Chapter 16 - finally!!!

It was almost midnight before they decided to pull into a strange-looking motel just off the freeway. It looked as though the place had been abandoned but Jake had taken over sometime back and was tired already. Fallon and Jo were in the parking lot making jokes about Norman Bates, James walked the dog around the motel complex and Jake stood by the vending machine. Nothing suspicious, no strange cars had followed them, no one was sending them evil looks or speaking into their watches to say that “The bird has landed”- nothing at all.

Staring at the numerous packets of junk food that he almost never eats, he could not decide what to pick. He stared so hard, one would have thought that he was willing a candy bar to fall out. The night was silent save for the sound of Jo pretending to be Marion Crane counting the money she had stolen before “taking a shower” while Fallon ran around screaming, “Mother! Oh God! Mother, blood! Blood! ”

James and the dog were watching the show silently and Jake could not pull himself away from the vending machine. How had things ended up like this? Every once in a while, someone with a normal, stable life thinks things should be different. Every once in a while, a man with a nine-to-five job, a sane wife with two and a half kids and a dog wished he was special. Every once in a while, we all wish that life was different. Every once in a while, we all want to be special – to be different, to be a hero, to be remembered, to be revered, to be loved by one and all, to do things other men cannot do, to go places other men haven’t. Every once in a while, we all wish we were the ultimate candy bar which stood out amongst all other candy bars in a vending machine.

At that moment, by the vending machine, Jake wanted his old life back. He wanted to be back at his hardware store, he wanted to eat bad pecan pie and he wanted to play with his niece. He had not been away for more than a day, yet life had changed so much that he felt like he had not been home in years.

Slamming the side of the vending machine with his fist, he paid no attention to his surroundings. He thought they had grown tired of playing the Norman Bates game and had gone in to register for rooms, which explained the silence. It was so dark and he felt safer standing under the flickering flourescent light. An odd looking candy bar fell out, and Jake bent over to retrieve it from what Jordi used to call “the candy catch”. As he stood up, he heard an unfamiliar hissing sound. He reached his full height and saw what looked like a bullet hole in the metal panel on the vending machine. Glancing through the glass, he saw the ominous red laser ray. He did not see where it ended, so he figured it was pointed at his back.

He did not know what to do. Should he stand still or should he run? Should he crouch down or turn around? He did not know who was pointing a gun at him, but he prayed it was not Jo. Looking left and right without moving his head, he saw Jo’s raven mass of hair shift about through a window. She was going to kill whoever it was, for him. Filled with pride for the girl he had come to love, he sighed with relief knowing she was covering him.

A whisper came, most probably from Fallon, “When Sun Tzu throws the rock, the general’s soldier must run to protect his right and rear.”

“What the fuck?” came another whisper, which Jake figured was James.

“That was for our littlest one - The Builder, motherfucker. Let’s pray he’s smart enough to have heard it. Get your gun out, and I mean the one which shoots bullets,” Fallon whispered. Jake would have laughed, if his life was not in danger.

“Asshole. I’m going to fucking shoot you after I shoot whoever it is that’s out there,” James replied in an angry whisper.

“Blah. Here goes. Wish I had brought my slingshot!” Fallon whispered, excited beyond control. Something moved and the laser pointer flashed away. Jake could not see anything from the reflection of the glass.

Deciding it was time to move, as he was told – to the rear right, he heard the hissing sound of a silenced rifle follow him through the darkness. As he reached the door where he had seen Jo’s mass of hair, he crouched down and the door almost automatically opened. He was dragged in violently, and shoved aside.

“Fuckers have night-vision goggles. Assholes. I’ll fucking kill them,” she said angrily. She turned to Hootch, who had assumed an attack stance and was growling quietly, “Stay, Hootch. They’ll shoot you. I nearly lost Jakie-poo and for that I’m going to get close enough to rip their heads off, night-vision goggles attached.”

Her phone buzzed silently, and she handed it to Jake. It was a message from James, “One sniper, two foot men. Night vision. Protect Builder, truck, dog and self.” Jake whispered the message to Jo.

“The fight is on, Jakie-poo. Ever seen a girl take down some sissy soldiers? This is going to be a whole lot of fun. I promise. And then we’ll raid the motel kitchen for food, like rebels!” she laughed quietly. “Send a reply. Type this out; flashbang fuckers on foot. That will show them to use night-vision on our turf. Need to retrieve sniper rifle from Hummer. Release bullet diarrhea at tree line on my count. Watch my cute butt go!”



Yes, folks! It's on now! Please do keep reading! I'm baaaacccckkkk! Catch older chapters here! Chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 Leave me comment! Will definitely respond! Cheers to all!