Fourteen years later...
We live in Michigan now, Pop-pop bought a house in this town called Royal Woods. We live at 1216 Franklin Avenue. It's a really nice place. He retired 5 years ago as a rear admiral lower half. I graduated high school early and I just graduated from the police academy. I sat at the dinner table, I'm going to start working tomorrow at the Royal Woods Police Department. Pop-pop cooked some mushroom soup today. Luan and Lynn sat down too. Both of them lived a pretty normal life, they weren't like me. Luan is active in theater, and Lynn took on 5 different sports whilst working at the gym. They were smiling a lot now. Pop-pop came from the kitchen with a large pot of mushroom soup in his hands. "Dig in kids!" He said as he poured us a bowl of soup each. I took a piece of bread, and I shredded it, and sunk them in the bowl. "So, Luna, are you nervous for tomorrow?" Pop-pop asked.
"Yeah, Luna, are you excited?" Luan chimed in.
"Luna's probably going to be like Marcus," Lynn said with her mouth stuffed with bread.
"Bad Boys? Luna is a T-800, look at her arms, they're more solid than most of the boys I met," Luan grabbed my left arm and pulled it closer to her. "Touch that, it's fucking harder than stone."
"Language!" Pop-pop said. "Stop fondling your sister's arm," Pop-pop ordered and Luan and Lynn let go. "Though in all seriousness, Luna is more of a Dirty Harry, than any of your suggestions," Pop-pop said with a smile on his face. "Terminator wasn't that off, however," He added. I smiled. Pop-pop looked at my face, and his spoon dropped. "She smiled, she fucking smiled! Oh my God, Luan check outside, is the world on fire?!" Luan ran to the window, and she came back with a camera.
"It's not!" She shouted as she threw the camera at Pop-pop. Pop-pop aimed the camera at me and the flash blinded me for a second. "Hell must be cold right now," I laughed.
"That's gonna be on the wall forever," Pop-pop said as the picture came out of the camera. He flicked the Polaroid picture and he showed me the picture. "That's the first time I saw you smile since... Since..." His smile faded away, mine too. Luan's and Lynn's smiles faded away too. "Never mind all that, you're big and healthy, and look at you, my first granddaughter that's gonna get a job," He hugged me tight. "I'm so proud of you, Luna,"
"We're proud of you sis," Luan and Lynn came and hugged me too. It's warm.
"Thanks guys."
"Oh, before I forgot, I noticed that you loved poetry back in college," Luan pulled away, Lynn and Pop-pop too. "We got you this." she gave me a wrapped box. I opened it and I saw a hard cover book; Edgar Allen Poe's Complete Works. I looked at them and I thanked them.
Morning arrived, I had ironed my uniform that night after dinner, I had a bath and I'm going to work. Pop-pop, Luan, and Lynn wanted to send me off on my first day. They were in the back seat. I got on the passenger seat and I fastened my seatbelt. "Luna's looking dapper today," Luan said playfully.
"Don't smear boogers on your sister's uniform alright, I'll send you to God if you do that," Pop-pop said as he started the engine.
"Fine," Luan and Lynn said in unison.
"Good girls,"
The car ride was uneventful, we arrived at the station and Pop-pop hugged me before I got out of the car. "Be careful now, okay?" Pop-pop said.
"I will," I said. They went off and I got inside the station, I went to the receptionist and she waved at me.
"Luna Loud right?!" She asked, I nodded. "You must be the rookie!" She said. The place looked empty. "Heard lots of good things about you, come on, come on, I'll take you to the Captain." She said as she pulled me by my hand to the office. I entered the office and the Captain looked at me.
"You must be Luna Loud right?"
"Yes sir," I replied.
"The name is Captain Connor Anderson, it isn't every day we get a super rookie like you on our team," He said. "Well, your FTO is Officer Jane O'Hara, Dolores here will get you your equipment." He pointed at the receptionist who brought me in. "That's all, you're dismissed."
Dolores took me to the armory, they assigned me a plate career, a pistol, a radio, and a body camera. After that, she took me to the motor pool where Officer O'Hara was waiting for me. She said her goodbyes and she went back inside. I saw her, with red hair, green eyes, with black tactical gloves covering her hands. She reached her hand out and I shook it. "Jane,"
"Luna," I replied.
"Get in," She said, and I got in the passenger's seat. "Luna, you don't fear death right?" She asked me.
"No,"
"Why aren't you afraid of death? Are you that confident that you will go to heaven?"
"No,"
"Then why aren't you afraid of death?"
"There is nothing to be afraid of ma'am,"
"Damn, Cap told us you were weird as fuck, you're a fucking freak." She laughed. "You and me are going to be great friends, just call me Jane," Jane said. The day was boring. Royal Woods isn't a dangerous place. Not at all. I got home that day at 10 PM.
11 months and 29 days later...
Today is the last day of my probation. Pop-pop ordered a cake to celebrate tonight after I got home from work. Luan just finished her role acting as a background character in a police movie. Lynn got involved in more sports. I got to work early that day. I got in the patrol car and we did our usual stroll around town. Climbing trees to catch cats, breaking up grandmas fighting over the last cod at the farmer's market. It was nearing our shift when we received a report from dispatch to investigate a bank alarm. Jane lit the lights up and drove there. The moment we stopped the car, shots were fired at us. I opened the door and I jumped out. I looked behind me and I saw blood. Lots of blood. A bullet went through Jane's brain. MY FTO is dead. She was my friend. I grabbed the radio and clenched the button. "8182, requesting backup at Key Bank, Alemont Avenue. 10-31! I have an officer down, requesting immediate evac" I shouted into the radio. I took my gun out of its holster and I stood up. I returned fire. I saw how many of them were there, four of them, all armed with AR15s. The gun jammed. Just as I got down to clear the jam, a bullet hit me in the chest, the chest rig stopped it, but I fell. It felt hard to breathe. I reached my hands inside the car and I grabbed the shotgun. BANG! BANG! The gun jammed, I shoved my fingers in the chamber and I pulled out the stuck shell. BANG! And I nicked one of them in the chest. "PUT YOUR WEAPONS DOWN!" I shouted. The firefight stopped, and I could hear the person I shot groaning in pain. "PUT YOUR WEAPONS DOWN!" I yelled again, and this time a man stood up, his rifle aimed at me, I couldn't act fast enough, he shot me first but I managed to pull the trigger before it hit me. The slug hit his face, killing him instantly.
The bullet went through my cover and hit me in the guts just below the vest's protection. I fell on the asphalt. I felt the blood rushing out of my body. I can't just let them get away with this. With one hand on the shotgun and the other pulling me to my feet, I reached for their cover. Blood dripped down my body. I could hear the other two panicking behind the cars they were using as cover. "SHOW ME YOUR HANDS! ON YOUR FEET!" I ordered them, but they didn't listen. One of the two that was still combat-capable stood up like a Chinese movie action hero and pointed his pistol at me, he shot me and the bullet hit my thigh, and I shot him and the slug went through his chest and body armor. The other one threw his hands up. He stood up and took his mask off. As he threw the mask on the asphalt, I heard the police sirens approaching. Just as I heard footsteps and radio behind me, I fell and the world went dark.
At least I learned something today, always take out the threat before they become deadly.
June 9th, 2023 ROYAL WOODS BULLETIN PAGE 1
POLICE ENGAGED IN FIREFIGHT WITH BANK ROBBERS
JUNE 7th, 5:01 PM. Police Corporal Jane O'Hara and Police Officer Luna Loud were patrolling the Royal Woods area when they were dispatched to Key Bank on Alemont Avenue due to a bank alarm going off. As the cruiser pulled up, they were met with a hail of bullets coming from the direction of the bank, Officer Jane O'Hara was shot and killed by one of the bullets that penetrated her head whilst Officer Luna Loud managed to evacuate the vehicle before being shot by bullets. From the body camera footage provided by the Royal Woods Police Department, Officer Luna Loud managed to repel the 4 robbers, killing 2 and mortally wounding one with the department-issued Mossberg 500. Officer Loud was later transported to the Gunther Valley Memorial Hospital via ambulance due to gunshot wounds to the stomach and thigh. She was reported to be in stable condition as of 10:38 PM.
The bodycam footage sparked a lot of controversies regarding RWPD's equipment state. One online comment stated that the weapons Officer Loud was using were clean and did not show any dirt at all; "Officer Loud must be a meticulous officer, her weapon looked freshly cleaned and is oiled perfectly. It wasn't the operator's fault that the weapons jammed constantly and almost cost her life, the police department should get rid of the old M9s and get Glock 37s in the streets instead."
I woke up in the hospital, Pop-pop sitting beside my bed holding my hand with Luan and Lynn sleeping on the couch in front of me. I squeezed his hand and he woke up. He looked at me and he smiled before pulling me into a very tight hug. How long was I out?"Luna, God, you made us so worried," He said, Luan and Lynn woke up when they heard the metal chair Pop-pop was sitting on fall. "Here, here," He pulled back and grabbed me a glass of water. I drank it all. They sighed in relief.
"Luna, why the hell do you have to scare us like that?!" Luan shouted as hugged me.
"Fucking asshole, what the fuck are we supposed to do if you die?" Lynn cried as she hugged me too. "Don't you love us? Why didn't you save yourself? You could've died!"
"Luan, Lynn, please don't yell at your sister," Pop-pop said as he pulled them back. I could see them all crying. Why would it matter if I died? "I'm gonna get the doctor, don't make Luna stressed alright?"
"Okay, Pop-pop." They both said in unison. Pop-pop got out of the room and I sat up on the bed. My thigh hurts and my gut hurts, but I didn't feel anything.
"How long was I out?" I asked them, my voice calm.
"4 days," Luan said. "Luna, can't you find a safer job? Please, Luna, we only have each other, we don't want to-" Lynn slapped Luan.
"We're not bringing that shit up ever again right?" Lynn cursed. "Can we not fucking mention ancient history?" Lynn asked rudely. "Why the fuck would you even mention that-"
"I can't quit..." I said. I looked at them. "I need to protect you guys,"
They just stared at me.