by Annie Berdel
“So could you kill your best friend if his whole life was already gone and now he couldn’t move?” Jonathan asked his brother
Kevin let out a sigh “Ya know. I think I could,” he said as he shook his head up and down.
“Really?” his wife asked
Kevin looked down at his folded hands that were in his lap. Kill his best friend. Put a bullet in him. Kevin wasn’t so sure anymore. He needed to be honest with himself and not try to be the tough guy with the rest of the group. He shut his eyes and tried to transport himself to a time and place to try and trick his mind into an answer.
“Curve-ball,” Jessica said, “What if it was me?”
“Shit. Really?” Kevin said. “No way. There’s no way I could off you”
“The kids are all gone, which would kill me in itself. I’m now paralyzed from my neck down and can’t move. You wouldn’t put me out of my misery?” Jessica asked as she looked at him.
“Let’s go back to the original question” Emily said, sensing the uncomfortable tension between Kevin and Jessica. “I think I honestly could do it and let me explain how. You have to remember,” she said with all seriousness, “We are talking post-apocalyptic world here. Our happy little self-absorbed life is over. No more Super Bowl, no more midnight trips to Taco Hell. Lord only knows what we have already seen or have had to endure. Our minds have changed, our thoughts have changed on what is moral or not. We aren’t eating or sleeping properly. Heck, I’d probably off both of us together and just get it over with, especially if I already lost all those I care about. Who cares at that point?”
“Well, you could off him and then eat ‘em” Jonathan chimed in with a wicked grin
“You’re a sick fuck, you know that little brother,” said Kevin
11
Kevin and Jessica waved goodbye again as the kids ran back to give Grandma and Grandpa another hug. Their kids still attended public school and had to be up early to catch the bus. 6am came pretty early to a couple of pre-teens and they still had chores to do before bed. Jack and Janie ran on ahead of their parents, who strolled hand in hand towards their own section of the homestead. Reluctant at first to make the move, they both never regretted the decision. It was nice for the kids to have their cousins around within walking distance. Their grandparents had active roles in their lives and saw them way more often than birthdays and holidays like most other kids.
Kevin pulled Jessica back a bit and slowed the pace.
“Everything OK?” Jessica asked
“Ya, I guess. I wanted to get your take on the whole cemetery thing without the kids hearing, though.” Kevin responded. “I guess I haven’t really thought about that part of all this, but it’s bothering me. I’m not sure I could actually bury one of you if I had to. Jesus!” he exclaimed as be ran his hand through his hair, obviously shaken.
Jessica locked her arm into his. “I’m not going anywhere anytime soon, but it’s always good to talk about everything. The good parts and the sucky parts, ya know.”
“I guess” Kevin stated. “Tonight was a little rough. I’m glad we walked over, I needed the fresh air”
Jessica could sense the little bit of panic in the pit of Kevin’s stomach. She had it too, but she was also a mama bear, and she was going to do everything within her power to make sure her family was safely taken care of.
12
A couple days later, Emma drove Dixon over to see his favorite Doc. She wanted to pick his brain on a few things that were left up in the air the last time she was there.
“Hey stranger” Doc exclaimed as he was exiting the barn. He reached down to give Dixon a scratch behind the ears. “How’s my favorite wolf fighter?” he asked
“Funny you ask that, Doc,” Emma said “It’s kind of what I want to talk to you about”
“Everything OK with Dix?” Doc asked with a look of concern on his face.
“Oh no! He’s just fine. I just wanted to see if you have gotten any test results back yet on the one I brought you the other day”
“No on the results, but I’m not sure if you realized it, but that wolf you brought me was a female.” Emma stopped dead in her tracks.
“A female?”
“Yes, and a nursing one at that,” Doc said
Emma stared at him for a minute and then yelled for Dixon to get in the truck.
“Whoa, hold on there a minute” Doc exclaimed as he grabbed her arm “Just where do you think you are going?”
“Damn it Scott, there are very hungry wolf cubs and a pissed off male somewhere between my house and town. Every small child and livestock animal are in danger. I need to go find Brian so we can start warning people. Now let go of my damned arm!” she screamed at him as she headed for the truck.
Flooring it, she blew gravel up from behind her rear tires. “Damn crazy woman,” Doc thought and then said a quiet prayer over her.
13
Emma headed into town. She needed to talk to Brian and put a plan together to let people know that there could be trouble with these wolves. As she turned into the parking garage for the local Emergency Management Office, she realized she had been so focused on the wolf issue that she had completely zoned out most of the trip. Taking a deep breath she refocused. “Situational Awareness” she muttered to herself as she glanced in her side mirrors. Crime had increased in town recently so much that one would think her small hometown was a big city.
Unemployment was skyrocketing and people were getting desperate. Just last week a woman was walking into the local grocery store with her small child and someone just walked up and shot her and took her purse. The woman just crumbled to the ground while her child was still clutching her hand. What was this world coming to? Compassion and empathy were being removed from the human language and replaced with rage and violence. The newest fad in big cities was something called “The knockout game.” A punk would walk up to an individual and hit them so hard in the face that it would knock them out. The goal of the game was to only use one punch to knock them unconscious, which is bad enough, but people were dying from this senseless act.
Emma removed her handgun from under her steering column and placed it into her holster on her belt. Making sure she had her flashlight and knife, she gave a giggle as she patted her pocket. The triplets, as she called them, were always with her.
Rechecking her surroundings, Emma got out of her vehicle and just stood still listening for any sounds. Identifying her surroundings, a quick scan showed her the exits and surrounding vehicles. She also saw a fire extinguisher hanging on the wall between the stair door and the elevator doors. Walking in that direction, she heard a car door shut. Her head jolted in the direction of the noise but she didn’t see anyone. Taking a deep breath she quickened her speed.
Another car door closed and a woman appeared. Emma recognized her from the post office. “What was her name?” Emma thought. She hadn’t lived in town long as Emma remembers her signing up for a post office box for her mail delivery. Angie. Angie was her name. They had talked briefly at the post as Emma had given her some general directions towards the grocery and library in town. Angie was a nurse from Memphis here visiting her mom but was in the process of buying a small apartment so she could visit more often. They could also then use the apartment for Angie’s other siblings when they also came into town to visit their mom. Emma said hi as they both moved towards the exits to the lower levels.
They were halfway to the exit when the man appeared. Haggard in appearance, he made the hair on the back of Emma’s neck stand on end. She knew to trust her senses. Her gut was telling her to get the hell out of there and fast. The man got to the door before her and stood off to the side. “Odd,” Emma thought. Why not stand in front of the elevator doors like everyone else? Angie stopped in front of the elevator and pushed the button. She turned and looked at the man and began to engage him in conversation. Well, maybe she knew him?
Emma’s mind began to run through possible scenarios. She decided her best opti
on was to take the stairs down to the main floor. Getting caught in a closed elevator with someone who gave her the willies was not her idea of a good time. Making an excuse that exercise was good for the heart; she quickly dodged behind the door and began her descent. Listening behind her, she did not hear the door open or close.
It was a quick trip down the one floor to where Brian’s office was located. As she exited the stairwell, she glanced at the lights on the elevator that showed what floor it was on. Nothing. No lights were lit. That means that they did not use the elevator and they were still in the parking garage.
Emma quickly found Brian’s office but his secretary said he hadn’t returned from lunch yet. Glancing at her watch, Emma was about 20 minutes early. Something wasn’t right here, Emma could feel it. Pacing back and forth a couple times, Emma told the secretary that she had forgotten something in her car and would be right back.
Once in the hallway, Emma un-holstered her Glock and checked to make sure she had a bullet in the chamber. Double checking the extra two mags she carried, she slid the firearm down behind her right leg, keeping her finger of the trigger. Once she entered the stairwell, she stopped and listened. Nothing. The silence quickly enhanced the beating of her heart and it echoed in her ears like the drums Doc Scott used to play in high school.
Ascending the stairs one by one, Emma was as quiet as a cat sneaking up on its prey. Stopping at the top of the stairwell, Emma listened. Muffled noises. Emma couldn’t make them out. Faint rustling. Taking a deep breath, Emma slowly cracked open the door and waited. That’s when she heard the noise that made her heart stop. The muffled noise became clearer. Taking her cell phone from her pocket, she quietly dialed 911 and whispered the address into the handset.
Sliding the phone into her pocket, she said a quick prayer. Opening the door wider, she exited the stairwell and stopped. Listening intently, the sound was coming from where she had parked her truck earlier. Taking a hard left, Emma walked down several rows of cars and aligned herself with where she was parked. Crouching down, she looked under the cars in the direction of the sound.
What she saw next made her blood boil. A coat, the same type of coat that Angie was wearing earlier was on the ground. Emma could see red hair spilled over a face that was pushed down into the pavement. Emma’s eyes scanned the rest of the body and that’s when Emma saw a knee bent beside the coat. A knee that was clothed in the same type of blue-jeans that the man was wearing earlier. It was quite obvious now that someone, someone wearing the same coat that Angie had on was being raped by someone wearing the same pants the man had on earlier.
The sirens could now be heard, getting louder as they came closer and closer to where Emma was. She knew the man heard them also as she heard him start to bark commands at Angie. “Don’t get up. Don’t look at me. Stay where you are or I will kill you” was coming out of the man’s mouth in a coarse, raspy tone that made Emma think of pure evil.
Emma knew if something didn’t happen soon, this vile excuse for a human would get away. She quickly eased herself to the next aisle and came within a car of the man. Using the neighboring car as cover, the scene before her made her sick to her stomach. The man had Angie on her stomach with both of his hands clenching her naked hips. Her nylons had been ripped from one leg and still covered the other, the clasp of the garter belt fighting to hold onto the top of the stocking. Her skirt had been pushed up her back and her panties shoved aside exposing her smooth porcelain and now quite vulnerable flesh. The man was kneeling between her legs, his hairy buttocks still covered by his shirt thrusting his manhood with such force it caused his shirt to swing back and forth like the temp of a grandfather clock. He was oblivious to Emma sneaking up behind him. His focus was on the woman before him and the sound of the sirens coming closer and closer. His mind was calculating the time he had left, silently cursing that he was quickly coming to an end before he was ready.
The creature lying on the ground underneath the man was helpless. Having lost the senses to fight, she just whimpered. Emma used her lowest octave and yelled “I have a gun and will shoot you if you don’t get off of her and get on the ground NOW!”
The man froze.
His hands still on the woman’s hips, he slowly disengaged his penis from within her. “I need to stand up,” he said as he started to raise his hands.
“Get on the fucking ground now,” Emma screamed. Her voice cracked. “Damn it,” she thought to herself.
“No….no, it’s OK”, the man stammered, “I’m going to just stand up now” as he backed away from the woman.
“Don’t fucking move you piece of shit,” Emma yelled but the man was ignoring her and continued to move back and quickly tuck in his penis and zip his pants.
“Lady, I don’t know what you think you are doing, but this is none of your business what I am doing here with my friend. You best be on your way and right quick,” he said
“I am telling you to get on the ground now.”
The man was now on his feet and standing. He slowly turned and faced Emma. His eyes now glued to the gun.
“Well listen, bitch, you want a piece of this too, we can make that happen,” he said as he began to walk towards Emma. A flash of light hit her across the eyes as the light reflected off the blade of the knife he now had pulled and aimed towards her. The narrow slits of her eyes drew together and Emma knew it was time to act as this sorry excuse for a man was not going to go down without a fight. Emma braced for it. She knew the impact she would feel in her hands. The power that escaped as she quickly pulled back on the trigger hopefully had the strength to send this piece of shit straight to hell.
Center mass, the bullet ripped into his shirt with such force it shoved him back a bit before he collapsed. Emma’s eyes locked on his as the surprise ripped through his face. His eyes quickly turned to white as they rolled upwards and he fell back.
Keeping one hand on her gun and pointed on the man, Emma ran over to Angie. So zoned in on the man, Emma had not heard her screams until just now Angie was sitting up, her clothes still in disarray from her ordeal. Emma sat down and put an arm around her.
“It’s over. We need to wait for the police now” Emma said to Angie as calmly as she could.
Angie was sobbing with such force that Emma thought she would hyperventilate. But she was also still alive. Angie heard nothing. Saw nothing. She had escaped into her own private womb so the outside would not hurt her anymore. Her world had just been shattered. Her sense of security had been stripped from her. She clung to Emma for life, fighting to take each breath.
14
Brian was through the door and into the parking garage before the police arrived. His secretary had told him Emma was there and had gone back to her car in the parking garage. When she hadn’t shown back up, he went looking for her when he heard the gunshot. He saw Emma shoot the guy, and like an old slow-motion movie, watched him hit the ground.
Using her name, Brian called out to Emma multiple times before she finally heard him. Slowly breaking from the trance, she glared at him with the look of pure hatred on her face. The look wasn’t for Brian but all the emotions collected together for the man she had shot. It took her a moment for her to recognize her old friend. Brian talked her through getting her pistol holstered as she kept an eye on the man now lying in a pool of blood on the cold hard concrete.
Taking his phone, he called his secretary and asked her to quickly bring a blanket to the garage. “Just do it,” he yelled into the phone and hung up. Looking around, he took mental images of the scene. The police should be here soon, he thought, as the sound from the sirens was almost upon them.
His secretary emerged from the elevator and stopped dead in her tracks as she surveyed what was going on before her.
Brian quickly told her to take the blanket to Emma so she could cover up the woman. “Go to the lobby and instruct the officers on what’s going on up here so we don’t get shot. Let them know I have this asshole under control, that I do have a
loaded firearm and that we are going to need two ambulances.”
“Yes sir” his secretary said as she turned and ran toward the elevator.
“Oh, and don’t let anyone up here besides the ambulance and the police… call the garage attendant and tell him to shut off the entrance”
Yes sir” his secretary said as she disappeared into the elevator
“You OK?” he shot over to Emma
“Yeah,” Emma nodded
15
“What the hell are you talking about?” Emma blatantly asked the police officer. “What do you mean by ‘Was she asking for it?”
“Well ma’am, you said you observed them before you went downstairs. Was she flirting with him? Was her blouse unbuttoned too much? That kind of stuff.” The officer replied with all seriousness.
“You have got to be kidding me!” Emma exclaimed rather loudly. “A woman is raped and the first thing you think that’s the problem is that it’s her fault? Really? Is that the training you receive or is this your process of thinking, that it’s always the woman’s fault? That the woman had to have done something wrong because, Lord knows, no man would ever do this without being manipulated by the female? Seriously? I just witnessed some asshat committing a forcible felony and all you’re worried about is if he was coerced into it. I just shot a man and now you are putting me through this bullshit? What the fuck is wrong with you people?”
Emma was truly disgusted. She left the officer staring after her in the hallway and walked back into the hospital room. She had had enough stupidity for one day and was on the cusp of doing something that would not be beneficial to anyone but damn, if it wouldn’t make her feel a lot better!
Angie was lying there in her sterile white bed with her eyes closed. Her auburn hair splayed across the pillow with such contrast that it reminded Emma of Heaven and Hell and what this world was coming to. This woman left her home this morning with the intention of returning tonight, eating dinner, scratching her cat and going to sleep in her own bed, sliding in between her own two sheets and laying her head on her own pillow. Instead, she would be spending several days among strangers, being poked and prodded for information like a common criminal. Emma’s eyes welled with tears at the absurdity of this.