1
YOU noticed it when in mid summer the when field that use to be green at this time is all dusty like sand. Gaunt Jimston kicks the dust while he walks towards the harbor, and the café. Gaunt thought back to when he was 14 and on acid, or had just come down of it. He remembered on the morning after he felt something stabbing him athousands times because the grass looked so gray. Now there was no grass, but that feeling was almost constant for gaunt lately.
Gaunt had a list of things he had to do in the breast pocket of his armati suit that he wore every day. The list was not needed particularly because it had things like “hang around” listed after several different non-consecutive numbers.
Work was not too challenging. Orders were coming in on his site. People wanted his wears. It was unfortunate that they wanted them so badly, because they did not get any thing useful. All he had to do was go to western union and pick up the money and he personally did not do that.
Gaunt Jimston was 35 and on his way down to the same café he’d been hanging around since he was 12. His mother actually was the person that brought him there. His mother was a real one of her generation. That peace and love stuff. That yoga and camaonmeal tea. That soon changed. When the drugs came more acceptable and accessible and were used by all in excess. Mothers and daughters hitting some opium around lunch time. Daddy and the boss a banging some heroine after work.
Smelling strongly of insese and Irish cream. “The bike shop” was the place in Halifax. None of the zoned out masses seemed to go in. No one would be talking about the reality TV shows in there. If you wanted you could sit in a dark corner and read a book in solitude out of the evil conspiring sun.
Today Gaunt looked at his to do list # 9 was “try and be Happy” he smiled as he got to the counter thinking of that being on his list.
“Gaunt here you go sir.” Ronny the owner-in his trade mark fedora-said handing Gaunt a cup of coffee knowing Guant’s routines he did not ask what he was laughing about. Gaunt handed Ronny his plastic.
Mixing in cream and with a paper Gaunt sat in the corner back by the pool tables and read about trouble with “boarder Busters” in Toronto. It had been in the news lately. The media classified it as some clearly “evil” people. They were all just out of the war. The US crazy. The “boarder Buster’s” would come up to Canada guns a blazing and go on sprees. The article said they were mostly x-soldiers. Gaunt read the article and thought ‘what a fucked up place I’m in.’
In came Jon with his dog skip. “hey gaunt!” The little homeless tike chirped with the zealousness that most of the homeless kids had when speaking with half crooked scam artist.
“Hey Jon.” Gaunt likes the kid. He was a mysterious kid. Always with this dog, skip. “You go to the western union yet?”
“Ah Gaunt if you hold on to Skip for a hour or so I’ll go right now!”
“Sure thing.” The 12-year-old kid handed over the leash and bummed a smoke from Gaunt, which Gaunt reluctantly gave him. Gaunt knew he was a bad influence on the kid. But he was far from the worse. Gaunt thought that perhaps even he was the best. Gaunt did not know for sure but he suspected that Jon was homeless or a run away of some kind. Smoking was better then sniffing glue down at the desert at the end of town. Much better. Jon then ran out.
Gaunt honed in on a conversation that was being had a table a little away from his. These idealist assholes really wore on Gaunt’s dieing patience for blind baby hope, a couple of rich kid not doubt
“Let’s imagine things are worse than they are Todd. Let’s imagine that this is going well.” This girl inside the dark café with those Dior sun glasses on. Her friend looked very distraught. His cardigan was being tugged at by his own insecure arms. Gaunt observed as if watching a couple of pure idiocy.
He tried to hang on “okay lets. The world is over. There, that be worse!”
“Don’t be melo dramatic, Todd.” Gaunt almost felt his heart break form the cold detached manner she was speaking to Todd. Julia was the girl gaunt knew her vaguely from classes that he flunked out at in school. “Melo dramatic” suddenly struck Gaunt as a funny term to be handed out by a girl that he had per-judged as a rich kid dumby that says a lot of shit and does nothing about. Gaunt said nothing. Did nothing, and thought by doing that he was doing his bit.
Todd started crying. Tears splashing in to his coffee. Hyperventilation dry heaves as his hrion adict physic convulsed in deep emotional termoil. Gaunt put his eyes down to his paper.
President Himber has apologized to the Canadian government saying “I hope that the Canadian people realize that these criminal citizens of our country do not work for our country and there is investigations by several of our intelligence agency’s working on finding and dealing with the perpetrators of such heinous activities.”
That meant, that “deal with” meant kill. Himber Killed. Not many people disagreed with it. Gaunt disagreed but was much too self involved to do anything about it. Infact even if he could do any thing about it, which he could not, he would not. Gaunt felt that it was too late anyway. Too late for everyone. The world was Julia’s and Todd’s relationship. Pretty much over.
Skip the boys dog started to lick Gaunt and whining. Animals seem to be very perceptive at times of human uncomforted. That is why Gaunt disliked them somewhat. They were always whimpering and licking him. Gaunt pushed the doog away from his tatter amarti that he still supposed made him look very sharp, but mire made him looked lie the type of people that had gum stuck to the ass of their pants that stand around ciggarette butts.
These “boarder Buster’s” were Gaunt’s age more or less. The war had been going on for years. More and more psycho’s were being made each year and then being killed by their government for “hate”. Their sprees up to Canada were getting scarier to say the least. A hundred, two hundred of them in suvs and trucks. Lots of guns. Trained to kill. Convicted of “hate”.
Hate of man kind in general was on the rise.
What was it all about in the first place? The war? It was long forgotten. September 11th. September 11th Gaunt thought back to hearing about it smoking pot at the lake. They brought a radio up. “Bad pilots” Gaunt said with out thinking.
“I think it’s more then that Gaunt.” Someone said.
For a while Gaunt thought that the US did not deserved it. That 911 was a work of evil men.. All the shit that happened after. Gaunt slowly lost his compassion. Came to the conclusion that man was evil. That they all were. That he was. That anyone could be charged with HATE. Hate being the latest buzz word. “They are a bunch of Haters!” That beginning line for some supposed great speech that hemdrik had made in his General’s jacket at Christmas—a strange sort of visual, him and his hate eyed family siting there at the white house ripping to bit the steak and chicken with their grubby little fingers.
2
Julia was getting ready for bed. The phone had been ringing since 7—it was 9. Julia went to the receiver picked it up, then put it on again and then took it off again. Beep Beep Beep. “Please put the receivers on, this is a recording. 2cy” Julia said the operators per recorded message along with the operator’s voice coming out of the phone.
She had met Todd at a club. He had not been trying to dance with her. He was quiet, seemed sensitive, but like most men it turned out that was aczactly what finally drove her nuts about him, in a bad way. She hoped the calling would stop soon. She did not want the police involved. She had had to have the police involved one time. It worked, but she felt bad about doing it, even though she knew she should not.
Julia was a beautiful girl in every sense. She was applying her cream to her face and turned on the TV. Footage of the raid on Toronto was on. People bloody and running around, and these large muscular men that looked extremely evil.
This was still even in her own country was a million miles away from her. She saw it and felt nothing. She did think, “fuck and this is my country that’s being made into a war zone!” She changed the channel and watched with out interest some American idol program. The girl was singing high and doing that “run around the note” that they all did, and Julia was unimpressed. But it was better then the News.
She went to the computer and signed in on here email accounts. Assignments from her teacher at university were there and several links to sites to read. Art suprisingly had a lot of reading and writing involved in it. Julia sat at the computer. The annoying host of the show was yammering on to one of the contestants. Mindless Julia thought. Was this art, no it was entertainment? Was there a difference? Is there going to be room for it?
Julia leaned back in her chair and thought about what it would be like in a couple years. People putting on plays for each other in bomb shelters? The priminster said that people should arm themselves.
Julia was unphased by the gun shot in the night air and the screaming women. Julia looked at the computer screen. An over powering sense of uselessness came over her. She felt alone. She put the phone on the hook. Dialed a number “Todd, hey sorry, you want to come over?
3
“Fuck yeah!” The glow of the green lights on the dash illuminated the mans face that was scared up to the point of mutilation. Dressed in a wife beater. Rap music was pounding out
The mans mind:
Forwards
Into the night
Sustain yourself, they did it to you
You’ll show them
You’ll show them
Fuck
Fuck
Fuck yeah
A fleet of SUVS speed down a dark highway. Kids sniffing glue look up from their plastic bags in the darkness. “Buster’s” one shouts out. And then puts his nose back into the plastic bag.
GUN SHOTS.
DEAD KIDS WITH GLUE ALL OVER THEM.
A thousand thoughts scattered as the man’s thoughts were transcribed above multiply and over lap each other to the point of meaninglessness incoherntness, madness ECT ECT.
4
Jon came back and found Gaunt playing an ancient arcade game. Skip was curled up on the couch. Jon handed Gaunt a black boxes in which Gaunt swiped his card through. Gaunt smiled and left a couple 100 credits on Jon’s black box. “Jon what do you do kid?”
“What you mean?”
“well you are not in school… what you do?”
“Hang. Try and teach skip tricks.”
“yeah… and your parents don’t mind?”
“No.”
“You need more money?”
“Gaunt I am cool!” Jon looks up at him from petting Skip on the couch. “I am no loser.”
“I did not say you were. Just… what ever man. Your cool.” Gaunt gives Jon proppers.
5
Officer LeBlance drives his cruiser down the dark High way, and the window is pounded with acid rain. His radio cuts out. Then his engine conks out. He pulls over and sees a line of SUVs parked along the other side of the Highway.
He gets out of the car and the highway is quiet.. He stands there and does not close the door. Backs quietly into the tree line behind the ditch on his side of the road.
Two large bairded men walk along the yellow line of the Highway.
“What’s this Jimmy?”
“Looks like a pig vehicle..”
“Yeah but where is the little piggy?”
Officer Leblanc is huddled off in a bush and watches the men as they playfully kicked the doors out of his vehicle and rip the radio out. ”He’s got to be around here somewhere…,” the man known as Jimmy says. “I wonder if he is watching?”
“Yeah like in a bush somewhere…” so disgustingly playful.
LeBlance thinks about the news of the rebels lately. He remembers just last night at home in his boxers watching it on the TV. He unsnaps his holster.
Jimmy starts sniffing around like an animal.
“You hear that?” The other says with cocked ears.
The two men, one known as Jimmy to Office LeBlance are holding automatic rifles. And are smiling. One lights a smoke. “Should you inform Bratser Jimmy?”
“Charles!” Jimmy says aghast. “You know what he’d say..”
Jimmy and Charles start to walk towards the tree line. Officer LeBlamce gulps.
Laughter is heard on the dark highway.
6
The face of an old man is on Canadian TV:
The group known as the boarder busters are on there way to Canadian once again. An abandoned police vehicle was found on highway 8 in the US. Authorities say that the car was burned and smelled of urine. High 8 leads to old logging roads that make it very easy to get into Canada undetected. The Canadian government has suggested staying in your homes. And to
Make sure all firearms are in working order. Now back to fear factor.
Duncan hopes up off the couch and walks to the closet and takes out a 12 gage shot gun. Sits in front of the TV. The good-looking people are eating bugs and the music is intense. Duncan cleans his gun with a smile.
“What the fuck?” Says Todd to Duncan his roommate. “Duncan you have a gun?”
“Yeah man. Times are changing man. Those evil fucks are coming up over the boarder again. And around us. They could come here.”
Todd goes back to the couch and looks at his fat roommate clean his gun. “What’re the eating tonight?”
“Argentinean sugar ants.” Says Duncan.
7
Logging roads are lonely desolate places. Stump apon stump for miles. Swamps and the smells of stagnant water. In the Hot de ozoned sun beating down on the naked officer. Heavy metal music blearing. And about 150 large breaded men with beer and drugs laughing and taking turns smacking the shit out of him.
The crowd of men make way for Bratser.
Bratser stands well over 6 feet tall.
Strong arms made for crushing.
A shaved head.
A pointy red beard.
“You might want to know why we are beating you.” Bratser says to LeBlance’s bloody face.
“I know why.” The officer smiles a bloody smile. “Your mad.”
Bratser looks at the officer and laughs. “Yeah you got it.”
Lebanc gets a smack to the face from Braters powerful crushing arms.. “you are all gonna live it. Do you know what we saw over there? Do think it is fair?”
Bratser smacks the nose splattering the officer’s blood everywhere.
Officer Leblance dies duct taped to a tree in a clear cut somewhere near the Canadian boarder. Vultures eat his rotting flesh. The bones are found years later
8
Gaunt is busy with his list for the next day in his shitty looking apartment. Then he hears what sounds like one or two too many gun shots. Yes, it was an automatic rifle for sure.
7.don’t get killed
Gaunt writes down in his notebook. Gaunt then smiles and walks towards the cupboard. He opens the cupboard and there is a colt 45…
gaunt takes a long swig.
“First time in a long time.” Gaunt says to himself. “So what is it these fucking boarder busters?” Gaunt takes another swig and turns on his TV, which is snow, and as he clicks through the channels manually on his ridiculously old set, he finds it is all snow. “Fuck.” He sits on his couch.
Gaunt looks at the phone. “Fuck I should have paid the bill.” Gaunt then started to think about people he should get in contact with? If there was any point in that. “fuck fuck fuck!” He shouted to himself. Gaunt put his bone white fist to his lips. “The boy” Gaunt thought where he could find The boy and his dog. But no he came to the conclusion that if he went out now then—where was the boy anyway. Gaunt had no fucking clue!
The crackle of snow cleared and the face of Bratser was they’re smiling his tooth-missing smile.
“Welcome to our broadcast Halifax.” Mouthed the dirty liped and cut nosed Bratser. “We are hanging out here for a bit.” He then looked back at a uniformed police officer behind him. The Officer was bound by duct tape. Bad camera work. The cop was bloody. “Who’s your daddy” people were shouting and smacking sounds blurred out for what seemed like—well longer then it was—and bratser then turns back and smiles. “Feel free to live your lives as you would. We are the law now though. Show us respect and we will do the same in return.”
Back to the snow.
8.be nice to the conquer.
Gaunt took another swill of the colt forty-five. Looked around in his dresser. A ball cap. Jeans and a jacket and left out the door.
9
Todd was in the fetal position. The blurring TV set. And Julia was in hysterics. It was UN discernible from her exterior what was going on in her head.
FUCK!
Explians it to the best degree. Julia then looks down at Todd who had reverted back to some infant state.
“I am glad I called you over Todd.”
“I’m glad to. Come here. Did you see that? Oh come here babe.” Julia goes up and curls up with Todd. Make up sex could still happen after this insanity. It would have so many levels of sex to it.
Luckily Todd did not yell mummy, something Julia had told her self she would never except as a slip from anyone she ever slept with—no matter the circumstance.
“Well I guess things can always get worse.” Todd said with a very strong almost manly voice although still shivering beneath his thin cardigan and tears rolling out of his red eyes.
“Yeah.” She looked at Todd. She grabbed his crotch and started to massage his sex area.
10
WHATS BRATSER Going TO DO?
Any damn thing he likes.
70’s rock music as a very excited Duncan watches with an awed look on his fat features. Holding his gun that he’d been shinning
DUNCAN’S TV-Bratser on the screen, with his shirt off to show off his tattoo of a girl getting it doggy style. The cop is lying in the corner of the room blood pooling around him. There is a girl there with Bratser in tight leather booty shorts. “and now for some blue nuit!” Shouts Bratser. The leather booty short girl topless and caressing her breasts walks over to Bratser and starts rubbing up against him….
Duncan eyes are bulging out of his head. He picks up the phone.
“Hello?” Says a very out of breath girls voice.
“Julia? Is Todd there?”
“Ya.”
“Can I talk to him?”
“Call back in 15 minutes okay?”
Dial tone….
11
In the night when the city you live in has just been taken over by a militant and psychopathic killers every thing seems to be so normal, somehow. Of course there was not bombs or neat shock and awe going on. Gaunt was making his way across the commons to the Café’
Gaunt stopped in the middle of the commons and looked around a bush. Large scary looking men were there drinking and yelling. This was not exactly un-normal, however, considering the circumstances Gaunt did his best to avoid them. He cut down a side street and when he was finally down to the Café’ he found it open, and busy.
He looked around and saw the boy and his dog—the boy was smoking. Gaunt hurried over.
“You need a place to stay Jon?”
The boy looks at gaunt and smiled. “it’d be nice tonight the pad I Was at was taken over by Bratser’s hooligans.”
“Great.” Gaunt looked around. It was the same strange slightly depressing looking group of people around.
“Jon what’s with all the people?”
“Robs throwing a party!”
“What for?”
“change…”
Gaunt went up to the counter. Rob was there behind the bar. He looked quite drunk. There were some very attractive girls by the bar. People Gaunt had not seen around for weeks if not months. It was strange. Although the intoxicating party atmosphere was appealing. Gaunt could not help but not understand why in the hell there was one.
“Want to dance?” A very attractive blond asked Gaunt. Gaunt was stunned and walked off. The girl stood there smiling and eventually shrugged. Gaunt grabbed the boy, the dog and walked them quickly back to his apartment.
12
Newly captured by disgruntled war vets the morning in Halifax is quiet. Bratser lays passed out at least for another 6 hours next to the girls he fucked all last night and also the policemen that he beat to death the same night—in the same room.
Around Noon the City had gotten a little livelier. The Busters Or “haters” or just plain “evil” people had robed the fancy car and bike lots. They patrolled the streets with machine guns and a hung over Bratser after his morning coffee makes his first of what become daily morning addresses to his new citizens.
“Hello Halifax residents. Sorry about that stuff with the police officer last night.” Bratser smiles, endearing in a way, a sick way, although quite endearing. “I’ve set up a call-in line for my morning show here” a number flashes at the bottom of the screen.” Remember, that is if you are surprised by our technical know how? You do know what we were doing over there for the last what ever fucking years it was…” his eyes glint with intensity “you see people there is no need to be frightened. Bob we got any callers?” Bratser turns his large head and twists his muscular neck “ not yet. Well, I do hope that is in do to fear…”
The rest of the show consisted of an interview with the woman Bratser had sex with the pervious evenings programming, and a second guest. Tim, one of Bratser's buds…
Jon watched with skip on Gaunt's couch as Gaunt made coffee.
“Jon what you think about that guy?”
“Cool enough I’d say.” Jon said all chipper.
“He’s a murderer Jon.”
“So am I”
“you are not… are you.” Gaunt said pouring coffee in to the cup that had black bands around it. “I have to admit that girl he had on this morning, on his, eh, morning show seemed to have some interesting insight in how we are all murderers in some form—that somewhere along the way something we’ve done has caused the death of someone unintentionally, and that’s a big difference! What that animal Bratser does is evil.”
“I killed a man with a gun. He tried to take my bank box.”
Gaunt raised an eyebrow to this. “Really? When was that? It must have been hard on you.”
“Skip was sad.” Gaunt knew what that meant. Those fucking dogs and their ‘sensing shit.
“I was thinking since they are the law now I can drive dads old Buick in the yard. We could take a spin around.” Gaunt does not have a license.
“Sounds like a good idea to me.” Jon said entranced with Bratser.
Bratser siting on the corpse of the dead cop. Holding his arms out wide spread. “This will never happen to any of you.”pointing at the corpse and then to screen”never hold a gun on my men and you will not die. Do not worry.”
“Turn off that fucking thing!” Gaunt said siting down on the couch.
13
Julia woke up in her apartment. She got up and Todd stayed in bed. Julia was always an early riser and was wondering if classes were canceled she checked on line and they were. She went on the message boards about what was going on. On her computer she could see it all. Everything that was going on outside—all the strangely normal life. Some people were down on the park playing guitar and mandolins prancing around in a circle singing a song that went “oh the Board busters got soul even though they take em some times.” Julia thought that was a weird song on the eve of such a, a horrible televised death and shit??? Fuck it was just nuts. Julia tried to reach anyone out side of Halifax, but she knew that for security reasons the government would of put a block of Internet making only the city of Halifax able to communicate with people in Halifax and vice-versa…
It occurred to her that she might want to go out and see what was going on. She left Todd sleeping and ventured out into street. It was so bright. Had that feeling of clean after a storm. Happy patrollers rode by and waved with their happy guns. It was one of those delirious heats that happened some times.
She sat on the dusty ground and watched first and the world rolling passed her eyes, and was glad not been in class. Learning about people that would be in a field enjoying life and being connected to it rather then be hearing about the theories about what it is to do something that was oh so fucking natural.
Julia got up as though drunk from thoughts and wondered like a little girl across the dusty remnants of what use to baseball fields. The people who were on the webcam sites earlier where gone. Julia was saddened by this…
When she got to the café it was open, yet in disarray. Chairs uneven beer bottles on the table. Some strange looking men were siting at table with M 16s this did not phase Julia. She went up to the counter and as she walked up she finally made out the camera crew that was there. At the counter she asked Rob:
“Hey Robby what’s this about.”
“Oh That’s the the buster’s embedded journalist…” he smiled.
Julia was in a bit of shock to here this. “Embedded? What do you mean? Where is this being broadcasted?”
“Did not ask, and I would not suggest asking.” Rob said in an authoritative tone. Then he pours Julia her regular triple moca latte.
Julia sat at a table near the cameramen, who were tall and dark and looked less muscular and armed, although carrying revolvers, much less armed indeed then the other men. They were talking about what shots they wanted in the café, one of them, with glasses and the air of a pompous little prick, was yammering on about insufficient light to portray the simple setting in the light that it deserved.
14
Todd woke up in his girl friends bed to the sound of the phone ringing.
“Julia?” Todd yelled out and then several other times and then answered the phone.
“Julia?”
“No, Todd it is Duncan man… Looting time!!!!”
“what?” Todd said in a sleepy and somewhat disappointed voice do to not knowing where Julia was.
“I got the van form the business…” Duncan delivered meat products around the town. “…Got the shot gun too.”
“You’re not really going to do that are you? What if those fucking crazy fucking hate eyes terrorist commy pinko fascist, catch you? They’d fucking murder your ass is what. Or torture you.” Todd said boredly.
“Fine man, suit yourself.”
Dial tone…
Todd hung up the phone. Searched around for his glasses and went about getting dressed.
After he had dressed himself in the same garments he’s had on the day before he crept up to a window nicely curtained with a frilly curtain and peeked out open the curtain a tiny bit.
15
In the shantytowns at the edge of town some kids gathered to one boy with some glue.
“Toby man you gots some sniffs!”
Toby a kid that looked fat do to his distended belly was a bully to all the kids his age; he was not about to share his glue with them. “It’s mine! So you all can back off!!”
“Come on man with all those buster’s around that glue is hard to get your hands on just a little in my bag?” A small shaky blond kid said.
The boys were, as previously noted, in the shantytown. The dusty streets, the huts made out of wrecks of other building and tree stumps found around the nearby dump and land fill. The kids all started pushing Toby and the large boy got scared and started running towards the town and ran into someone’s home.
He was met by a white hairy man’s fist in the stomach and Toby fell on his back.
“I just taped him?” The man questioned noone in particular and went back into the home.
Toby lay on the ground as green bile poured out of his mouth and nostrils. The other boys ran up and garbed his glue and ran leaving him there. Moaning on the ground. The old man knelt down and shook the boy.
“You okay son?” The man said in a voice of bewilderment, shamed, and anger—a strange mix that is only found in the most destitute of destitute.
Toby drooled and the man pulled up his shirt and took a look down. A black bruise had already formed on the boy’s stomach. Gunshots went off in the air and the man shot up in terror, Toby laid is his recent fashion. There were shouts and people were peeking out of their shacks. One of the patrollers was there parked right in front of the man and Toby.
“What happened here sir, the boy, is he okay what happened?”
“What do you care?” Shouted the, man waving his hand in dismissal.
The man’s head grew a red dot faster then he could hit the ground and the patroller picked Toby up and threw Toby in the back of his white van.
16
Gaunt and Jon piled into the car and Skip two hoped in the back seat.
“Well won’t this be nice, hey? Jon.” Jon was looking out the window; it looked as if he were ignoring Gaunt. “Something wrong?”
Jon said nothing and Gaunt started up the car and pulled out of the driveway. Practically noone was on the street, and it was a nice day. Gaunt was thinking about going and seeing if the Western Union was open. How long were these fuckers going to stay in town till…? And Jon, Gaunt thought, why is he acting so strange. Jon was from the Shantytowns, must be use to all kind of violence and guns.
“Jon man you okay to go in the western union for me?”
“Sure” Jon said like any elated child would to ice cream. Skip barked.
“Well, man I could get use to this…” Gaunt said. “Nice days, driving around not having to worry about my license..” Gaunt had to swerve the car around some dead bodies lying on the ground. He decided not to stop for the boy’s sake, Skip whimpered.
“Yeah this is the life!” Jon said leaning out the window to look at the corpse; he said it with real exuberance.
“Ha… yeah, couple buds on the cruise!” Gaunt said in forced exuberance.
17
“Well I always wanted to be a actress.” Julia said in uncommon, to her, girlie exuberance. She was speaking to the cameraman with the air of pompousness, Franko was his name.
“Yeah well this Bratser is great to work for the rap parties are crazy. Non-taxed pay. Lots of opportunities for a girl like you… He is making a special film tonight Mel Gibson is going to be in it, but we’d not get you doing that right away…” The men with the m16s were now drinking beer and taking notice of Julia that Julia did not take kindly to.
“Here take my number,” said Julia getting up. “I got to go and my boyfriend is probably at home crying or going through my diary, and crying about what’s in there.”
“Sure thing Julia.” Said the man sipping his coffee.
Walking home Julia started to think what kind of feature presentation that the conquer of the city of Halifax had in mind, she shuddered. The streets were very quiet and Julia thought she understood why, it was kicking in for her too what this meant.
She turned a corner down a side street and saw the corpse of some hooker lying on the ground—the head looked like it had been scalped or something. Fear struck Julia and she started breathing heavy and steeping back and forth not able to decide which direction to go.
No cars around or people. She looked up in the windows of the houses and at one was a toothless bald man smiling.
“Suck my hole!” He yelled out in a sluggish type voice. He licked his lips but stayed in the window. Julia backed away a couple steps and then ran all the way back to her house with not further incident.
18
Duncan blasted the stereo and drove around stacking out stores to see if any goods ones were not open. For some reason some were. Even Duncan was surprised many other people were not, some people still desperately want to shop. The music store was closed.
Duncan parked the van in the grassy side parking lot. He took out his shotgun and baseball bat. Laughing. And went to the front display windows. SMASH. They broke easy as Duncan swung the bat in to the with his oafs strength. He walk in as the floor crunched with the glass scattered all over. Duncan look left and right.
What should I get—Duncan’s brain swirled with all the possibility’s that the being taken over had brought him.
He garbed two electric gibison less Paul’s and and ran them out to the Van, and when he turned the corner to where his Van was parked there stood a man.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Said the Small fat man with a crew cut and a handle bar mustache.
“Looting.”
“Carry on.” The man said and walked out of the drive and stood at the end. “You do know that I have a full description of you and,” he snapped his camera, “a picture so when these crazy fucks leave I will charge.”
“Who are you?” Duncan said his voice shirking.
“The owner of the store.”
“Well,” Duncan took aim and pulled the trigger. The mans neck was blown to bits and his head hung from a piece of neck upside down. Duncan got in to his Van and drove off,
19
“Thanks for tuning in tonight kids!” Bratser was in a tux and was standing at a micstand. “TINUGHT IS A SPEACIAL NIGHT!” He yelled into the mic and it hummed a bit. “Hey sound guy?” Bratser shrugged a little cute shrug exposing a gun in his left hand. “It is the starting of the Bratser show! Tonight we are going to be talking about the world.” Bratser clears his throat and looks down a moment to collect his thoughts. “Well,” he looks up with a chaotic smile “the oils gone. The ice is about to crack. It’s godamn hot out there kiddies ain’t it!” Applause and hoots from off camera. “When I was a kid I wanted to be entertainer can you believe that? All it was was watching movies and reading plays. Kind of faggy you might think… I suggest you don’t say it to my face though.” Laughter in the crowd. And a faint (fag) was shouted out behind camera. “Who said that? Why don’t you come up on stage, who said that?” Bratser eyes were fiery and there was a smile on his face that would scar anyone on the earth so much they’ shit em self. He stood there a minute looking around and the laughed. “Folks” he smile to the camera in an endearing and scary way “no more televised execution. We have had some complaints about that on the afternoon show, hey by the way who liked that Afternoon show today?” He held his arms out and shook his head and the crowd roared and shouted obscenities…
Duncan sat on the couch with a defeated look on his face. Todd was beside him with the same look, Julia had told him to go home.
“Really who said it though? Ha ha?” I man shouted of gay lord and bratser smiled and pointed out left to the camera “dipsy come on down here and say hello to the television viewers here.” In a moment a muscular 6’3 man stood there by the slightly smaller Bratser. “How are things?” Dipsy said. And there was laughter in the off set hooligan crowed. “good dipsy. I thought you’d like to be my fall guy.” Bratser said looking at the man dipsy and then back to the camera. “We have a great show tonight, come a dipsy to the coach."” Dipsy followed Bratser to a coach where dipsy sat down with a worried look on his face and Bratser sat in a desk beside him. “On the show tonight, beside this idiotic bitch dipsy we are going to have my long time buddy Mel Gibson!” The elderly star is wheeled out in his wheel chair. “We captured him a while back.” Laughter. “ Mel smiles, nice to be on the Bratser show. You know that most people that call people gay are themselves there dipsy” laughter… they went on to talk about Mad Max, at the end of the night after mel was wheeled off, the crowd came on stage to boot fuck Dipsy during closing credits.
Created Produced written and staring
Bratser
Special guest
Mel Gibson
20
People generally had no clue what was going on. Surely the Busters would be taken out of control soon enough; this was general consensus on the matter. AT the café’ the day after the show with Mel Gibson and every thing there was a bit of a buzz. Gaunt and the boy drove down and were playing a game of pool. Gaunt noticed the girl and the guy he saw the other days walk in from the sunlight and gave the Julia girl a little smile that she returned—gaunt had some confidence from driving a car again.
Todd and Julia sat down in a both across from one another and Julia sat on the side with good view of the pool table. A cigarette tray between them Todd was yammering.
“And we really should be not out. It is dangerous did you see all that crazy shit that lunatics been doing? Who does he think he is, he’s a murder that’s what.”
“He probably was one of those guys that got drafted and was forced to join the forces.”
“And that makes it all right?” Todd said in utter disbelieve in the extreme liberalism that she was treating this fucking nut. “What you think guys like that are sexy or something? A real bad boy.”
“AT least he is doing something and is not to afraid to speak his mind.”
“What?” Todd smacks his head and opens his eyes wide as if that would help his comprehension of the situation. “So you would like to get it going with a guy like him?”
“What are you talking about Todd? Get it going? What the fuck are you trying to say.”
“Fuck him. Fuck the big muscular bad ass that is dictating the city of Halifax with a group of drug addict army rejects.”
“No I would not ‘fuck him’ Todd but I starting to wonder why I ever did fuck you.”
Todd’s veins in his head started to bulge.
“Todd calm down I’m messing around with you.”
“Julia I love you and I just don’t understand how anyone I love could have any compassion for a crazy fuck like that… he is a psychopathic killer!”
“Probably could have a pretty kick ass rock group UN-like yours.”
“You don’t like ‘sadly triumphant’?” Todd says in a rejected dejected tone.
“Todd the band is fine, like I said… hey lets go play some pool.” Just then Duncan walked in looking distraught.
“Todd, sorry Julia you think I could talk to Todd in private a minute.”
“I’ll be at the pool table.”
“What’s up Duncan?” Todd looks up at his fat friend’s face, which looks as if it were just hit by a sad bomb.
21
Jon leans over to take a shot and then drops the pool cue when Julia comes up. “What’s your name?”
“Julia.”
“Julia we’re playing a game here.” Said Gaunt. Trying to sound cool.
“Can I have the winner?”
Jon and Gaunt say “yes” both almost at the same time, but not exactly.
“I’ll just sit here and watch in the mean time then” Julia says with a smile across her gorgeous red lips. She sits on a couch and watches intently. It becomes apparent that Jon is either letting gaunt win. It is a long game, in reality they both, Jon and gaunt were trying to let the other win. Gaunt won.
“I guess it is you and me.”
“What the fuck?! Duncan!!!” They here the shouts from the booth. Duncan is crying his head in his fat arms and Julia rushes over. “Julia go away go play your game, please.” Todd’s stress filled tone works and she walks back to the pool table.
“It is Kind of crazy anyone is even going out. I was surprised. But who knows what people will do when this shit happens.”
“I am sure people would know if they paid attention… how are you doing anyway Gaunt I haven’t talked to you for ages.”
“Selling ridiculously priced things to morons.”
“Sounds nice.” Her tone did not seem impressed to Gaunt.
Julia was racking up the balls. She looked up and smiled. “It is weird with all that crazy TV killing and shit; we still come out. It’s like if we do not directly feel… well I did see a dead body the other day.”
“Yeah me too.” The both shrugged and gaunt made a nice break and went for his second shot. Jon and Skip were siting on the couch. There were crazy psychotic conquers driving about with M16s—people were making new friends and renewing old ones…
“ Julia we got to go.” Todd said after rushing over.
“You guys need a lift?” Said gaunt to Todd who had garbed Julia’s arm.
“Who the fuck are you? Julia who is this guy?” Shrieked Todd looking intensely at Julia.
“We could use a lift though Todd?”
“Yeah, hey man sorry my name is Todd.” Gaunt and Todd shake hands.
“Jon come on we are going.”
The boy and the dog, Julia and Todd, as well as gaunt and Duncan piled into the old buik and it skidded out of the driveway and towards down town.
22
“ Well I think he is pretty funny” Jon replies to Duncan who is in the back seat with Jon and Skip.
“Bratser? Yeah he got it—you know ‘the funny’” Todd looks back at Duncan.
“Yeah I see how you can see the humor in murder.” Duncan goes to hit Todd who is siting right by the driver, gaunt, who is hit with the shot and stops the car.
“What’s going on here man?”
“You got a murderer in your car.” Says Todd.
“So what he was trying to steal my bank box.” Say Jon. Skip whimpers and Gaunt suddenly feels like something worse might just of happened.
“Do you mean the kid?” Asked Gaunt to Todd.
“The fat fuck in the back.”
“I did not want to go to jail.” Duncan comes to his own defense.
“I told you not to go looting.”
“Looting how could you mostly everything is still open, this is Canada there’s never looting anywhere because that is the way are people are, that is unless we were invited to loot.”
“I took this as an invitation.” Duncan said.
“I don’t care, where you guys want me to drop you off?”
“At the house.” Said Todd.
They drove to his house in silence. Julia got out, Todd got out Julia got back in and closed the door. “I’ll talk to you later Todd.”
Duncan got out and stood boyishly and waited for his friend by the steps to their apartment. “Okay. Call.” Todd whimpered worriedly.
“I will babe.” Todd kisses her and then she rolls up the window and says, “drive.”
“Yeah where you live?”
“Want to just drive around a bit?”
“Sure, you okay?”
22
“The last 10 years I was over there more than here. When I got back I saw that it’s gotten just as bad where I was from. Look at this kid!” The shaky camera mans for Bratser’s afternoon special pans over to Toby his hand in a bag of glue with no shirt on. Close up on belly. “The truth of it all it’s all for money people.” Bratser smiles that sadistic endearing smile he has. “Yeah I gave him some glue to sniff. The kid was found in one of those out of the way shantytowns that are sprouting up everywhere. Some old man punched him; we had our medics look at him. He is going to die.” For the next hour on air Bratser went up to Toby and talked with him, showed the kid his gun and let him hold it.
23
Of course the roads were blocked all this time from day one. The roads out of town but anywhere else was fine to go. Julia for some reason wanted to go down to the train tracks. She thought the boy and his dog would like them. Gaunt had no better ideas so they drove down next to some old grain elevator that gaunt use to drink at way back in his teenage years. There was sand around the elevator and rock. Gaunt remembered that at one time there was tall grass but did not want to say so because he did not want to sound too old.\
“Got a smoke Gaunt?”
“Jon how old are you?”
“I am 18” gaunt chucked him back a smoke and looked at Julia, who made no reaction.
They got out of the car.
The dog had forgotten about Jon and was playing with Julia. Skip kept standing there on the tracks throwing rocks of into nowhere. Gaunt sat down with him and did the same thing.
It was a hazy hot day and the water looked like it would be wonderful if it was not for the fences in front of it and the pollution and sewage in the harbor. And with all the madness going on all that Gaunt and the boy were thinking in almost the same words in their head, yet not quiet the exact, was about Julia. The best thing o be right now was Skip. She adored Skip. Skip with his paws all over her thighs and licking her lips her plump red lips. Paw the tat’s which were of ample proportions. This is where the boys minds differed, the boy thought tits and Gaunt thought ta tas…
They smoked and through rocks and when it started to get dimmer in light Julia and the dog came and sat with them on the tracks.
“Gaunt you remember when we came down here that time?” Gaunt was worried, what had e had done.
“Not really was I drunk?”
“ We were both loaded.”
“You drink?” Asked Jon. Cutely really.
“Yeah, but not that much anymore, well, not that often.” Julia chuckled to her self.
“You ever end up writing Gaunt?” See asked in a way that sounded like magic from her lips, as though it was the only thing he ever want to hear from her.”
“Yeah. But |I never got published.”
Julia shook here head in understanding. “Do you still?”
“No, what about? What do people read any more? DO people read?”
“I like Stephen king!” Said Jon.
“What one you like best?” Julia asked him.
“I liked the shinning. Reminds me of my dad..”
“That horrible Jon.” And she gave a big hug and Jon put his head over her shoulder and stuck his head out at gaunt.
“You should stay over at our house tonight.” Said Jon in the cutest voice he could muster.
“Well okay. I am kind of lonely in the apartment with all this shit going on. Plus my boyfriend would not be able to find me.” She smiled a deviant smile at gaunt and he looked away.
“Stay we can watch a movie.” Gaunt said throwing a rock.
“Great and popcorn too! For Skip!” Said Jon.
24
Todd and Duncan sat in the boring apartment with no TV to watch then the psychopathic rants of Bratser Interviewing all his fellow lunatics and badgering a poor senile Mel Gibson.
“It’s kind of nice just to sit here and read.” Said Duncan reading a copy of crime and Punishment.
“Yeah I got nothing to read. I think I should call Julia.” Todd distressed.
“You think we’re getting billed?”
“For what? The phone?”
“Yeah.”
“How the fuck should I know?”
“Well you can’t call long distance or 1900 numbers so what’s the fun in not having to pay the bill..”
“Yes. Duncan that is tragic.” Todd said picking up the receiver. Todd got the machine. He hated the machine. “Fuck what is she doing?”
“Maybe she out with that old guy and the dog.”
“I don’t think that old guy likes older girls and by older I mean not 12 and a boy.”
“mmm” Duncan said. “I can really relate to this book.”
“No you can’t Duncan.” Todd said in his superior tone. “Look this is bad what if something happened.”
“We could go check! I got the shotgun still. Let me go get it!” Duncan’s disturbing excitement.
“Maybe we should leave the gun at home.” Todd thought alittle. ‘Or here let me take the gun.”
Duncan looked at Todd with all the hate of a 6 year old denied a cookie. “Fine.” He moans in a low almost inaudible groan.
Duncan and Todd the ran out the door, Todd clutching the 12 gage in his nimble fingers. The got to the Meat delivery van and Todd jumped in the back with the sliding door slamming shut and Duncan started up the Van and lurched down the street.
25
Canadian and American ship and tanks now had been waiting for the right time to make their move. Commander Shindigger sat in his old wooden chair in the field that he enjoyed doing all his commanding from. His computer set up extension cords all the way back to the house that was off in the distance.
“All right as soon as it is dark.” Shinder said in to his Mic and the person he’d been msning said what the fuck. Shindigger quickly switched back to the command channels and wrote “brb” to the Chinese girl he was chatting with. “When it’s dark we take back Halifax.”
TAKING BACK HALIFAC was in bold letters along the bottom of the TV’s across the US and Canada. Dog Hitler the popular white hair reporter stepped in front of the cameras”…” there was no sound for a bit. The shot of a chicken running from some hungry looking hicks with knives and forks, their tongs hanging out. Hitler chuckled a bit. “What was that?” Good old studio laughter. “Let’s go to the maps…”
26
Halifax was taken back in a little under 12 minutes. The boy and his dog and Julia hardly noticed the bangs and pops over the movie they were watching about the horror of war. The actor giving heart felt tearful speeches of dignity and poignancy. Gaunt scoffed his way through the whole movie and drank colt 45 which he shared with Julia and the boy even got the occasional swig or two.
27
Todd and Duncan were shot by American forces—in later TV coverage it was said that is was unfortunate that civilians were killed in the raid, however, you never knew who were the bad guys and who were the good guy in war, and that meant shot and ask questions later. This is true, so that must make it Right.
28
Bratser and all the other captured were hung in Washington, which was televised with round that clock coverage. The moment Bratser neck was snapped there was a cheer that went out which became a symbol, or something like that. A sound bit. A moment. Defining.
And they all lived happily ever after.
The End
Geoffrey Alexander Parsons
the year 2017
-
Axanderdeath
- Posts: 954
- Joined: December 20th, 2004, 9:24 pm
- Location: montreal or somewhere in canada or the world
the year 2017
thus spoke G.A.P.
-
Axanderdeath
- Posts: 954
- Joined: December 20th, 2004, 9:24 pm
- Location: montreal or somewhere in canada or the world
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