"Scot! You have to get to the tech school now! There's a shooter waiting outside right now! He's waiting for the period to end and ambush students! He's got an Uzi machine pistol and another pistol!" Sharon informed Scot.
"Name and location?" Scot inquired and flagged a cab down. He hopped in and gave the cabby his destination, along with a hundred dollar bill and promise of another if they reached the school in fifteen minutes. The Indian driver gunned the gas and weaved through traffic knowingly using less congested streets and alleys. Scot was quickly, completely lost. It was LA, California and he'd flown there to discuss a movie deal with a producer. Now he was on his way to another dangerous situation that could get him killed.
Scot was a very muscular, blond-haired, blue-eyed, rugged-looking young man with scars on the side of his face where he’d had surgery. The head injury had changed his brain allowing him to see and speak with ghosts and see demons. Sharon was a beautiful, blond, female, former FBI agent that had been murdered and chose to remain on earth to spy on and help catch predators by telling Scot what she found out.
Sharon told him what to tell the cops as he called in the tip on the shooter, complete with a description of him and his vehicle. The cops played phone tag trying to transfer his call twice to different personnel. They were both full of questions and had a bad attitude. Scot hung up as the tech school appeared ahead. The cabby stopped and Scot handed him the bill as he exited the vehicle. Scot followed Sharon's guidance.
"He's in that red Honda." Sharon pointed." Third car from the end. Let's make a swoop wide behind him to try surprising him. Over here Scot."
Scot made the flanking sweep recommended. He was carrying his Taser in his fanny pack. He'd purchased two and liked them. It was a law violation in some States and counties to carry one. He took the risk because it was a dangerous world and he wanted an edge with a weapon that could stop someone without killing them. Fists and feet couldn't beat bullets all the time. A buzzer rang and young adults started exiting the school to the parking lot. They were clueless to the death waiting for some by a shooter.
"Damn! He's moving!" Sharon cursed.
Scot's adrenaline pulsed in overdrive making his heart speed up. He touched the Taser to be ready. The shooter, Dave Elliot, had spotted his targets. It was his pretty brunette ex-girlfriend, Peggy. Her new boyfriend, Billy, was a tall, muscular, good looking jock with short dark hair. They made a pretty pair. Scot realized he couldn't make it in time. Dave stepped in their path while other students swirled around them. Dave pulled the Uzi out of his pack. The giddy couple saw the pistol in his fists and their eyes bulged wide as their mouths gaped in sudden shock at the sight about to end their lives.
Dave's Uzi erupted, spouting like volcano lava with muzzle fire. The gun chattered and tattered both targets, ripping them to ribbons with focused fire. His prolonged peppering of the pair plugged other innocent people around them. Billy and Peggy were mowed down in a mutilated mess entwined together. Dave was fighting two fisted to control the recoil while raking the ranks of students on the scene still. People were running in all directions desperately. Dave was indiscriminately shooting other students. His clip emptied and he swiftly slammed a fresh clip in.
Scot's Taser fired at Dave's back. The lines unspooled smoothly and the metal pinchers pegged Dave's back, pumping 50,000 volts in him. Unfortunately Dave was wearing a Kevlar vest under his coat and the pinchers didn't get a good grip in his skin. Part of the shock shook him in an erratic spasm from the juice jolting him. He spun with his gun towards Scot. Scot dropped behind a truck for cover. Dave's Uzi unleashed another enfilade and the stuttering staccato of shots made the truck shudder and shower smashed glass. The avalanche of bludgeoning bullets beat huge holes in the truck, sieving it like Swiss cheese.
Scot rolled low to the next car as Dave boldly rushed where he'd last see Scot. He got a glimpse of Scot scrambling around the vehicle. Dave hosed the car down while shouting like a nut. His Uzi firing pin clicked on an empty chamber.
"He's emptied the clip, Scot!" Sharon shouted as loud as she could across dimensions.
Scot bolted up and at him. Dave looked almost comedic as he tried to reload and realized Scot was about to tackle him. His wide open eyes and mouth would forever be burned in Scot's brain as he slammed his shoulder into Dave's body. They pounded the pavement. Scot made a wrist twist on Dave’s that stripped the pistol from his grip. It skated out of reach. Dave tried to pull his other pistol. Scot bent Dave's finger sideways, breaking it at the joint. Dave screamed in shocked sudden agony. Scot kneeled on his neck, pinning him on the pavement. When Dave tried floundering free, Scot brought down two crashing hammerfists to the back of his neck. Dave went limp. Other students and teachers were hesitantly creeping closer to inspect the results. The school's fat, armed, security guard finally waddled over pointing his pistol at Scot.
"Don't move or I'll shoot!" he shouted at Scot.
"This is the shooter, dumbass!" Scot hollered back.
"Put your hands up or I'll shoot!" the guard yelled.
"The other guy's the shooter!" another student tried to inform the security guard.
"Put up your hands!" the guard demanded and Scot complied.
The gung ho security guard's action allowed Dave breathing room and recovery time. Scot had lessened the kneeling pressure on Dave’s upper back and neck to lift his arms in surrender. Dave suddenly exploded into action, bucking his body and whipping limbs, frantically fighting for freedom. Scot managed to fall on his foe so they struggled again. The fat guard accidentally discharged his weapon, drilling a car door a few feet from Scot. Students yelled at the dumb guard and swarmed around the struggle with a few that grabbed Dave's limbs while Scot secured a guillotine throat choke that made Dave grow sluggish.
"Get your cuffs over here!" Scot yelled at the comedic guard. The guard finally displayed good judgment by coming with the cuffs and he cuffed Dave's hands behind his back. Then the guard grabbed the guy as if he had subdued him by himself.
Scot slipped through the gawking crowds coming over. Billy and Peggy were dead for sure, along with two others. Several other students were wounded. During the battle Scot didn't get a chance to see which ones entered the light tunnel and if the demons came to get any of them. Ambulance and police sirens were approaching as he picked up his Taser and exited the scene. He was hoping to avoid being identified.
*** 45 Hours Later ***
Scot cursed at the newscaster.
Several students’ phones and school webcams had recorded Scot at the school. The fat security guard tried to pretend he was the one that subdued the shooter. He really wanted to be seen as the hero. In reality, he was in the bathroom taking a dump when the shooting started and then huffed and puffed waddling to the incident occurring.
The news reported that the shooter, Dave Elliot, was in custody. He'd dated Peggy for over a year and they got engaged. Shortly after the engagement she dumped him for Billy and hocked the engagement ring for money. When Dave showed up at Peggy's place demanding the ring back, Billy beat him up .Dave was on meds for his bipolar condition. The heartbreak, humiliation, and physical injuries pushed him over the edge. He was a gun owner and associated with a local large group of white Aryans that had access to illegal weaponry. That was where Dave got the flak vest and automatic Uzi.
“Now the cops want to talk to me again.” Scot complained.
“No good deed goes unpunished.” Sharon pointed out.
The End
Bio:
Tom Kropp’s work has appeared in Chiron Review, Churches, Children and Daddies, Down in the Dirt, The Horror Zine, Freedom Fiction Journal, Short-Story Me, Dark Harbor, Blood Moon Rising, Flash Phantoms, Phantomania, Lowlife Lit, The Listening Eye, J Journal, Evening Street Review, Conceit, Spotlight on Recovery, Muscle and Fitness, Outdoor Life and many other magazines. His play Jailhouse Confessions was performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC in 2019. You can find more of his writings at tomkropp.wordpress.com. He has many audiobooks and eBooks available free at Google Play Books.