Remus awoke with the morning sun shining in his eyes, amplifying the drum pounding in his head. He sat up and took in his surroundings. The first thing he noticed was the blood that was covering his shirt and hands. He thought back to the night before... it was his own blood, he remembered, from his broken nose. He reached a hand up to feel his face, but thought better of it. He stood up and noticed that he was in the rooftop garden. Remus ambled painfully over to the nearest bench, and took a seat. Josh must have carried me here, he thought.
Just then, the door to the garden burst open, and Josh stalked out carrying a black rifle in his hands.
"That motherfucker!" spat Josh, "That absolute son of a BITCH!"
"Josh, whats going on?" said Remus, alarmed. "And why the fuck do you have a gun?"
"Son of a bitch is gonna learn you don't beat the shit out of an old man without consequences."
"No, Josh, you can't. don't! what THE FUCK are you doing with that gun!"
"What the fuck do you think I'm doing?" Josh walked over to the edge of the roof, and looked down, mounting the butt of the gun against his shoulder. "I'm gonna blow the bastard's brains out, that's what I'm gonna do with this gun."
*BAMM*
The shot rang out through the city, the sound bouncing and echoing off the buildings.
Remus ran over to the edge, and, at the sight of red splattered across the front steps of the police station, vomited.
"JESUS CHRIST!" screamed Remus, "WHY THE FUCK DID YOU DO THAT!?"
"That was the bastard that beat you to a pulp last night. He got what he deserved." Josh sounded way too cool. chills ran down Remus's spine, and he vomited again, this time onto the ground between himself and Josh.
"Oh god, christ, jesus, fuck.." mumbled Remus as he clasped his head in his hands and sat on the ground.
"They'll find us! you can't murder a policeman and get away with it! And when they find us, they'll kill us! we were beaten up for defending our place in line, and that was nothing compared to this!"
Josh set the butt of the rifle on the ground and began to reload it. They heard screams from below, and sirens began to wail.
"What is that?" Remus said, suddenly serious and calm.
"those are called sirens, my man"
"No, that gun. What is that?"
"I thought you might recognize it. Fitting, don't you think?"
Remus stared at the black M16 as Josh slid the magazine back into the gun.
"That's my gun. That's MY gun! Where the FUCK did you get my gun!?" screamed Remus, becoming wildly incensed.
"Easy cowboy, I found it under your bed. I thought you might have a souvenir from your glory days, so I took a look through your place. I was surprised by it's condition, though. Through all these years, you've taken very good care of it, haven't you?"
"I got rid of that gun when I left the service. Before you came along, I hadn't touched a gun since the war! And then you show up out of nowhere, and now you've killed a man! What the fuck is going on!?"
"It is rather odd, isn't it?" said Josh. "I wonder if they're here yet?" He jumped up onto the ledge and looked down. "Oh, they're here alright. We must not have been too hard to find. Have a look."
Remus clambered up onto the ledge, and looked down. there was a cluster of emergency vehicles around the police station, and a group of police cars in front of Watershed Heights.
"Oh god, we're going to die. Why did you do this to me?" pleaded Remus.
"You did this to yourself. You've grown tired of this place, this world. You wanted to go out with a bang."
"NO! I DON'T want this! You don't know what I want!"
"Yes I do, old man. I know exactly what you want. I came here just to give it to you."
"I just wanted peace! All I want is for the pain to go away! I wanted to escape from the horrors in my dreams! All you've done now is give me another bad dream!"
"I've given you the solution, old man. I know you're pains. they're my pains, too. we have a lot in common, you know. we want the same things."
The door to the roof burst open, and several armed policeman rushed through.
"DROP THE GUN! WE'VE GOT YOU SURROUNDED!" yelled one officer.
"I understand you like no other. All you want is peace. You brought me here to show you the way."
"PUT THE GUN ON THE GROUND! NOW!"
"It wasn't me! it was him! he killed him!" pleaded Remus.
"Don't bother, they'll just think you're crazy." Josh pressed the gun into Remus's hands, smiled, and stepped off of the ledge into the open air.
"NOOOOOOO!!!" screamed Remus.
"YOU'VE GOT 10 SECONDS BEFORE WE OPEN FIRE!"
Remus looked up at the men as comprehension and pain flooded his head.
Remus pressed the muzzle of the gun into the space between his chin and throat, and pulled the trigger.
He fell silently backwards through the morning air, spilling life out into space.
Finally, peace.
An older man, who he knows as Remus, is thrusted the rifle by the man who just killed the police officer. Smiling, the murderer jumps from the roof, winning gasps from the on lookers below. Falling, in what almost seems like slow motion, the murderer eventually lands with a large *SPLAT* on the sidewalk. This causes the vomit to begin flowing from Emilio's mouth once again. He coughs and eventually dry heaves, nothing left in his stomach.
ReplyDeleteWhat is going on?! Is the only thought running through his mind. The scene has caused him to completely forget his previous grievances.
As the officers make there way towards the frightened Remus now holding the rifle, everyone watches quietly what will happen next. Slowly yet surely, Remus brings the rifle to his head. Screams, "Oh God!"s and "Jesus Christ!"s arise from the crowd as the old man takes his own life and plunges downward, joining his friend on the sidewalk.
After a long 12 hours by the fountain, Ms. Pigg saw almost everybody that lived in Watershed Heights. It was now midnight and Ms. Pigg's lips were starting to bleed from so much playing. As she was walking slowly home, Ms. Pigg saw two more people lying face down on the ground. Remus and Josh were lying next to each other with a dozen policeman looking down from the top of Watershed Heights apartment. There was blood everywhere, and Ms. Pigg was starting to freak out about her neighbors jumping off the eight story building. So to get her mind off the eventful day, Ms. Pigg shot up some Heroin. Ms. Pigg didn't want to remember this day ever again, so she passed out on her soft mattress.
ReplyDeleteI left my slippers there in the puddle as I walked off, walking another 2 minutes before I came back to my apartment.
ReplyDeleteBANG!!!
A shot suddenly ran through the air. I jumped at the sound, slipping on the oily granite and falling into a large puddle, soaking myself. My eyes widened as I saw a man's head explode, and then a man walk off the building and crack his head open on the ground, and then another shot from the roof. I screamed and scrambled to get up, running into my building. This place was freaking crazy.
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ReplyDeleteThe walk to the bus takes forever.
ReplyDeleteThat lucky drugged up guy lands a few feet away from me in a splatter of blood. So it goes.
A woman was struck by lightning and burnt to a crisp. God was right; in the end, we can't make a difference.
That painfully normal lady with the plants crosses over to the fountain.
That guy with the staff stands in the middle of the basketball court, casting spells. What the fuck.
While I wait for the bus, I contemplate writing a book when I'm not working my 9 to 5. I contemplate living a little. Whatever. All my dreams will come true.
The bus arrives, and I get on. I'm on my way to an office or a factory or a school. Heather works, but she'd make more money if she were a boy. And if I were smarter, I wouldn't teach. But I'm not as smart as I could be.
The bus pulls away, and nobody saw, heard from, or cared for Leeroy Jenkins again.
Ezekiel could tell from his years of hunting leopards that the man had been shot - properly executed by one bullet under the chin. This man had comitted suicide.
ReplyDeleteLike one from a movie. Interrupted by the police, they scream and yell at him to drop the rifle. With his eyes still on me, he raises the rifle awkwardly to his chin and pulls the trigger. His body falls in slow motion to the ground as the police rush to him.
ReplyDeleteThe door busts open with a bang, and I duck behind the low ledge above the fire escape. A man stumbles out carrying another man over his shoulder. I recognize this incapacitated fellow as "Remus," but i've never seen the other man before.
ReplyDeleteHe lays Remus out on a bench and I can see that he is covered in blood. The Other Man has a rifle. I'm briefly terrified that I'm about to witness a murder, but Remus comes to, and I hear them arguing......
It was then that a shot rang out. The sound was so loud, she automatically covered her ears. It must have been heard all over Watershed Heights. She looked around. No one appeared. The police immediately came, then a second shot was heard. What did appear was the body of a frail old man sailing on a red cloud. A cloud that turned in to a million drops of blood that seemed to glisten in the sunlight. His body landed silently on the pavement but not before it covered her as well. It splattered onto the side of the wall and then settled.
ReplyDeleteGunshot. And not just any gun, an m-16. Somehow I just know the sound. Why? It came from right above me. Putting on my coat, I open a mirror and walk up.
ReplyDeletePeeking, I see a man. He's holding an m-16. It's that crazy guy I saw before talking to himself. He's doing the same thing, talking. Waving his gun, he looks so familiar.
"Him. We want Him." On the screen in front of me is a man. With a rough, battered look and his rifle, the man looks like a veteran. My eyes stayed on the target while they spoke."More importantly, we want him alive. Bring Him back upon discovery of his whereabouts." Turn to face them, I replied "Understood."
Him. It's him. I need to get him. But how? He's crazy. Worse, he's got an m-16. Those two things should never be associated. As I crawl up, my hand shifts a pebble. More like a rock. That slingshot. Perfect. All my other tools would have killed him or made a mess. Positioned, I take aim but his movement are unreadable. Even worse, he's been visualized by officers. Why are did they respond so fast? I need to get going, before this escalates into an inescapable situation. I take my shot. He shot first. Not me but himself. His body falls.
Mission Failed.