Dissonance - Book One

thirty-four

"Thinkin' 'bout payin' for those," a voice says.

I immediately freeze.

"Turn around slowly," the voice says.

As I slowly turn around, I search the store for Wyler, trying not to give away his position. Hopefully he saw whoever this is, enter, and he was able to run or hide, although I doubt he would run, at least I hope he hasn't abandoned me.

The man with the gun shines a flashlight in my face so that he can see me, but I can't see him. I hold up my arm to block the light but I still can't make out who's there.

"Now put down the bag," he commands.

I do as he says.

"Hands above your head."

I open my fist with the rocks clinched inside and they fall to the ground.

"Looks like you brought a knife to a gun fight, little lady," the man laughs. Good thing Wyler's not here, he'd probably roll his eyes and say, "I told you so."

I have to figure a way out of this situation. This guy is either another one of those creeps that tried to kill Wyler and I last night, or he's some sort of small-town psycho who could do any number of unimaginable things to me, given that the world is ending and there is no sign of law enforcement anywhere in sight. There's no one who is going to rescue me. I'm going to have to talk my way out of this one. I got an 'A' in my debate class. My ability to sway even the biggest naysayer to my point of view, or rather my assigned point of view, is one of the many things that comes easily to me. If I could convince the pot-riddled minds of a bunch of teens, that marijuana should only be legal for medicinal purposes, then I was sure I could talk this small-town hick into letting me go. On the other hand, if this was another one of those goons from earlier, then this might prove more challenging, and possibly, more deadly.

"Hey," I begin in my friendliest sounding non-threatening voice. "Would you mind putting that flashlight down so I can see?"

"Yeah, I would mind," he retorts.

Ok, so politeness isn't going to work. How about a little white lie?

"Look, I've got a lot of people with me who are hiding right now, and all I have to do is say the word and..."

"I call BS on that one little lady," he interrupts. "They would have come to your rescue already."

He's got me there. I scan the aisle, looking for anything that I can use as a weapon or something that I can throw to distract him and then run.

"Don't bother honey," he says, as if reading my mind. His little pet names for me are starting to piss me off. "How about you slowly move towards me."

That's when I see him in the shadows. Wyler is there, quietly sneaking up from the side.

"Ok, ok," I say, trying to keep the man's attention focused on me so that he won't see Wyler. I move towards the stranger at an excruciatingly slow pace in order to give Wyler as much time as he needs. I'm not sure what he has planned, but I can see that he has something in his right hand. He raises it and positions himself to strike the stranger in the head, but just as his arm moves to swing, another man steps out from the shadows, smashing Wyler in the side with the butt of his rifle and knocking him to the floor. Before Wyler has a chance to rise, the man is on top of him, pinning Wyler down and punching him repeatedly in the face.

"Stop it! Stop it!" I yell, as I run towards Wyler, but the man who has been pointing the gun at me, grabs my arm and yanks me backwards, preventing me from reaching Wyler. He holds me tightly around my waist as I twist and squirm in his grasp. The only thing that makes me stop, is his gun, which is now pressed firmly against my temple.