The Boy [mxb]

30

I wake up in the middle of the night to Nougat whining and pacing around the foot of my bed. He's not usually so distressed, so it may as well be a blaring alarm.

Rolling out of bed, I grab my gun out of the nightstand drawer.

I crawl over to the window opposite the bed and peer outside. Nothing. Cutting through the hallway to a window on the opposite side of the house, I see them outside in the backyard, what appears to be half a dozen men encroaching stealthily on my property.

I turn my hall light off. The house is plunged into darkness.

Well, this has been a long time coming.

If this is gonna go down John Wick style, the part about killing my dog isn't going to happen.

They're after trying to take everything for me. Well, they won't take the only boy I have left.

I grab the puppy and carry him to the front door.

"When you grow up, I'll train you to bite dicks off. But for now..." Opening the door, I set Nougat down outside. "Go, go!" I hiss. The puppy gives a heartbreaking mewl and paws at me feet. Desperately, I kick at the air behind him and he still won't leave. I grab a larger piece of mulch from the lawn. "Don't get hit by a car. Go find a nice human and wind up at a shelter where I can find you. Daddy has some bodies to bury." I wind my arm back and throw the stick as hard as I can. "Fetch!" Nougat runs. I close and lock the door in a rush.

Thinking fast, I put on my steel-toed boots.

They'd better not touch my cars either, especially not my Lambo.

Just as I'm finishing lacing up the last shoe, I hear footsteps behind me. I pick up my gun, turn around slowly and look up to find an array of a dozen or so men in black. They came in with guns and flashlights. Precise as an Exacto knife.

"Do you know whose house you're in right now?" I demand, rising steadily to my feet. "Keep your hands where I can see them."

"So you can call the police?" the centre guy snorts. "No thanks."

"So you can not get shot. Now, let me tell you what a bad day you're having. Right now you've broken into a cop's house."

I'm not sure who I'm kidding. I could take on one guy, no problem. Two, fine. Maybe even three. But this many? I'm only human. But the weirdest part is?

I don't care.

I welcome death now.

"We know whose house we're in. Let's just get started," another guy speaks up.

I try to place their voices, listening for accents and inflections, but I don't think I know them. It doesn't help that I can't see any of their faces.

"Look, my neighbours have a hell of a turnover rate. I don't want to wake them. Let's do this without guns."

"You're a little outnumbered, don't you think?"

I crack a smile.

"Why don't you come and see how outnumbered I am," I encourage.

Finally. I'm not on the job; I have the shield of self defence, I can have some fun.

The first to lunge at me tries a kicks, but I grab his thigh and toss him, flipping him onto his back. I jump on top of him, straddling his waist. One bullet through his forehead, it would be so easy. Instead, I jam the butt of my gun down between his eyes and he goes out cold.