Desperate Times 2 Gun Control

by Nicholas Antinozzi

  When the big room was empty, the three of them searched it from top to bottom. There was no sign of the other shooter.

  “What is he armed with?” Ken asked.

  There was the loud crack of a rifle from somewhere close, but well away from where they stood. Jimmy’s heart stopped as he thought the gunshot seemed to come from down by the cabins. Ken said something, but Jimmy was already scrambling for the door.

  He ran as fast as his legs would carry him, managing somehow to keep his balance on the icy footpaths. Jimmy was breathing hard and trying to keep a level head. Automatic gunfire exploded from the rifle, and it confirmed Jimmy’s worst fears. Myron had found his forgotten M-16 and the backpack of ammo. A tear streamed across his cheek and over his ear.

  A long row of tall pines separated him from the cabins that were strung alongside the shore. A lone shot rang out, followed shortly by a quick burst. Jimmy dared a look over his shoulder, and he saw Ken and Burt following him perhaps fifty yards away. Jimmy reached the end of the pines and ran into the open. A shot exploded from Julie’s ruined window and passed close enough that Jimmy could hear it whizzing by. He quickly stopped and doubled back to the last pine for cover.

  He stole a quick look around the gnarled bark of the pine and gasped. There were five bodies scattered on the snow around Julie’s cabin. None appeared to be moving. A squirrel chattered from an unseen limb above him. Jimmy estimated that eighty feet separated him from Julie’s front door. He needed a plan.

  Ken and Burt ran up behind him, and Jimmy signaled for them to stop. They were both winded, and Burt doubled over to catch his breath. When he stood up Jimmy could see the look of absolute terror in his dark-skinned face. Jimmy had never seen it there before, and it scared the hell out of him.

  “He’s in the cabin?” Burt asked.

  Jimmy nodded.

  Ken stuck his head around the tree, and another shot rang out, hitting inches above Ken’s head in an explosion of bark. “Christ almighty,” Ken said. “Look at all the bodies. We’ve got to move on this guy.”

  Burt bulled his way past the both of them and disappeared past the protection of the fat trunk of the pine. “No!” screamed Jimmy, but it didn’t do any good. He and Ken exchanged a look, and they both followed him out into the killing field.

  Myron stood smiling at the window. He held a stoic-looking Venus in front of him with one thick arm held under her bosom. He held Burt’s other Colt under her chin. “Come on, big boy!” he called to Burt. “You can watch your girlfriend eat a bullet!”

  “You bastard!” cried Burt, racing toward the two of them with reckless abandon.

  Myron squealed with delight as Burt approached. “Take a good look, you piece of shit! This is on you!”

  “No!” roared Burt and suddenly lifted his revolver and quickly pulled the trigger. The shot came from the hip with terrible consequences.

  Jimmy gasped as he watched Venus ripped from Myron’s hands in a shower of blood. Burt had hit Venus, and Myron stood looking at him for a second in complete shock. That was all the time he needed, and Burt put three shots into the little man before he hit the ground.

  Jimmy and Ken ran behind Burt and stood next to him. He shook like a leaf as he stood at the shattered window. He was sobbing like a baby as Jimmy and Ken quickly tried to console him before going inside to assess the damage. Burt wailed as Jimmy and Ken ventured inside the little cabin. There was no doubt that Myron was through with his killing spree. His corpse was lying in a dark pool of blood; his eyes were open, and to Jimmy, they still looked confused in death.

  “I’m sorry, Venus!” called Burt from the window. “I had to take the shot. I’m so damn sorry!”

  And to Jimmy’s horror, the next sound he heard was the sudden explosion of Burt’s Colt. When he turned to the window, Burt was gone.

  “Oh, my baby!” groaned Venus, weakly. “Help my poor baby.”

  Chapter 22

  The next few hours were unlike any Jimmy had ever experienced. Despite the horror of the moment, he nearly cried out in joy at the sight of Julie as she emerged from the cabin. She appeared to be in shock as she lethargically rushed into Ken’s arms.

  Ken gave Jimmy a confused look. Julie’s plaster mask completely hid her identity, and Ken was still reeling in the moment. Jimmy knew he should say something, but he knew that this was no time for explanations. He quickly ran to Burt’s side and found himself screaming as he dropped to his knees next to his fallen friend. “Damn you!” he cried to the heavens. “Why?”

  The snow around Burt’s head had turned into a bloody slush, and Jimmy’s tears fell like rain as he checked Burt for a pulse. Jimmy’s own heart nearly stopped when he discovered that Burt’s heart hadn’t. “Help!” he screamed. “He’s alive! He’s alive!”

  Julie was next to him a moment later. “Shit!” she screamed in a voice that was muffled by her mask. “Go inside and grab me some towels, Jimmy. Do it now!”

  Jimmy never understood why he did what he did, but he reached his hand around Julie’s neck and drew her to him; he then planted a fat kiss on the mouth-hole of her cast.

  “Oh, Jimmy,” Julie moaned. “I’m so sorry.”

  “I’m the one who’s sorry,” groaned Jimmy as he rose to his feet. “I love you, Julie.”

  “I love you, too,” Julie answered, her hands balled into fists of conviction.

  That was all Jimmy needed to hear. He sprinted into the cabin where he found Ken holding an armload of white bath towels. “How is he?” Ken asked, dumping half the load into Jimmy’s open arms.

  “I don’t know,” Jimmy answered, honestly. “But he’s not dead.”

  “I’ll look after the woman. She’s hit in the shoulder.”

  “Venus,” Jimmy said. “Her name is Venus.”

  “Right,” said Ken. “Venus. What about the one in the mask? What’s her name?”

  “That’s Julie.”

  “Damn it Jimmy! I leave you on your own for a few months and look at the mess you’ve made! Get out there! Don’t you dare let that man die!”

  Jimmy felt like he’d been sucker-punched, and he bared his teeth at Ken. “None of this is my fault,” he growled back before leaving Ken to help Julie with Burt.

  Julie carefully bandaged Burt’s head, and just as she finished, Doc ran to up to join them. “Head wound, maybe a cracked skull,” Julie said, as if she had any medical training. “I couldn’t see any of his brain.”

  “That’s because he doesn’t have any,” Doc said, sadly. “We’ve got to get him inside. Help me, both of you.”

  Bill appeared next to them right after they’d finished the heavy lifting. “What happened?” he moaned, still wearing his black armband. “What the hell happened?”

  Jimmy helped Ken with Venus; they gently put her in the single bed next to Burt. They then plugged Julie’s shattered window with blankets as she helped Doc tend to the wounded.

  “Come on, Jimmy,” Ken said. “We’d better take care of those bodies. We can’t leave them out there like that.”

  Jimmy understood, but the last thing he felt like doing was handling dead bodies.

  “My back,” said Bill. “I’m sorry.”

  Jimmy wanted to bust Bill in the mouth, but he only shook his head as he followed Ken out into the day that had once been so promising.

  What struck Jimmy first was the total lack of support from the other members in camp. Where is everyone? Jimmy thought to himself as he and Ken heaved on the lifeless arms of a middle-aged man. Jimmy thought he recognized the man, but he had a hard time looking at his face. The top of his head was missing, and gray matter hung from the wound like spoiled jam. They dragged the body to the back of the cabin.

  “We’ll put them all back here,” said Ken. “We’ll need to find a tarp to cover them. Do you think you can handle that?”

  “Yeah, I’ll be right back.”

  “Not now! Let’s get the bodies back here, first. Can you handle that?”

  “Yes,
” snipped Jimmy. Ken was starting to wear thin on him, and he needed to draw a line somewhere. This was that somewhere. “Cut the shit. This is hard enough as it is.”

  Ken only gave Jimmy a hard look as they returned to the killing field for another body. They worked in silence, dragging the bodies behind the cabin and placing them side by side in a gruesome slumber party.

  The last casualty had suffered a bullet wound to her neck, and she died with her hands clutching her own throat. Jimmy gasped as he realized that the pretty dead woman with the snow-colored skin was Jasmine.

  “You know her?” Ken asked.

  “Yeah,” Jimmy croaked. “I’ve seen her around.”

  “Damn shame. So young,” Ken said. “Come on, grab her arm. Let’s finish this.”

  Bill was standing over the bodies when they arrived with the lifeless body of Jasmine. He looked at her and then to Jimmy. He then stuck his hands in his pockets and walked away, never saying a word. Jimmy’s next task was to find the long-lost M-16 and to hide it until Ken could return it to his basement. He only hoped that the awful truth wouldn’t come out. Many people had died because of his carelessness, and Jimmy felt a growing emptiness in his belly.

  They waited inside Julie’s cabin as life slowly returned to the outside world. Bodies were tearfully claimed, and most of the blood and gore was cleaned from the snow. Ken and Jimmy sat at Julie’s table and drank hot coffee spiked with some Irish cream. Ken surprised Jimmy by actually listening to him with only a few interruptions as he tried to explain the events of the past days and weeks.

  “Communists,” said Ken, shaking his head.

  “It’s not like that,” Jimmy said, defensively. “They’re good people.”

  “They may be good people; they’re just misguided. This mess, this day, should teach them a few lessons about their way of life. If only one of these people would have had a gun, think of how many lives would have been saved.”

  “I know. I tried to tell them. I really did.”

  “But you gave up your guns to get inside here. I just don’t understand that. How could you do that?”

  Jimmy shook his head as he tried to think of a reason. “That was the only way I could get inside,” he managed, hoping it was enough excuse for Ken.

  “Oh, that’s a steaming pile of bullshit, and you know it. Goddamn it kid, wake up and smell the coffee. Nobody takes your guns. Do you hear me? Nobody!”

  And as if they had been waiting outside the door for Ken to say just that, Pluto and Mars walked into the cabin without knocking. “That’s where you’re wrong,” Pluto said, glaring at Ken from the open door. “I’ll be taking your guns if you plan to stay. Don’t you think they’ve killed enough people?”

  “Kiss my ass,” growled Ken.

  Bill slunk back inside the cabin and took a seat next to Ken and Jimmy at the table. “Don’t mess with this guy,” he said to Pluto and Mars. “He’s a crazy bastard.”

  Jimmy slapped Bill on the shoulder and nearly sent him over the back of his chair. “Will you shut your damn mouth? This is serious!”

  Bill looked hurt, but he said nothing as things inside the cabin began to heat up.

  “You’ll have to leave now,” Mars said, crossing his arms in front of him. “We don’t allow guns here. Get your asses out of those chairs and get the hell out of here.”

  “I didn’t do anything,” said Bill.

  “He wasn’t talking to you,” Pluto snapped.

  “I’m not going anywhere without my friend in there, and right now he’s fighting for his life,” Ken said. “I’ll be happy to leave once I know he’s going to make it.”

  “Then give me your weapons,” demanded Mars.

  “Try and take them from me,” hissed Ken.

  “Ken,” said Jimmy. “Come on. Let’s be reasonable. This is their place.” Jimmy instantly regretted those words as Ken’s face contorted with rage.

  “Listen here you pansy-assed piece of shit, nobody is taking my guns! Let me guess?” Ken asked, standing to his full six foot three and pointing a finger accusingly at the newcomers. “You must be Mars and Pluto. What the hell kind of names are those? Are you playing some sort of game here?”

  “Give me your guns, old man,” Mars demanded again, this time between gritted teeth.

  “Listen here you snot-nosed punk,” Ken shot back. “I’m nobody’s old man, and anytime you want to try me, you can give it your best shot. I’ll snap your goddamn neck.”

  “He will, too,” said Bill. “He’s a crazy bastard.”

  “Enough!” shouted Pluto. “You must be Ken, I’ve heard a lot about you. This bickering is getting us nowhere. Let’s back up and start over.”

  “After he gives up his weapons,” Mars quipped.

  Pluto turned on his counterpart and pointed to the door. “I’ll handle this,” he said. “You go out there and help manage this crisis. People are going to be looking to us for some direction.”

  Mars held his hands out in front of him and stared into them helplessly. He snarled at both Ken and Jimmy before turning away from Pluto and walking out the door.

  Chapter 23

  Jimmy sat in silence as Pluto and Ken had a heated discussion about gun control. Bill tried to interrupt only once, and Ken rewarded him with a hard slap to the face. “Keep your yap shut,” he warned, closing his hand into a fist. “Or you’ll get one of these.” Bill whimpered as he rubbed his flaming-red cheek, but he said nothing.

  “That’s a perfect example of what I’m talking about,” said Pluto, stroking his long beard thoughtfully. He was dressed as he usually was, entirely in denim, and his long gray hair was tied back in a ponytail. “Your anger is uncontrollable. What gives you the right to slap that man? Who are you to threaten him with violence?”

  “Have you ever met this guy?” Ken asked, incredulously, hooking a thumb back towards Bill. “He’s a goddamn fool, and he never knows when to shut his damn mouth. He’s got one friend in this world, and that’s Jimmy.”

  “That’s not true,” whispered Bill. “I’ve got friends.”

  Jimmy glared at Bill and held his finger to his lips. Ken shook his head and returned his attention to Pluto. “Look,” he said, scratching the gray stubble on top of his head. “We can argue about this all day long. I respect you, and you have every right to run your camp as you wish. I think you’re nuts, but you’re the boss. The second that Doc tells me that Burt is ready to move, I’m out of here, and I’ll never be back. Okay? The bottom line is that I’m not going anywhere without my friend, and I’m not giving up my guns.”

  “Can’t you see what’s right in front of you?” Pluto asked. “Your guns killed a lot of people here today. None of this would have happened if you and your friends hadn’t shown up with your firearms. You right-wing nut jobs never cease to amaze me. This is all on you—all of it! What part of that don’t you understand?”

  “Get off your soapbox, you commie asshole,” Ken fired back. “I didn’t kill anyone who didn’t need killin’. You can’t hold me responsible for what your people did here today. If it wasn’t for me and Jimmy and Burt in there, you might all be dead by now. You goddamn pacifists are all the same, always blaming someone else for your own bullshit.”

  “My people were just fine until your people showed up,” retaliated Pluto. “There were no guns here and everyone got along just fine. There was no killing because there were no guns for anyone to kill each other with.”

  “We need our guns for protection.”

  “You need them for protection from each other. How twisted is that?”

  “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

  “Warmonger!”

  “Can it, leftie!”

  “Are you going to hit me? Would you hit an old man? Should I be afraid of you?”

  “Guys!” shouted Jimmy. He’d heard enough of this argument. The time had come to do some damage control. “Look, you’re never going to agree on any of this. You both make valid points, and I res
pect both of your opinions. Can we all just agree to disagree? This arguing has got to stop.”

  Doc suddenly stepped out of the bedroom. His flannel shirt was splattered with blood, and he looked as if he had aged ten years. “He’s a long way from being out of the woods,” he said. “But, God willing, I think he’s going to make it.”

  “Thank God,” said Ken, holding his hand to his heart.

  “Venus should be all right, too. She took a round up by her shoulder, and it passed through her without doing too much damage. I think she’ll recover fairly quickly.”