unrealtrip
Member
Felt like knocking out some little short story with a heavy gun theme, here's the beginning. Hopefully no one will get upset with the non-PC nature of it, if it is an issue just remove/lock it.
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Marcus shifted his weight around as he tried to get comfortable on his leather couch. It seemed like a good idea when he bought it, a reasonably sophisticated looking couch; something that didn't come off as a cheesy bachelor pad addition, but definitely not something chosen for comfort, a decision he regretted every time he sat down on it. After struggling for too long he settled down and turned on the TV. Flipping past commercials and bad sitcoms, he hesitated for a moment as he flipped past a news channel, the reporter seemed anxious.
"..we repeat that America is under atta..."
He continued flipping but after a moment that line sunk in. "No, that can't be right", he spoke aloud, as he flipped back down to the news channel; the broadcast continued as Marcus leaned forward.
"At ten o'clock this morning pacific time, the Mexican Army launched a surprise attack on San Diego and the Camp Pendleton military base in Southern California. A small yield nuclear weapon was detonated in the air over the military base, completely wiping it out and crippling our military response to the attack on San Diego. For those of you just now joining us I repeat, America is under attack and we are in a de facto state of war with Mexico..."
As memories of September 11th came flooding into his thoughts, the sound of the TV faded away. As though he was slowly lowering his head underwater, the sounds of everything around him got quieter and quieter. He stared at the floor, trying to grab hold of himself and reality. In the distance Marcus heard a faint ringing as if it were far away, like a phone muffled by a pillow. Slowly his focus shifted from his memories and the floor, he lifted his head and looked over into the next room towards the source of the gentle ring. It seemed to get louder and louder until he realized it was his phone. He snapped out of his daze and with an unexpected sense of urgency he found himself clambering over the arm of his couch and dashing into the next room to answer the phone. He grabbed it with so much force he nearly broke the wall mount and answered.
"Yes, hello?" he blurted out, just slightly out of breath.
"Marcus, it's Jane, are you watching the news right now? Can you believe this is happening?"
"Actually no, it seems unreal, I just started watching did they say anything about what our military is doing?"
"Yes, they're deploying National Guard and Army there, but since the majority of both forces are in the Middle East they don't have enough troops to handle a full on assault like this. They're sending in new recruits as well."
"Oh my God, how can this be happening? I don't understand how we ..."
Marcus was cut off by the loud sound of fast machine gun fire coming from right out front of his house. He could hear the cracking sounds of the ammunition and the distinct sound of a car being shot, "whump, whump, whump" followed by the crashing sound of a window be blown out. The gunfire continued, "crack, crack, crack." There was a lot of shouting, but he couldn't quite make out what was being said over the gunfire. Then there was a brief silence broken only by a man screaming in agony. Marcus intently continued to listen though there was nothing but silence, when suddenly it was broken by loud shouting in Spanish. The man's screams of pain turned into a wailing sound, it sounded like he was saying something but Marcus wasn't quite sure what it was, it might have been begging. Frozen in place intensely listening, he was trying to piece together the scene outside based on what he could hear. There was another long pause as the man moaned and then the crack of a single gunshot, followed by a deafening silence. Jane was frantically yelling into the phone,
"Marcus, what is happening? What the f_ck is going on over there?"
He held the phone to his chest, as though those outside could hear her through the phone.
---
Marcus shifted his weight around as he tried to get comfortable on his leather couch. It seemed like a good idea when he bought it, a reasonably sophisticated looking couch; something that didn't come off as a cheesy bachelor pad addition, but definitely not something chosen for comfort, a decision he regretted every time he sat down on it. After struggling for too long he settled down and turned on the TV. Flipping past commercials and bad sitcoms, he hesitated for a moment as he flipped past a news channel, the reporter seemed anxious.
"..we repeat that America is under atta..."
He continued flipping but after a moment that line sunk in. "No, that can't be right", he spoke aloud, as he flipped back down to the news channel; the broadcast continued as Marcus leaned forward.
"At ten o'clock this morning pacific time, the Mexican Army launched a surprise attack on San Diego and the Camp Pendleton military base in Southern California. A small yield nuclear weapon was detonated in the air over the military base, completely wiping it out and crippling our military response to the attack on San Diego. For those of you just now joining us I repeat, America is under attack and we are in a de facto state of war with Mexico..."
As memories of September 11th came flooding into his thoughts, the sound of the TV faded away. As though he was slowly lowering his head underwater, the sounds of everything around him got quieter and quieter. He stared at the floor, trying to grab hold of himself and reality. In the distance Marcus heard a faint ringing as if it were far away, like a phone muffled by a pillow. Slowly his focus shifted from his memories and the floor, he lifted his head and looked over into the next room towards the source of the gentle ring. It seemed to get louder and louder until he realized it was his phone. He snapped out of his daze and with an unexpected sense of urgency he found himself clambering over the arm of his couch and dashing into the next room to answer the phone. He grabbed it with so much force he nearly broke the wall mount and answered.
"Yes, hello?" he blurted out, just slightly out of breath.
"Marcus, it's Jane, are you watching the news right now? Can you believe this is happening?"
"Actually no, it seems unreal, I just started watching did they say anything about what our military is doing?"
"Yes, they're deploying National Guard and Army there, but since the majority of both forces are in the Middle East they don't have enough troops to handle a full on assault like this. They're sending in new recruits as well."
"Oh my God, how can this be happening? I don't understand how we ..."
Marcus was cut off by the loud sound of fast machine gun fire coming from right out front of his house. He could hear the cracking sounds of the ammunition and the distinct sound of a car being shot, "whump, whump, whump" followed by the crashing sound of a window be blown out. The gunfire continued, "crack, crack, crack." There was a lot of shouting, but he couldn't quite make out what was being said over the gunfire. Then there was a brief silence broken only by a man screaming in agony. Marcus intently continued to listen though there was nothing but silence, when suddenly it was broken by loud shouting in Spanish. The man's screams of pain turned into a wailing sound, it sounded like he was saying something but Marcus wasn't quite sure what it was, it might have been begging. Frozen in place intensely listening, he was trying to piece together the scene outside based on what he could hear. There was another long pause as the man moaned and then the crack of a single gunshot, followed by a deafening silence. Jane was frantically yelling into the phone,
"Marcus, what is happening? What the f_ck is going on over there?"
He held the phone to his chest, as though those outside could hear her through the phone.
