Hole Radius. Richard knew that he had only killed a handful of people prior to his time in Chino. And if a certain nosy twin brother and his friends came poking around, he would gladly push up that number to at least twenty-nine, and still counting.

  He figured if they came looking for the expired Sheriff, he’ll deal with them in the same manner. He would even be nice enough to bury them in close quarters to the departed sheriff and previous tenants of his home. This was his new world, and no one was going to take that away from him.

  Recollecting on his past experiences, he knows there’s a pressing matter to address today... which is Holly likely being pregnant. Richard thinks about this last part as he finishes his lunch and sees Holly walk into the kitchen.

  “Hello there, pretty lady.” Richard says, grinning at her.

  “I see you got all cleaned up again. Good job.” Richard smirks.

  “Thank you, Richard.” She replies. “I just came down here for some food. Then I was going to take a nap.”

  “Not feeling well, are we?” Richard asks. “Why don’t you hold off on lunch. Take a seat and let’s have ourselves a chat about your sickness.”

  Holly looks at him with eyes of fear.

  She hasn’t had those eyes of fear in a long while. She’s definitely pregnant and doesn’t want to give it up.

  She hesitates and freezes close to the refrigerator.

  “I said! Sit down Holly!” Richard bellows.

  She flinches and then walks over to the dining room table.

  “We have avoided the elephant in the room long enough. Or should I say the baby in the womb…” Richard quips.

  Holly looks away from him and diverts her eyes to the table, looking down in front of her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Richard. I just have a stomach bug. I’ll be fine in a few days…”

  “Bull-fucking-shit, Holly.” Richard exclaims. “You are pregnant, and you know how I feel about that.”

  Holly shakes her head. “No!”

  Richard nods his head. “Yes, Holly… you are.”

  Richard watches as she starts to sob, and her lip quivers. After a few moments she looks up at him with tears running down her face.

  “So that’s it then. You’re going to kill me now?” She says, crying softly.

  Richard laughs and then smiles, which shuts her up and she goes silent. “Of course not pretty lady. You are a keeper… it’s just that baby that needs to go!”

  Richard watches as Holly’s eyes go wide. “What?! No!”

  He nods, trying to calm her down. “Yes, Holly. It’ll be simple. We’ll just have to starve you for a week, and you should miscarry. If that little baby has
nothing to eat, it will just wither away.” He smiles at her.

  Her eyes go wider. “What?! NO! I won’t let you!”

  He laughs at her. “You! You won’t let me!? That’s rich, bitch! I’ll chain you to the fucking bed if I have to! Feed you water and nothing else! Well… maybe I'll feed you something else.” He laughs at his own joke.

  Holly’s eyes begin to fill up with tears. “NO! I won’t let you Richard! You’ve taken everything else! You won’t take my baby!” Richard watches as she bolts from the chair and starts to run upstairs.

  Richard laughs as she runs upstairs to their bedroom. “Where the fuck do you think you are going, Holly?!” He laughs. “You try to run away and run your dumbass upstairs!” He laughs again. “Looks to me like you want to get chained up to the bed right fucking now!”

  Richard stands and follows her upstairs, finding her standing next to the bed with a kitchen knife in her hands.

  “Just what the fuck are you going to do with that!?” He snaps at her.

  Holly looks like she’s in a frantic fury. “You stay right there, Richard! Don’t come any closer! I won’t let you hurt my baby!”

  Richard laughs and steps in closer to her. He back hands the knife out of her hands and it goes flying across the room, onto the bed. He then smacks her across the face. “I’m starting to think that maybe you aren’t a keeper, Holly.”

  Holly’s eyes go wide as he grabs her by the throat and slams her against the wall.

  ::Ding Dong::

  Richard freezes, registering that someone’s at the front door. With Holly’s throat in his grip, he steps to the side and moves the curtains of the second-floor window. He sees a black Dodge truck in his driveway, next to his tan Toyota Tundra.

  “Just who the fuck is that?” Richard asks the gasping Holly in his grip. “Looks like you're saved by the bell, Holly. I almost just did something that you would have regretted.”

  He releases his grip around her throat, and she drops to her knees gasping for air.

  “Stay the fuck here, Holly… and think about our conversation. Don’t make a fucking sound and you better be in a better mood when I get back. Or we’ll pick up where we left off…” Richard says as he scowls at her trying to catch her breath below him.

  Without hearing her response, he strides out of the room and slams the door shut.

  Stupid bitch better come to her senses by the time I come back.

  ::Ding Dong::

  “I’m coming, asshole. Whoever the fuck you are.” Richard says as he makes his way to the front door.

  As he comes to the door, he double checks his holster on his right hip.

  We may just have to use your gun Sheriff... I mean my new gun.

  ::Ding Dong::

  He grins at the revolver at his hip, and unlocks the front door and opens it wide.

  “Good afternoon Deputies! How can I help you this fine day?!” Richard blurts out as he opens the door. The two men instinctively put their hands on their sidearms on their hips.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa, cowboys! Didn't mean to startle you two!” Richard says.

  The twin brother and his buddy Ben. Interesting turn of events.

  Ben and Todd relax slightly. “Good afternoon, Mr. Stevens. You caught us off guard there for a moment.”

  Richard grins. “I get that a lot.” He steps aside, and gestures them in. “Why don’t you two come on in out of that heat.”

  Richard watches as the two men look at each other, trying to figure out what to do next.

  Fucking Idiots.

  After several moments, the two men wander inside and he closes the door behind them. He then gestures to them to move into the front living room.

  “So, what can I do for you gents?” He asks.

  Deputy Bradley replies, “Yes. We heard that Sheriff Patterson came over here for dinner last night and were wondering if you had seen him? His wife’s worried about him.”

  Richard smiles wide.

  That was pretty damn fast of them to put together. No matter...

  “Ah yes! Sheriff Patterson. He did come by for dinner.” He replies.

  Deputy Bradley then asks, “About what time was he here and when did he leave? Did he say where he was going?”

  Richard scratches his chin and then puts his hands on his hips, his right hand just above the revolver on his hip. He notices Ben glance at it, then look away. He then notices that Deputy Bradley’s looking a little too close at his new gun.

  He looks down at the revolver on his hip and smiles, then back up at the twin brother.

  “You like it? It’s a classic. It was my father's and his father’s before him.” He explains.

  The twin brother doesn’t say a word but looks Richard directly in the eyes.

  What? Do you want to end up like your twin, asshole?

  After an awkward moment of silence, he continues. “But yeah, Sheriff Patterson came by for dinner around sunset. I want to say he left around 11:00 PM or so. To be honest, it’s a tad bit fuzzy. We had a few beers with dinner and sat on the back porch for a while.”

  The Deputy smiles. “Sounds like the good old Sheriff. That’s a very nice HD500 Ruger 357 you got there. And it’s nice to keep it in your family over the years.”

  Richard smiles widely again.

  What’s this guy getting at?

  “Thanks, Deputy Bradley. I sure think so. It’s Bradley, right? Jim Bradley’s twin?” He then turns to Ben. “And I believe you are Ben Reilly, correct? I didn’t think you were a cop though. Deputized recently then, I take it?” Richard laughs lightly.

  He is awaiting a response from the buddy Ben, but the Deputy snaps a quick response. “Yes, on all accounts, Officer Stevens. Thanks for the info on the Sheriff. He’s probably sleeping it off in the Marketplace parking lot or somewhere nearby. Thanks for your time.”

  He then watches as the two men look at each other with that dumbfounded look again.

  Something's up… the twin knows something. Is it the fucking gun?

  Richard looks at the both of them, grinning. “No problem at all gents. Before you all go though, why don’t you have a cup of iced tea. My beautiful fiancé made it fresh, just earlier today.”

  Yeah, something’s up, for sure. Best to catch them off guard. I still have that side-by-side stashed in the kitchen.

  “Everything alright, gents.” He asks, smiling.

  After a moment, the twin answers. “Yes, sir. Tea would be nice. Thank you.”

  “Sounds good. I’ll be right back.” Richard says as he heads into the kitchen.

  Once he’s out of the room, he grabs the shotgun and waits near the hallway, listening to his guests.

  He hears Ben ask, “What’s going on, Todd? And what the hell is an HD500 Ruger 357? Because I haven’t ever heard of it.”

  He then hears the Deputy reply, “That’s exactly the point. This guy is not who he says he is and something’s way off. The Sheriff does not drink that much. Only a beer here and there. And I'm pretty damn sure that the Ruger GP100 357 is Sheriff’s Patterson’s. His story is bullshit for sure.”

  Ben responds, “So, let’s arrest him.”

  The Deputy replies, “The plan was to get information and come back with the cavalry if we had to. Now we know we need to come back with the cavalry. We need to play this smart, Ben. No reason for more loss of life.” Todd explains.

  “Fine…” Ben replies. Let’s go then.”

  “Tea, first. As not to let him catch on. Then we’ll leave.” The Deputy replies.

  Richard grins as he listens to the men conversing on how they are going to “take him down.”

  Not only are they dumb as fuck, they are loud as fuck.

  He grins as he pulls out from around the corner of the kitchen, aiming the shotgun down the hallway, toward his two guests wanting to arrest him.

  “You fucktards need to learn how to fucking whisper better!” Richard laughs and pulls the trigger on the side-by-side.

  ::Boom::


  The shot hits the Deputy dead center, and he watches as the force sends him flying through the air, hitting the couch behind him, bouncing him back forward onto the ground face down.

  “Brother number two down for the count! Look at me! Two for two!” He shouts and laughs. He then aims the shotgun at Ben. “Buh-bye Ben!”

  Ben dives to the right in front of the stairs as he pulls the trigger.

  ::Boom::

  Fucking shit! Did I miss the dumb bastard? He thinks to himself.

  He shrugs. Only one way to find out.

  “You still alive, Ben?” He shouts.

  He tosses his empty shotgun to the ground and pulls out his revolver, awaiting an answer. After a moment, he sees a head poke out past the stairs.

  ::Crack::

  “Yup, guess so!” He laughs.

  ::Crack::Crack::

  He grins as he sends two more rounds down toward the buddy Ben. He then looks over to the downed Deputy.

  ::Crack::Crack::Crack::

  He flinches when the wall next to him explodes, sending drywall and plaster into his face.

  Son of bitch almost shot me!

  He returns fire with Ben.

  ::Crack::Crack::

  Hopefully that took care of that dumbfuck!

  He glances back over at the downed Deputy and sees him start to move a little.

  “Oh, it looks like I didn’t kill brother number two after all!” He exclaims. “Well, time to fix that!”

  Richard points his revolver at the Deputy and goes to pull the trigger. He watches Ben dive out from the stairs, trying to shield his friend.

  Really, guy? He thinks as he pulls the trigger.

  ::Crack::Crack::Crack::

  ::Crack::

  He feels a burning pain in his right shoulder and yells out, “OW! You shitfuck! You actually shot me!”

  Fucking little shit actually shot me! Son of a bitch. I need to think smarter than these dumbfucks. He thinks to himself looking around the hallway.

  Seeing the door to the back porch, he thinks of a quick plan then slams open the back-porch door and jumps into the kitchen.

  I’ll get you, you little fuckshit. Make your dumbass think that I ran away… while I come into the den through the kitchen. Richard grins, as he holds his right shoulder. I’ll make you fucking pay for shooting me, you sack of shit.