tadhg.com
tadhg.com
 

9: Pursuit, Competence, Indifference, Regulations, Unease

22:51 Sun 10 Sep 2006
[, , , , ]

As the large man walked into the room, Lee let go of Korza’s balls and moved around behind him, putting Korza between her and the stranger, and keeping her gun ready for either of them.

The newcomer was trying to open the clasp on his shoulder holster.
“Pull that and I’ll decorate the wall with your brain.”
The man stopped and moved his hand slowly off his holster.
“Good boy. Now move behind that desk.” As he did, she shifted her grip to Korza’s throat and shoved him towards the desk. Then she took out handcuffs and kicked them over. “Put those on.”

He picked them up and handed one pair to the other man. “Look, Gerry, put them on, it’ll be okay, she’s just pissed right now.” She watched Gerry put them on, and as she did, Korza made his move. He darted behind Gerry and shoved him towards Lee.

Lee was trying to aim at Korza since he was the one moving, and so was late in getting her gun back on Gerry. He was able to grab her wrists with his hands and tried to knock her gun away. She headbutted him and shoved him away with a knee. He managed to get his gun out. Lee paused, giving him a moment to reconsider, and when he kept moving shot him in the wrist, in the neck, and in the face.

Lee decided to skip on checking whether he was dead and ran in the direction Korza had gone.

As she ran after him, she reflected on the fact that while it had been self-defence, the new regulations said that she could have shot him as soon as he walked in. She had always worked within the rules, but now the expansion of leeway disturbed her.

(300 words)

The above is part of a series of microfiction pieces.

Leave a Reply