The Brute (Horace Medved) (A Test Character)
By Adam Langfelder
The following is an idea for a character driven story.
Patrolman Dave Winslow was a badass with a badge, or at least that's what he told himself. When he joined the New Mexico Highway Patrol, he thought it would be a grand adventure of high speed chases and big time busts. The reality of his job involved warming the seat of his motorcycle waiting for speeders between Silver City and Lordsburg on State Road 90 and then riding back and forth along Interstate 10. He always took a lot of ragging from his fellow officers for being a gung-ho rookie. But all that changed 3 months ago, when he pulled over a little old lady from Tucson, Arizona. The 78-year-old was going 70 in a 65 mile an hour zone. As he was writing the speeding ticket, he noticed a pungent aroma coming from the inside of her Honda Accord. A quick look in the back-seat lead to the discovery of over 40 pounds of marijuana.
The elderly grandmother was successfully indicted three weeks later for a felony-one charge of drug trafficking. Since then, Winslow would pull over anyone he thought was breaking the law. He would pull drivers over for the most minor of infractions, giving drivers sobriety tests on a whim. Eventually, his fellow officers grew tired of Winslow's heavy handed approach. It didn't matter to him, he was a badass with a badge and he was riding the high of upholding the law.
At present, he was cooling his rear on the seat of his Kawasaki police motorcycle behind a McDonald's billboard. It was 85 degrees and his leather jacket wasn't helping much. He was thinking about trying his luck with asking Bethany out on a date again when suddenly a large semi sped past him. Winslow's radar gun clocked the truck going at least 80!
"Oh, baby," Winslow said out loud in excitement. "What's your hurry, buddy!" His bike shot out from behind the sign, lights and siren blaring; a cloud of dust blowing in his wake. Within 30 seconds, the patrolman was behind the flat faced truck. "PULL OVER NOW," he yelled into the onboard bullhorn. The truck driver didn't pull over; he didn't even slow down. The truck simply kept barreling down the highway as if the cop wasn't even there. Winslow increased his speed to get alongside the driver's side. He could've called for backup, but he knew he could take this bastard down.
Suddenly, the truck driver slammed on the brakes, causing the massive truck to rapidly slow down. Winslow had no time to react as the driver side door popped open and getting clotheslined in the face at almost 80 miles an hour! The impact sent the officer and the motorcycle tumbling all over the highway; the driver's side door lying on the road. As Winslow struggled to recover from the impact and the road rash, he noticed that the truck driver had walked up to him. While the man's features were silhouetted by the sun, his massive frame was clearly visible.
"To hell with arresting you," Winslow uttered as he drew his department issue Glock handgun. "You're dead, asshole!" It was at this point, when things got even crazier. Before Winslow could react, the large man grabbed the engine part of the destroyed motorcycle, and with a herculean display of strength, lifted it over his head as if it was made of cardboard. Winslow fired off a few shots at the giant but failed to score any critical hits. With a booming roar, the assailant slammed the mass of metal and plastic onto the downed officer; crushing bones and rupturing organs. Somehow, Winslow was sill breathing after having almost 100 pounds of scrap smashing into his body. Helplessly, he watched as the brute scooped up the officer's sidearm, aimed it at him, and then emptied the weapon into him.
As the assailant got back into the truck, he paid little attention to the radio call from the destroyed motorcycle:
"ALL UNITS BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR ESCAPED PRISONER DRIVING LATE MODEL 18-WHEELER RIG. SUSPECT IS MALE CAUCASIAN, 6'10", 300LBS, BLOND HAIR AND BROWN EYES. SUSPECT NAME IS HORACE MEDVED. SHOULD BE CONSIDERED ARMED AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS."