Unloaded

Unloaded1

Written by Chad Fordham.2

The hail beat down like fists of god from the sky that night. The road had been building up a dangerous layer of ice all along the highway, and back-roads. My partner Malone and I sat silently in the brand new Charger the station managed to fund out for a few patrols. The car felt so smooth, and comfortable compared to the old Fords' we used to have. I noticed Malone was half asleep, his chin propped against his chest with his eyes half opened. My eyes wandered the empty street, as I ran a hand through my soft blond hair. The sports station mumbling out inaudible words from the radio which was turned down.3

The third car I've seen in the past hour had slowly drifted by our unnoticed vision along the street. Something felt strange about this vehicle. It could've been the fact it was moving so slowly, but then again the roads were slick. I gave Malone a thud on the arm with my elbow, as his body shot erect. 4

"I think we should follow it". Watching as Malone glanced to the car, then gave me an awry look.5

"Nothing else to do. Should we radio it in?".6

"Nah, station will just respond with some bullshit anyways. I just feel something is up with this car." 7

Then so we did, as I switched the headlights back on and slowly pulled out onto the shoulder. Letting the car drift steadily into the lane as I accelerated. I could feel just how the car slid along the ice, realizing this wasn't a good night to pick a cop chase. I continued to slowly push the peddle towards the floor, gradually picking up a nice speed when we hit about fifty. Malone and I followed the slow moving car for a good ten minutes or so before we finally reached an intersection. Straight went up the highway toward the next city, left went toward the gas station and postal area. Right as Malone and I were familiar with, was downtown. Where even through this bad weather, was a bad place to be at night.8

"Damn, them sons' of bitches had to take a right." 9

Watching the old, rusted ford explorer turn into the street. I noticed in the corner of my vision Malone adjusting his gun. This guy was always up for shooting something, crazy bastard. It seems through the years of police business, there was never anything enough to phase Malone. This was just another walk in the park for him. I watched as the car up ahead came to a steady, slow halt. The car stopped in the middle of the road, and sat there for a few moments. I pulled the glove box of the dashboard open, grabbing a second clip for the 9MM I'm armed with. Shoving the reinforcement clip into my pocket, I steadied back down into the seat. 10

Malone looked toward me, then back out at the car. 11

"I say we give them another minute, and head on up. See what the hell they're doing." 12

"I don't know Malone. These assholes could be up to something, I say they're just waiting for two dumb cops to pop on the sides of them." 13

I could tell even the fact they were ready didn't do a thing to change Malone's mind. The guy would walk into a building to kill a few gang members even if death was assured to him. Which is exactly what made him such a damn good partner. Partnership meant more than anything to the both of them. Both single, both having nobody else in their lives. It was more of a brotherhood rather than a partnership, and that's just how they both liked it. I watched as Malone went to open the car door, and I switched it locked.14

Malone scowled over at me, probably feeling like a kid locked inside the car without father's consent. I snaked him a grin, as I watched Malone's vision drift right past me then. As I turned, I saw the door to some old worn down building open up. A few men drifted out from the doorway, into the broken sidewalk. They stood there, casting fogs of moisture into the air from their breaths. I cast Malone a quick look, as the small crowd of what we now knew couldn't be over the age of twenty. 15

"How the fuck many kids come out here at night, damn.. this is how this shit starts I'm tellin' you." Malone said under his breath.16

"I've seen it enough for you not to give me a lesson on it. Something is going down Malone, I can feel it. Shit, and we're right in the middle of it." 17

The youngsters on the sidewalk caught view of the car we had been following. We could tell they were all speaking quietly since they were sharing wisps of fog that cast upwards through the dense air. Looking up toward the other car, I watched the driver side window slowly creep open. Inch by inch, I felt my heart pounding. Been through so much as a cop, and yet the tension of every moment caught me. Malone leaned over staring up at the car also, then at the kids. I readied myself, reaching down toward my gun as the window slipped open. Waiting for that first shot of light from the window, and the first body to drop. I was ready to shove justice up their asses. 18

But instead of what I anticipated, one of the guys broke out from the small group. Walking slowly across the street, I felt my anticipation leaving me. They must've known each other, been grouped up with the same crew. Either you were in, or out in this neighborhood. And if you were out, you better have some damn boys to be in with. Or you were just going to get yourself killed heading to get some milk for the house. That's just how it always happened around here. I slipped Malone's door back unlocked, knowing we were going to have to get out some point.19

"How the fuck have they not seen us yet?" Malone asked gritting his teeth together.20

I laughed inside knowing this tension was killing him. He wanted to make an arrest tonight, and so did I. Malone was just more open about it, as he was with everything.21

"I'm sure they've seen us by now Malone. Maybe it's the reason there are no dead bodies yet. But something is going down."22

The passenger door opened up slowly from the explorer up ahead, as after a few moments another figure stood. Probably in his late twenties this man was, standing just about 6'4". He was a big guy, but size doesn't mean shit to a guy that knows how to use a gun. The bigger man leaned over the roof of the car easily, crouching down to lean across it. The youngster leaned over the driver side, as they crossed hands with each other. Their hands met, as Malone gave a quick rasp laughter.23

"These fuckin' kids think they just got that past us?"24

I started to think maybe they didn't see us. But no, they had to. How in the hell did they think they were going to get that deal past us? Seen it so much, the exact familiarity of it was just too much. I started to feel as if something was far out of place here. The bigger man crept back down toward the seat again, slowly getting back in. Then pulling his large form slowly back out from the small car yet again. Then I saw it.25

"Fuck! Get out, get his ass!"26

That brief reflection off the steel of the gun in his hand shined bright from the dim-lit streetlight. Malone shoved the door open, just as the first gunshot was heard. The youth fell hard onto the cold street, blood staining along the ice.27

"Put that fucking gun down!" Malone shouted loudly at the gangster.28

Malone's voice echoed powerfully through the street. The only thing that sounded it out was the loud boom of the pistol yet again, then another. I watched Malone take a step back, the large man just unloading the rounds to a point I couldn't see. I shoved my door open only to feel the rain of bullets crashing into all sides of the car from the kids across the street. I saw in the corner of my eyes Malone's body just dropping lifelessly onto the cold, hard ice. I fell backwards into the car, laying down across the gear stick, which was forced painfully into my back. Not as painful as a bullet in the chest, which I was grateful of. I listened to the last few gunshots echo through the night.29

Slowly sitting back up in the car, I looked around. The explorer up ahead had made an attempt to pull out of its spot, only to be left in the deep ditch nearly flipped over. A few kids were sprinting quickly up the sidewalk out of distance, but then a few more joined the fate of Malone and the other youngster. 30

"Fuck!" I shouted, not knowing any other way to deal with my anger. 31

I shoved open the door of the car, giving one quick glance to assure I was now alone at the moment. I didn't even bother to look at Malone, my eyes fixated on the old explorer pulled into the sidewalk. Pacing quickly, breathing sharply I headed toward the car. I jerked the driver side open roughly, only to watch the lifeless corpse slip into the ditch. Peeking into the car, the larger mans head forwards in the same position Malone's was when he was falling asleep earlier. I backed up from the car, staring down at the dead body before me. It was different this time. Knowing these were the mother-fuckers that killed your partner. An indescribable feeling rushed through me. I could feel the cold from the icy street rush through me. I felt sicker than I'd ever been.32

Gripping onto the window frame of the door, I hunched over painfully. Letting out what I had for dinner that night all over the corpse of what was the driver. I slowly stood back up, wiping my mouth off as I looked around. I shouted another obscenity, forming a large dent in the back door with a firm kick. I walked back toward the charger, which now looked as if crashed into an over-sized cheese grater. Bullet holes ripped through the metal of the sides, the windows busted open lying all over the seat. Reaching inside the car I took the radio in hand.33

"Patrol A17 radioing in, officer down on Jurnsburgh Ave'. Get me some fucking backup, over."34

I stood there, breathing heavily into my sleeve, as I bit down hard into it. I felt my eyes growing wet with tears, as I wiped them away. It wasn't that I was crying over a dead man. I was more or less just rung out from all the emotions that were stirring out. Hate, love, anger, it was all just spilling out at once. I'd give anything to have those kids within my grip. 35

"Roger that Patrol A17, reinforcement EPA in five minutes." 36

"Five minutes! Get the fuck over here now!".37

Throwing the radio hard back into the car, I stared up the darkness of the street. Not able to see very far, I set off in a quick walk. Getting onto the sidewalk, since it served as an easier platform to walk on rather than the icy, slick street which served as death for the men in the car. I was no longer a cop tonight. Beyond the law, I set out for revenge. I felt the revenge to get back at these kids for all their wrongdoings. This one being the ultimate on the list that gone through my head. I was going to show them just how the fuck justice is. The painful side of it, then the way it finishes them off like nothing.38

I took a left onto a different street, seeing as this is where the mindless youngsters panicked, and sprinted off too. Bitches must think I'm dead, they can't be far up ahead. As I came to another corner, something inside me told me I was close. I could feel it in my veins, that sharp heat of tension. Throbbing powerfully within my body, I peeked around the corner. 39

Three of them.40

They stood there, all were still out of breath for such a short run. Must've been the anticipation of killing that caught their lungs short. Arresting them slipped into my mind. Nah, too risky and boring. I slipped the guard open, and pulled the gun slowly from the holster. Feeling the cold material against my fingertips, I felt nothing but adrenaline flowing through me. Such a ravenous want to murder these kids now, and nothing else. I looked down at my feet, and slowly bent down. Taking a busted up can into my hand, I quickly chucked it across the street at the curb. It hit loudly, making a nice distracting clang along the road.41

I heard the silence of the kids. I could feel their fear within me, only feeding on my craving to see them killed. I slowly peeked back around, seeing them looking around frantically. They were nervous, and caught by surprise as I twisted around the corner. One pulled his gun out quickly, only to be caught by a bullet straight in the forehead. The other two went into a full sprint the other direction. I wondered how in the fuck did they think running straight would do anything. I lifted the pistol slowly, taking my precious, delightful time. 42

BOOM.43

The second shot I've fired that night landed hard into the one kids hamstring. 44

"Ouch."45

The kid toppled over roughly, his face meeting the hard concrete of the sidewalk. The second kid went to round the corner, only to be caught in both the arm and the side with two bullets nearly the same time. Fired both off in quick succession, I heard the kid drop just as he left my view. I chuckled lightly, watching the one slowly try and get to his feet. He fell back down, turning around slowly. Sitting back on his rear, he looked up at me. Terrified eyes burning into me, making me realize just how young these fuckers were.46

"I ain't done nothin' man! I got no gun man, don't kill me, don't kill me. I ain't done shit!" The kid pleaded under powerful tears.47

I watched him, who sought to be tough as ever just a few minutes ago. Now breaking down to tears from an anger driven cop. I looked down at him, taking a step closer to him. I wanted to speak, but couldn't find any words to do so. My head tilted toward the side, the kid continued staring up at me. His words no longer came as words to me, just sounds. I heard the sirens of my fellow officers pick up from the distance.48

"You know they’re gonna arrest your dumb-ass for a long time, right kid?"49

The kid weeped loudly, nothing to say except nod.50

"What you did was fuckin' stupid. And not only that, you shot a cop. My partner, my brother of law. That's beyond the lines of arrest."51

The youth stared up at me with confused eyes. As if trying to take in what I said. I could tell he didn't understand it.52

"You're not going to jail tonight kid."53

I said, before I pressed the cold steel barrel of the gun against his forehead. With a loud shriek that echoed, it was silenced out by the loud crack of the gun. I looked straight up the street, letting out a deep breath. As I slowly pushed the kid over onto the street, stepping away before my shoes were stained in blood. 54