I once spoke to a World War 2 veteran about his experiences in the Navy and seeing how he was there at Pearl Harbour when the shit went down, how he dealt with the horror of Kamikaze pilots. He simply responded that you keep your head down and do a lot of praying….kind of have to say that the same applies to high speed pursuits
The engine of the Subaru impreza roars as Andre drives the accelerator almost to the floor, as we chase after the red pick up just in front of us, while the Nevada desert highway seeming stretches endlessly on like a conveyor belt, while to either side nothing but desert and rocky outcrops as far as the eye can see, not that I have much time to admire the sights, as right now I more focused on our bounty, or more precisely Darrell Jones a small time meth cook, whose habit of jumping bail and failing to show to any of his court appearances not only highlighting the numerous failings in the system, but also making him a valuable catch. The downside however was that his habit and constant insomnia had left him highly wired and on edge, meaning that we were now in a pursuit of not only him but one of his underlings, who was jockeying the wheel of the pick up, after he had bolted as soon as we’d shown up at his trailer leading to our current situation.
“Come on man, how can some rusted pick up be outrunning us? I thought you said this car had power”
I shout over the noise of the engine to Andre whose gaze is fixed straight ahead as he continues to push the Impreza onwards.
“Don’t be insulting my ride now, as you can always get out and walk if you want! Be dammed if I know what he is fuelling that rust bucket with.”
He snarls in return, flinching slightly as a new hail of shotgun blasts come from the pick up, ricocheting with a loud ping off the reinforced glass of the windscreen.
“Glad to see you opted for the bullet proof glass with the extra’s package”
“Yeah while the glass might be bullet proof, the engine block isn’t so how’s about you try using that pistol and you know maybe put an end to this before he gets some lucky shot off”
“Yeah yeah I hear you, I just you know didn’t fancy getting my head blown off at this precise moment and seeing how quickly he is going through those shells he has got to reload soon.”
Noticing a break in the shots I quickly lean out of the window, glad that I was wearing my Kevlar vest still as I now fire a volley of shots from my desert eagle. A highly overpowered pistol it is true but with enough training it can give you the much needed power you need, especially in situations like this as I hear a couple of the shots hit home, causing the pick up to swerve in panic as I continue to empty the clip, quickly ducking back inside to reload as I see Darrell leaning out of the cab window of the pick up once more snarling obscenities as he returns fire with a fresh batch of shots.
“I thought you could shoot”
Andre laughs as we now draw closer on the pick up the shots clearly having freaked the driver or Darrell was feeling cocky but right now I was thinking it was more the former rather than the latter. The wing mirror now suddenly tore off by a hail of shotgun fire causing me curse loudly.
“Hey you want to switch and let me drive, just let me know hotshot”
“Yeah well you better end this soon before someone gets hurt, as soon we are going to run out of road and I would rather end this before this fool mows down some kid.”
“Right…just bring me in closer”
Andre now accelerates the impreza harder still, causing the engine to roar louder as we close in, as Darrell leans back in to reload once more, I quickly seize my opportunity aiming the pistol as the world now seemingly slips into slow motion around me, a hush falling around me as the noise of the engine fades into the background as I concentrate on squeezing off one perfect shot. The pistol releasing the round as the cartridge spins off from the pistol falling behind us as it catches in the wind, the round hitting true as the front tyre of the pick up explodes in a mixture of compressed air and rubber as the pick up swerves violently infront of us, as the driver struggles to maintain control of the high speed vehicle, Andre’s instincts causing him to drop the Impreza back as I ease back into my seat in time to see the pick up swerve violently to the right and flip over into a roll as it bounces off the tarmac into the dusty desert, shrapnel from the vehicle showering down behind it, as Andre now slows the Impreza down sharply as we watch the pickup in front of us for a moment now resting on it’s side while black smoke pours from the engine.
“Well that worked! You know it’s lucky that his bounty is on the conditions of DEAD or alive”
Andre jests as he glances over at me, as I continue to watch the wrecked pick up looking for any sign of life to come from the trucks cab. True his humour could be seen as morbid, but sometimes in this job you needed alittle black humour just to survive.
“Okay lets go and see what’s left”
I say opening the door pistol at the ready for the worst, as Andre grabs the shotgun from the backseat following me closely behind, as we walk over to the remains of the pick up, firearms locked and loaded as we prepare for the worst, rather than make assumptions even more so as they are the sort of things which tend to get you killed. Surprisingly as I get closer to the wreckage I can hear grumbling and cursing from within, as the shattered windscreen is suddenly kicked out as a bloody Darrell now staggers from the wreckage, looking blearily at me for a moment as he continues to struggle to stand as he leans against the wreckage, as blood runs from a nasty looking gash on his head as I now train my gun on him, Andre following suit as I now begin to talk.
“So you going to come easy or you still under the delusion that your going to give us the slip, as trust me I have no qualms about kicking your ass, much less turning you over to Andre here, who might still be alittle raw about what your half assed shooting skills did to his ride”
Darrell continues to snarl as he spits out a mixture of blood and spit into the desert dirt.
“Yeah well fuck you bitch!”
“Now now Darrell that ain’t no way to talk to a lady is it?”
I say lowering my pistol as I now walk over, pulling out the cuff as I holster the pistol knowing that Andre has my back aswell as knowing that Darrell ain’t going nowhere any time soon.
“So you going to be a good little bounty and come along nicely”
“Fuck you”
He snarl looking at me with sheer distain, as I count to five before punching him out with a shift right, causing his head to bounce off the wreckage, before he hits the dirt hard.
“They never make it easy do they”
I say with a laugh as I kick over the unconscious body of Darrell moving his hands behind his back and cuffing him while glancing over at Andre who is checking the cab and seeing what’s left of the driver now pulls out his phone, pressing the buttons quickly as he calls it in to the authorities to sort out what remains, knowing like myself that we have what we came for and to hang around would only lead to unneeded questions.
Sitting in a booth with Andre at the sweet talk diner, a retro 50’s style doughnut shop still wearing the same jeans and t-shirt combo only now minus the Kevlar vest which would only create unwanted questions from one of the nosey polyester wrapped waitresses who swarm around the diner pouring coffee and making small talk as they try to squeeze out tips from the patrons. Meanwhile I poke at the day old ring doughnut which sits in front of me, while I wait for my tar black coffee to cool down enough to actually allow me drink it, while Andre talks rapidly still on a buzz from today’s hunt.
“So what’s eating you? I would have thought that you would be happy seeing how we managed to close a case today and more importantly got paid!”
He says flashing me a tooth smile, which I can’t help but return even though I feel so distracted.
“Yeah yeah that is all great don’t get me wrong, I guess I am just alittle distracted by my upcoming match this week, even more so as I already have to defend with Jessie the tag titles we won at High Stakes.”
“Well I’m sure you have nothing to worry about, especially considering how easily you two beat Bei Combattenti to claim those titles”
I nod as I listen, taking a sip of the coffee which is still way to hot as I ponder what he is saying, knowing that he is trying to help but at the same time knowing that unless you have fought inside the squared circle that it is impossible to get into the warrior mindset I bring to the ring each week.
“Your right and I guess I just worry more about Jessie as she’s not a grizzled veteran like myself who has been kicking ass for so long I can barely remember what it was like starting out. Sure she can handle herself in the ring alright, but when you become a champion it becomes a whole new game, as suddenly you find all eyes on your every move and even more so on the gold around your waist.”
“Well like ourselves you atleast have someone to watch you back out there which has got to count for something. So do you know who the first challengers you going to have to face are?”
“Ohh yeah they sent it across pretty much within days of the PPV. So much for getting to enjoy being champions, but seems the company management have already decided to give a shot to that Necra and the new girl Amy Marshall”
Andre nods listening intently as he swallows one of the four doughnuts on his plate in a couple of bites, making me wonder how he kept such a chizzled physique, when he eat so much garbage.
“So is that bad?”
“Not really as it would be great to beat someone like Necra, especially considering the reputation she has made for herself already with the company, while Amy is a much more untested opponent and could be the real tipping point of this match, should she turn out to be the dark horse in this match. Still win or loose I just plan on kicking some ass and having a blast while I do it and let the chips fall were they may.”
