Godhand's Number: Thanks for the advice on using multiple perspectives. As you may have noticed; I am employing this technique on my other two stories. I am, however, curious as to what you mean by a 'show-not-tell problem'. I would really appreciate it if you could give me an example of what that is.
The gun laws in California aren't too restrictive, with the exception of the California AWB (Assault Weapon Ban). If you want a detailed description of what it prohibits, you can do a Yahoo search on California Penal Code Section 12276. It basically prohibits the sale or possession of semi-automatic rifles with any of the 'assault characteristics' defined under Section 12276.1. You are also prohibited from owning any ammunition magazine with a capacity over ten rounds. Both of these laws are, however, not applicable to Peace Officers.
aberaham tulip: The sudden change from joking to serious may seem a bit unusual to some people, but when faced with such stressful situations it is very common to switch moods rather quickly. A more common term for this is 'Gallows Humor' and is a natural psychological defense for many soldiers and first-responders.
miss-starfire: Yes I am, and yes I do.
Chapter Ten
"We now go live to Julie Steyner in Pacific Heights for more information." The news anchorman announced. "Julie?"
"Thank you Bob. I'm here in front of the Pacific Heights Police Department where, in about one minute, we are expecting Chief of Police Gary Jordan to give a short press conference regarding Kathryn Mossman, the Officer who was killed last night shortly after responding to a burglar alarm in one of this town's high-end neighborhoods. In addition to being the youngest member of the department's Reserve Program, Kathryn, or Kate as she was known to friends, was also a senior at Pacific Heights High School and joined the force as an Explorer in her freshman year…"
Sean muted the television and got up off of his bed, bringing the bottle of vodka with him. It had been over eleven hours since his life had essentially ended, since his best friend, his true love, had been ripped violently from him. Of those eleven hours, he had spent the last seven locked in his room: drinking, sleeping, and crying.
He stumbled over to the four-foot high safe in the corner of his room and swung the heavy metal door open. Even though he lived with his parents neither of them knew the combination to his safe, thus giving him the perfect opportunity to store a small arsenal of alcohol without them finding it. This time, however, he didn't reach for one of the decorative glass bottles. With a face devoid of emotion he withdrew his service weapon, a Smith and Wesson 5906, and one loose 9mm round: he didn't bother to grab one of its fifteen-round magazines because, he told himself, he only needed one bullet for what he had in mind.
Downing the remainder of the vodka he returned to his bed with the gun and bullet. Looking down at the stainless steel pistol in his hand, he broke out into tears once again.
"I'm coming with you Kate," He managed to choke out between sobs. "You are not leaving me like this!" He slipped the loose round into the breech and released the slide-lock mechanism, flinching as the pistol's slide snapped forward in his hand. With another deep breath he released the safety, cocked the hammer, put the gun to the side of his head, and pulled the trigger.
Outskirts
Bixby State Park – June 7 01:05
After two and a half hours of walking, even Kim (who was by-far the more athletic of Team Possible) was starting to wear out from the added weight they were carrying. She was about to suggest a rest stop to Sean when they heard voices coming up from the left.
"Take cover!" Sean whispered into his radio and gestured toward a patch of high foliage to their right. Moving quickly, yet silently, the four commandos knelt down in the bushes and activated their night vision goggles to get a better look at whoever was approaching.
Fifteen seconds after the team ducked into the brush two men came into view through the trees. They were wearing matching cammo uniforms, body armor, and black balaclavas to cover their faces. They also had automatic rifles slung over their shoulders. As they passed by, unaware of the four intruders right next to them, Kim heard the lead soldier mention something about 'the hostage in the machine shed' and her heart began to race.
'He's alive, he's in the shed!' She thought, allowing herself to breath a quiet sigh of relief. After about a minute, Sean's voice once again whispered into their ears.
"Everyone good to go?" Shego, Ron, and Kim all gave a thumb up. "Ok, it sounds like Dr. Possible's in the machine shed, Sue?"
"That's on the West side of the compound, near the barn." Shego replied. Sean nodded and signaled for them to proceed.
Southwest Corner
The New Order Compound – 01:29
"There it is" Shego announced pointing to the wooden building, about the size of a small apartment. The team had first arrived at the compound near the shooting range and followed Shego to their current position in the underbrush, about fifteen yards from their target.
"I see one hostile out front." Sean stated, despite the fact that the armed sentry, standing guard next to the front door, was clearly visible to all four of them.
"There's probably at least one inside with the Doc." Shego added as Sean withdrew a suppressor from one of his pockets, attached it to the barrel of his Bushmaster, and handed it to the NSA agent.
"Why aren't you taking the shot?" Ron whispered to the FBI agent. He'd seen him shoot at the farm the day before and knew he had deadly precision.
"Rules of Engagement are different in the NSA." The brunette answered. Ron didn't understand, but figured he could get a better answer later. He and Kim averted their eyes as Shego took aim and squeezed the trigger. With a hushed 'snap-snap' the assault rifle fired two quick shots that, striking the sentry in the side of the head, sent the man to the ground in a lifeless heap. Her job done, Shego returned the rifle to its owner and un-slung her own smaller-caliber MP-5SD submachine gun from behind her back.
"Alright Ron, you and Kim follow us and take cover near that wood pile next to the barn. Susan and I will go in and get your dad. When we come out cover us as we head back into the woods, then you do the same. If we're in there too long, or anyone you don't recognize comes out and poses a threat, take 'em down and fall back into the forest. Got it?" The two teen-commandos nodded. "Good, hang on one."
He reached down and switched channels on his radio. "This is Recon Alpha to CP (Command Post), come in." He paused as he waited for a reply. "Recon Alpha, recon team is in position and has a green light, initiate secondary strike-force now" Sean announced: giving the helicopter crews in Dubuque the notice to head out. Switching his radio back, Sean addressed his team again. "OK, let's go"
The four stood and began moving toward the barn as quietly as they could. The compound had several stadium lights set up, so they didn't need their night vision. As they approached the pile of stacked cordwood, the two teens knelt down and took aim at the front door of the shed while the agents took position on either side of the door.
Sean glanced down at the dead sentry, his scalp blown open from the .223 sub-sonic round, before turning his attention to Shego. The NSA agent held up her hand and gave him an 'ok' sign, which he quickly returned. With a nod, she then held up three fingers and began counting down. When the last finger disappeared into her fist, Sean stepped out in front of the door, raised his knee to chest level, and sent the door flying inward with a solidly placed kick.
"Well…there in." Ron commented: watching the events unfold above the sights of his Bushmaster.
"Yeah…" Kim sighed, lowering her rifle slightly; it was all in Sean and Shego's hands now. Suddenly her eyes were attracted to movement near the left-hand corner of the wooden shed.
The redhead watched horrified as another sentry appeared around the corner, stopping in his tracks when he saw the body of his friend.
"Oh fuck me…" She whispered, watching as the young man knelt down and took aim at the opened front door: waiting for the federal agents to emerge. Sean had said to shoot any hostiles…but he wasn't posing an immediate threat to anyone. Still, she had to do something.
"Sean, heads up! Sentry to the left of the front door!" She said into her throat mic, a little louder than she should have. Without hesitating, the sentry spun and released a spray of bullets from his rifle in the direction of the voice.
"Shit!" Ron screamed in pain as Kim dove for cover next to him. While the 7.62mm slugs began to pound the side of the barn and woodpile Kim looked over at her boyfriend. "Oh shit, shit-shit-shit…" He yelled through clenched teeth: his hands clamped over his lower abdomen.
"Ron! You're hit?" Kim yelled, pulling him closer to her position under cover.
"…Yeah, I-I guess I am." He replied in his best 'Ron voice', trying unsuccessfully to conceal the pain.
"You know son," Dr. William 'Bill' Possible announced as he dug a spoonful of what, according to the label on the MRE, was supposed to be Beef Macaroni from the pouch. "Just because you kids want to play army doesn't mean you have to eat like it. What's so hard about going to a market on occasion?"
"Shut up!" The guard, a seventeen year-old boy, hissed: tightening his grip on the Mini-14 in his hands. The fact that The New Order's leader had this boy committing such violent and illegal acts disgusted the doctor more than anything else he had encountered so far.
"C'mon kid, relax." Bill scolded. After several days in captivity he was starting to build his nerves: his attitude becoming slightly more cavalier towards his captors. "Look at me; I weigh one-hundred and forty pounds and spend fifty hours a week in a lab, how much of a risk…" But he never finished his sentence…
With a loud crash, the front door burst open and two camouflaged commandos with 'FBI' on their vests rushed into the room. Before Bill, or the guard, could react there were three sharp snaps and the boy fell to the ground: a large portion of his skull hitting the wall behind him.
Perhaps due to the swift and brutal nature of the commandos' entry, or the fact that he had never seen someone die right in front of him, Bill found himself staring at the agents in horrified fixation: the spoonful of macaroni hovering in front of his mouth.
"Dr. Possible," Sean announced as he leaned down and offered his hand to the frightened doctor. "I'm ASAC Pollard, FBI…" He gestured toward Shego. "This is Agent Gonzales, NSA. We're here to bring you home." Bill took the agent's hand and was pulled upright as the female agent, whom the doctor had the strangest feeling he had seen before, reached down and retrieved the dead boy's Ruger.
"Are you alright physically?" Asked Sean. "No problems walking?"
"No I'm fine." Bill responded.
"Here," Shego said, handing him the requisitioned carbine. "It's ready to go; just point and shoot."
"Stay between us and watch your targets," Sean added. "We've got two more operatives outside by the…"
"Sean, heads up! Sentry to the left of the front door!" Kim's voice came in clear as day.
Sean stopped and turned to Susan, right as the sharp 'clack-clack-clack' of an AK-47 reverberated through the shed.
"Kim!" They spoke in unison, as Sean ran toward the door with Shego and Bill close behind.
"Hang on Ron," Kim begged as she held the wounded blond in her arms while the sentry continued to empty his 30-round magazine into the woodpile. "You're gonna be fine…just hang on!"
"Amp down KP," Ron reassured his girlfriend through painful breaths. "I'm alright…it just…really hurts!" He forced himself to smile. "It's not like…in the movies y'know." He removed his right hand from the wound and drew his Glock from its holster: unable to reach his rifle, which was lying in the open. Kim was relieved to see that the wound was barley bleeding at all.
"Don't…worry about me," The blond reassured her as the gunfire stopped momentarily while the sentry loaded a fresh magazine: all the while screaming obscenities at the teens. "You need to…take out that soldier."
"And how am I going to do that?" The redhead replied, sliding up next to the woodpile so she was prepared to rise up and shoot at a moments notice. "I'd need a distraction…and since you're injured…" Ron laughed despite the obvious pain.
Suddenly the teens heard a familiar voice shout 'Get Down', followed by more shots.
"Did you say Kim?" Dr. Possible yelled at the male agent as the sound of automatic gunfire assaulted his eardrums.
"Stay back!" Was the response he got as Sean pushed him away from the door and took position in front of his partner. After what seemed like an eternity the shooting stopped momentarily and the two agents spun out into the open: taking aim at the sentry to their left.
"Oh shit!" Sean hissed. In the rush of things, he and Shego had managed to make the most rookie mistake and had both turned to their left, instead of Kim's left: the obvious result placing their backs to the armed soldier. Sean spun around just in time to watch the bolt of the Chinese-made rifle slam forward.
The FBI agent had a fraction of a second to decide what to do; he could try to take a shot and hope that he managed to kill the sentry before he could spray both Shego and him with bullets, or…
"Get Down!" He shouted, shoving his girlfriend back into the shed and diving in after her. He rolled into Bill and knocked him to the ground just as the gunman's rounds began ripping through the wooden planks of the shed. As they lay on the dirty floor, the bio-researcher shielded between them, both agents prayed that Team Possible hadn't been taken out of commission, because, at the moment, they were the only ones who had a clear shot of the suspect.
"Get Down!"
As soon as the gunfire started up again, Kim became aware of the fact that none of the rounds were traveling in her direction. Once again acting on recently acquired instinct, the redhead rose up over the cordwood and took aim at the soldier whose back was now facing toward her.
She took a deep breath and leveled the front sight of the Bushmaster right between the man's shoulder blades before squeezing the trigger several times. She watched in slow motion as the rifle's muzzle flashed three times and the gunman arched his back violently before falling to the ground.
It seemed almost surreal to her the manner in which the man died: he didn't spin around or fly against the wall like in the movies, he just…crumpled. What shocked her the most was the way the sentry made no attempt to soften his fall; he just hit the ground and lay there, motionless…
A few seconds after the AK's bullets began ripping through the wooden shed, the agents heard one of the teens' Bushmaster's fire three shots and the area was plunged into an ominous silence. Taking the initiative, Sean rose to his feet and helped Bill and Shego up.
"Let's go!" He ordered, leading them out of the shed. When they exited the shed once again, Sean saw the second sentry, a boy in his early teens, face down in the dirt: his rifle lying uselessly at his side. He also saw Kim kneeling next to Ron, who was sitting against the wall of the barn clutching his gut.
As the agents and Dr. Possible ran over toward the teens' position, they became aware of an increasing level of activity occurring all around them. In every structure around the compound, men, women, and children were taking up arms and preparing to 'defend' themselves from the ZOG intruders.
Sean ran up and knelt down next to Ron, as Shego scanned the surrounding area through the sights of her Heckler and Koch. Bill stood frozen in place next to her staring at the two other commandos that comprised his rescue team. It was Kimmie…his Kimmie, and Ronald. He then noticed the look of pain on the blonde's face and his complexion paled even further.
"Can you walk?" Sean asked the wounded teen. Ron tried to stand, but let out an agonizing cry before he could even get himself off the ground.
"…It…feels like my insides are…on fire…" Ron managed to force out between labored breaths. Kim looked up at the FBI agent with worried eyes. Sean looked from one teen to the other, then up to Bill and Shego, before deciding on a plan of action.
"Alright Ron, I need you to take a deep breath and hold it for me." The agent ordered.
"What for-AAAUGH!" The blond screamed in pain as Sean reached down and hefted him onto his left shoulder in a fireman carry.
"Let's go!" Shego commanded: spotting a small group of soldiers exiting the main farmhouse on the other side of the compound. The three still-mobile commandos and Dr. Possible began to run back toward their entry point when at least two individuals opened fire from the forest, sending slugs smacking into the dirt all around them.
It was Shego and Kim who reacted first by returning fire into the tree line while Sean (still carrying Ron) and Bill took off back toward the safety of the woodpile. After expending their entire magazines into the forest, the two women turned and followed suit. Neither of them had managed to hit anyone, but their covering fire still achieved its required result by driving both soldiers back into the woods and buying everyone a few more seconds of safety. They reached the woodpile just as a new group of soldiers opened fire on their position, this time from the area of the farmhouse.
As woodchips and splinters once again rained down on the cornered rescue team, Kim looked over at Sean and asked the million-dollar question.
"What do we do now?" She looked into the man's eyes and saw a hint of something that made her blood run cold: fear.
"I don't know." Was his only answer. Then Kim noticed the open door nearby…
- I know this chapter was a bit short, but with the events that are going to transpire from here on in, I felt it would be a bit overwhelming to cram it all into one chapter. I plan to have chapter 11 up in a week or two. Till then, be sure to check out my new story: Bailout. As always, reviews are greatly appreciated.