“Just some tools,” muttered Tim, vaguely. But he stopped in his tracks. He glanced back towards the kitchen, as if he was considering going out the back door to avoid Jim.
“Stay right there,” said Jim, stepping forward.
Tim had gathered up all sorts of things that one would expect to be useful in a disaster situation. In one hand, he held an ancient duffel bag that was unzipped. It was stuffed with what looked like cans of food, and bottles of water.
Jim grabbed one of the cans out of the duffle bag.
Tim stood there frozen, looking nervous. His eyes darted back and forth.
“So these are the so-called tools you needed?” said Jim.
“He’s a good kid,” said Judy. “He just gets overly enthusiastic sometimes.”
“You need to stop making excuses for him,” said Jim. “Don’t you realize that he’s stealing from you?”
“I’m not stealing anything,” said Tim.
“Like hell you aren’t,” said Jim.
Suddenly, Tim made a move. His eyes suddenly remained in one place, focused right on Jim.
Tim’s body weight shifted and he rammed Jim with his right shoulder.
Jim tried to step to the side, but it was too late. The blow hit him on his chest, and knocked the wind out of him.
Tim had brought the duffle bag back with one hand, and he was swinging it now, right towards Jim.
Jim stepped to the side, and the duffle bag collided with the wall. It created a hole in the drywall, and the duffle bag fell to the floor. Some cans fell out and clattered to the floor.
“You boys need to settle down!” said Judy.
Tim dropped everything he had.
He was staring at Jim with intensity and hatred in his eyes. His right hand moved to his jeans pocket. When he took it out, there was a knife clutched in his hand.
Tim flicked the knife open clumsily. It took him a moment.
But he got it open.
Now Jim was staring at a four inch steel blade and threatening eyes.
Jim reached for his revolver. His shirt was in the way. His hand fumbled for the holster.
Tim rushed him.
Judy screamed.
Jim’s hand was caught up in his shirt.
Tim was getting closer.
There was hardly any space between them.
Jim’s hand finally found the revolver handle. He drew it quickly.
His finger was on the trigger.
There wasn’t time to get Tim in his sights.
There wasn’t even time to get off a shot without getting stabbed first.
Jim did the only thing he could think of.
He fell backwards.
It was a sort of controlled tumble.
Or it was supposed to be. He fell hard on his back, his legs going up into the air.
The fall made it so that Tim had to adjust his attack. The swing of his arm would no longer drive the knife into Jim.
The fall bought Jim more time.
He felt the pain in his back. But it wasn’t anything compared to getting stabbed. He could live with some back pain.
Jim pulled the trigger as quickly as he could.
He kept the revolver steady as best he could, just as he’d been trained in his classes.
The knife was less than a foot from his torso when the bullet struck Tim.
Right in the chest.
Judy screamed.
7
Rob was partially in shock. He didn’t know what to think.
At first, he’d thought that Jim had just lost his mind.
But he looked up to Jim. And Jim knew that. Mostly, he’d gone along with Jim just out of respect.
But also to make sure Jim didn’t do anything stupid.
After all, even the sanest people could snap. They could just suddenly lose it.
And Jim’s been going through a lot. Aly was so important to him, and when she’d said that she’d wanted some space, it had hit Jim really hard.
He’d been in the worst shape that Rob had ever seen him in. In fact, Rob had made sure to come by the computer shop every day, just to check in on Jim. To give him someone to talk to.
And he’d stopped by sometimes in the evenings too, sometimes bringing some Chinese takeout, or a couple sandwiches. After all, Jim hadn’t been eating that well. As far as Rob could tell, he’d been living off of beef jerky from the gas station, gallons of whole milk, and whatever Rob brought him.
Rob sat in the passenger seat of the beat up old Subaru wagon. He glanced nervously into the rear window.
There were more people in the street than there had been. Fortunately, he hadn’t seen that man that Jim had threatened with his revolver.
But people, here and there, seemed to have come out of their houses. Now they were mingling with the drivers of the stopped cars.
At this point, Rob knew that Jim wasn’t crazy.
Something was going on. Something strange. Something serious.
Rob tried remembering exactly what they’d said on the news. It was just a fuzzy memory, since so much had already happened between then and now.
Shouldn’t they have given the public more information?
Rob’s thoughts turned for a moment to his job interview. He supposed that it was all right he didn’t show up. Although showing up even in extreme circumstances could show initiative. And that was something that employers often looked for. Or so he was told.
As Jim would attest, Rob certainly wasn’t an expert at employment.
From inside the house came a muffled sound.
It sounded like a gunshot.
Rob’s heart started to accelerate.
Had Jim shot someone?
His eyes darted around. His body froze up. He didn’t know what to do.
Behind him, in the rearview mirror, he could see people in the street stopping, their heads turning towards the house.
Shit. That wasn’t good.
Before he knew it, there were people around the car, apparently trying to get a better look at the house.
“That’s where Judy lives.”
“Judy?”
“Yeah, and her daughter’s been staying with her. Some problems with the husband.”
“Was that him, the guy who pulled the gun out?”
“Might be.”
“So this is his car here?”
Something had to be done. At the very least, he was going inside, to see what had happened.
Rob opened the door.
“Don’t worry everyone,” he said, using the same voice he’d used as an employee at the movie theatre, when the movie had stopped all of a sudden. “There’s nothing to be concerned about.”
“I heard a gunshot.”
“And who are you, anyway?” said one woman, who wore a very prominent pearl necklace. “What are you doing here?”
“Look, he’s got someone in the car!”
“It’s a woman.”
“And she’s not moving.”
“What did you do to her?”
“I didn’t do anything,” said Rob. “Listen, I can explain. I know it seems strange, but…” He was talking in that calm voice of his. Or at least doing his best too. The situation was already starting to get to him.
He remembered back when he’d worked at that movie theatre. He’d done his best with the crowd. He’d tried to stay calm.
But in the end, he’d lost his cool. He’d told them all to shut up, and that they’d get their money back, and that it wasn’t his fault at all. He’d kicked a door so hard that he’d bruised his toe.
And that’d been the last day he’d worked at the movie theatre. The last hour, actually. They’d fired him on the spot, probably to make a show for the customers.
Rob tried taking a step forward, but people were all around the Subaru now.
He just wanted to get inside the house.
Jim might need his help.
But there were a dozen people surrounding him now. And in the crowd, he recognized the man that Jim had threatened with his gun.