The human body holds approximately
1.5 gallons of blood.
Nearly
two cups had already pumped out of Walter, and more was draining from the two
holes in his shoulder.
“What
happened?” asked Mimi.
“Well,
my first guess is that I was shot,” said Walter. “But I suppose it’s possible that
my shoulder chose that exact moment to spontaneously combust.”
“Smartass,”
said Mimi as she pulled his shirt aside to check the wound. The bullet had gone
clean through, which, in movies, people always talked about like it was a good
thing. In this situation, however, it meant that he was bleeding from two holes
and he would most likely never raise his hand above his head again. “Luckily,
it doesn’t look too bad,” she said.
“Wow,”
said Walter, “really? You mean a bullet didn’t
just rip through blood and bone and leave two gaping holes in my shoulder?”
Mimi
grabbed as many napkins as she could off the counter and rolled them up.
“What’s that for?” asked Walter.
“You’re not going to like it,” said
Mimi.
“Yeah,
like everything else that’s happened in the last two days has been so much fun,” said Walter.
“Are
you always this bitchy?” asked Mimi, helping Walter roll onto his side.
“Only
when I’m in mortal danger, apparently,” he said. “What are you going to do?”
“Don’t
ask,” said Mimi, “just grit your teeth.”
“What?”
In
one swift motion, Mimi yanked the collar of Walter’s shirt down, tearing it and
exposing the bullet hole in the back of his shoulder, then immediately jammed
the roll of napkins into the hole.
Walter
screamed.
Doctor
Ralph reached the back door of the restaurant at full speed and burst into it.
He was expecting it to fly open when he hit the push-bar, but since Adam had
inadvertently melted the doorknob from the outside, it didn’t.
Instead,
his face smashed against the steel-reinforced door, knocking two teeth loose
and bloodying his nose.
He
bounced back and tried slamming his shoulder against the door, but it still
wouldn’t budge. He tried kicking it, but still nothing.
Outraged,
he turned back toward the kitchen. The employees and customers had all fled
when the gunshots broke out – half-finished burgers and fries and assorted
meals were left scattered around the prep stations, and a thought occurred to
him.
A
quick glance at the restaurant gave him the impression that he was alone, since
Walter and Mimi were on the floor behind the counter, but a second later Walter
screamed.
Doctor
Ralph was going to have to work fast.
He
tucked the gun into the small of his back, like he’d always seen in the movies,
and rolled up his sleeves as he started grabbing ingredients out of the cubbies
around the kitchen.
Outside,
by the dumpster, Adam watched people stream out of the restaurant. Practically
every one of them had a cell phone out, some taking pictures or recording
video, and some calling 911.
He
tried the door, and that’s when he noticed the half-melted handle.
He
stubbed out his cigarette and walked around the far side of the building, away
from the crowd.
Mimi
let Walter lay back flat again, but immediately smashed more napkins onto his
shoulder, plugging the hole in the front. His face twisted further, but he
didn’t scream this time.
“Breathe,”
said Mimi, and Walter, realizing he’d been holding his breath, blew out a long
stream.
“Thanks,”
he whispered. “But now what?”
Mimi
popped her head up and looked around the restaurant to get an idea of what the
situation had become and realized that they were practically alone. The only
person left in the restaurant was Doctor Ralph, who appeared to be making
himself a snack.
“Stay
here,” said Mimi, drawing her revolver.
“Wait,”
said Walter. “Where are you going?”
“I’m
going to arrest the prick. That’s why we came here, remember? Here,” she said,
sliding the colorful boxed cheerful meal at him. “Play with your toy.”
Doctor
Ralph had several hundred recipes saved on his cloud drive.
Every
one of them killed their consumer.
He’d
have to try something new.
Adam
peered around the corner of the wall and through the window into the
restaurant. He spotted Walter lying on the floor amidst a mix of blood and
napkins and food wrappers and saw Mimi, weapon drawn, creeping around the far
side of the counter.
Ducking
down low, he pulled the door open and slinked inside, crawling towards Walter.
“Hey,” he whispered, but Walter didn’t hear him. “Dude,” he said, raising his
voice by still trying to whisper. Walter either ignored him or didn’t hear him.
When he reached him on the floor, Adam reached over and shook Walter by the
shoulder, startling him.
“GAH!
Fuck!” shouted Walter, who, out of sheer instinct, flung his elbow backwards,
catching Adam in the face.
“Ow!
Fuck!” shouted Adam, who fell backwards into a seated position.
Doctor
Ralph, hearing all of this, drew his own gun and fired several rounds towards
the restaurant without looking. His other hand continued working.
“Shit,
fuck!” shouted Mimi as she threw herself against the far wall to avoid the
ricocheting bullets bouncing off the counter. “You know you can’t get out of
here, right?” she shouted. “More cops are on the way and unless you’re planning
on killing the whole precinct, you’ll never get away.”
Doctor
Ralph laid his gun on the counter and kept working on the sandwich.
Back
on the floor out front, Walter had rolled over and looked at Adam. “You okay, mate?”
Adam,
dabbing his fingers to his nose and checking for blood, said, “Yeah. I’m good.
What happened to you?”
Walter
sat up and said, “Got shot. But I think I’m getting better.”
“Better?
How?” asked Adam.
Walter
reached up and grabbed the lower lip of the counter. He gave it a pull and a
twist and the metal warped under his hand. He yanked hard and a chunk of it
came off altogether. “I had a little something to eat,” he said, smiling.
“Now…you wanna be a hero?”
Adam
smiled and said, “Fuck yeah. What do we do?”
Mimi,
from her position of safety, heard the sirens approaching. “You hear that?” she
called out. “This is gonna turn into a hostage situation in about sixty
seconds.”
In
the kitchen, Doctor Ralph picked up his gun and turned to face the restaurant.
He held the gun casually, but kept it aimed at the room in front of him. With
his other hand, he ate his sandwich.
“They’re
gonna surround this place,” said Mimi, “and then they’re gonna start calling
the land line. They’re gonna want to talk to you. They’re gonna ask you to
release at least one of us, probably the one you shot…you know you shot a guy?
That’s not gonna buy you any favors, you know.”
Doctor
Ralph finished his sandwich and began walking forward, licking his fingers.
In
front of the counter, Walter nodded at Adam, who took a deep breath and held
it.
Mimi
said, “How about you just give it up now? Save us all a lot of trouble?”
Doctor
Ralph reached the corner where Mimi was hiding. She was still sitting with her
back to the wall and hadn’t heard him approach. Leveling his gun at her head,
he said, “No, my dear Detective, I believe I’ll let the fine civil servants of
this city take me out of here.”
Walter
saw the top of Doctor Ralph’s head over the counter and shouted “NOW!”
He
got to his feet, lifting the entire counter in his left hand as he rose and shoved
it towards Doctor Ralph. Adam, teeth gritting, ran around the far side of the counter
towards the kitchen. With the end of the counter now blocking him from Mimi and
Walter, Doctor Ralph turned towards the open side but Adam tackled him and
drove him to the ground.
Walter
picked up Mimi in his one good arm (his right arm hung dead at his side from
the shoulder wound) and ran straight through glass walls of the restaurant and
into the parking lot.
Doctor
Ralph wrestled with Adam for a moment, fighting to get control of his gun, and
when Adam heard the hammer cock back, he froze for a moment.
“That
was very stupid,” said Doctor Ralph.
Adam
locked eyes with him, and said, “Boom, motherfucker.”
He
relaxed.
He
exploded.
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