Execution Day
March 4, 2016
Cell 12321-13521
Inmate No. 24601 [Blacktip, Chase V.]
Tap...Tap...Tap...Tap…
"Nick, drumming your feet isn't going to solve anything, now is it?"
"That doesn't mean that it isn't soothing."
"It's not soothing, it's annoying. Knock it off already, would you?"
"No, I won't knock it off. Not when I know that this sound is going to be one of the last things I hear. I don't want to die, Judy, but what other options do I have, huh? I only have ten minutes left, so leave a dead fox in peace!"
"Nicholas Piberius Wilde! You stop that right now, I will come right over there and slug you in the snout. I don't think you want to go out with a broken snout, now do you? Although, Karma knows, I have been itching to wipe that smirk off your prissy face. I may be your wife, but they can't re-arrest us for domestic violence now, and for goodness' sake, I thought you were happy. Am I wrong? Answer me, darn it!"
"Calm the hormones, Judy. Am I happy? Yes, I am. Then again, for obvious reasons, no, no I am not at all happy."
As if to emphasize his point, a guard came over to our cell and banged on it. "Listen up, corpses! You will come with me now. Prisoner Longear, you are not to be executed, whereas Mister Blacktip, you will be upon the stroke of noon. It is up to you to choose how you go."
"What are my options, Officer?"
"Firing squad or lethal injection- pick your poison, prisoner."
Nick thought for a minute, then spoke: "How's the firing squad sound to you, Officer….What's your name again? I hate electricity, Officer, so as much as I hate bullets, I think this will be the better option."
"James Wolford, ZPD Precinct One. All senior officers serve two-week shifts. As for the lead, sounds fine. I never did like shocks anyways."
This threw me for a loop. What was an officer doing as a prison guard? That was a policy I'd never heard of, not in all my years at Precinct One.
"Why the change, Officer?" Nick asked. I could see he was losing his cool. Uh, oh. When Nicholas Wilde was scared, you sure had better be yourself, because he never lost his cool. Never, never, never.
That, and Wolford had been one of his best friends at the Precinct. Now, he was going to kill him.
"That darned rabbit Savage is pulling the strings again," he said, then bent down to whisper into Nick's ear. "You think I'm fooled by all this, Nick? I know it's you, buddy. I'll do what I can, alright?" He cuffed Nick and started to lead him away, then called after me. "Longear, keep up, would you?"
Nick was led out into the prison yard, where a line of armed guards already stood at attention. Wolford stood him in the middle of the line, then told me to stand aside. It was then that I noticed the time- the clock on the prison wall read ten seconds to noon.
Wolford began the countdown, and another guard held me back.
"Present arms! Ready, aim, three, two, one, fire!"
Bang!