by flufffage » Thu Jul 17, 2014 2:49 am
DAY SIX... Part Two
There was a tense moment as he aimed, and just an instant before he pulled the trigger, Fluffbutt came bounding through the brush, tackling Zuul. Telo heroically burst through the trees after the dog, just as the gun went off, shooting Haus in the thigh, and then clattered to the rocky forest floor in front of Special. Telo ran over to Special’s side, taking over the pressure on his wound so Haus could take care of his own wound. He looked over to Fluffbutt pinning Zuul’s body to the ground and saw Sloth bolt, dropping his gun in the process. Telo watched him leave, regrettably unable to go after him; he needed to stay and maintain pressure on Special’s wound.
Telo turned his attention to the wound. With one hand, he reached back and pulled off his own shirt, gripping it with his teeth and ripping the shirt into strips. He handed some to Haus, who had ripped off his own shirt and was using it as a compress. Haus took the strips and tied the compress down onto his thigh and turned to help Telo with Special.
“Well I guess we found the Mafia,” Special said, weak from blood loss. Fluffbutt panted happily from her position, sprawled over Zuul’s struggling body. Haus shushed Special and replaced Telo’s hands with his own over the bullet wound, as Telo ran back to the camp for medical supplies and people to help.
Telo returned in just a little over five minutes, without a first aid kit, but with Porky and Doctor Galaxy. Between Telo and Doctor Galaxy, they loaded Special carefully onto a makeshift stretcher and brought him back to the kitchen. Meanwhile, Porky restrained Zuul and pushed him along behind the stretcher.
Once in the kitchen, they deposited the stretcher onto the counter. Telo immediately put a large pot of water on to boil and rummaged through the drawers until he found a pair of tweezers from the single, pathetic, understocked first aid kit. As the water came to a boil, Haus limped over to the stove to sanitize the tweezers, and grab as many clean dishcloths as he could. Telo reached above the fridge for the bottle of vodka he knew Fluff had stashed there the very first night they arrived, placed it on the counter, then scrubbed his hands clean.
At this time, Special was nearly unconscious from the pain of his wound and blood loss. Once the tweezers and other items Haus found and thought useful had been sterilized in the boiling water, the two Doctors began removing Special’s bandages, not saying much to each other, but working in perfect synch.
Telo took the tweezers Haus handed him and with one hand, felt around the wound. He determined that no internal organs were injured, and when he had located the bullet lodged in Special’s abdomen, he reached in with the tweezers. When his first try came up unsuccessful, he had Doctor Galaxy hold a flashlight above him, pointing into the wound.
On the second try, he located the bullet and was able to pull it out as Haus, leaning against the counter, ignoring his own pain, immediately took over with a sterilized needle and thread to close the wound.
Once Special was in stable condition, an impromptu IV drip set up, and Haus keeping tabs on his vitals, Telo realized that it was time to end this whole charade. Doctor Galaxy volunteered to stay behind and help Haus and Special while Telo and Porky went after Sloth.
They were debating how to track Sloth down when Telo’s eyes alighted on Fluffbutt, sitting patiently in the corner, keeping a watchful eye on Zuul. He quickly ran up to Sloth and Doctor Galaxy’s room and grabbed a dirty shirt from Sloth’s suitcase.
“I have no idea if this will work,” he said, holding the shirt in front of Fluffbutt’s nose. Almost immediately, her nose was practically glued to the shirt, ears perked. “Go on, girl. Can you find him?” Fluffbutt bolted out of the door like a fart in the wind. Telo and Porky burst into action. Porky grabbed a shotgun and a machete, and with a “Come along, doctor,” followed the dog into the woods. Telo laughed and followed, also grabbing a shotgun and some rope.
Not too long into the search, they found footprints. Fluffbutt stopped and panted happily, looking proud of herself. Telo had her sniff the shirt again, and she was off like a dart once more, nose glued to the ground.
Soon enough Fluffbutt had led them to a very dense part of the woods. Porky’s machete sliced through the brambles as if through butter and they came upon a dilapidated shed. They cautiously opened the door, and immediately jumped back as they heard a gunshot. There had been a tripwire attached to the door. Telo told Fluffbutt to sit, and she did so happily as Telo and Porky broached the door.
Inside they found Sloth behind an overturned table, gun pointed at the two, but when seeing not one but two guns pointed back at him, sighed. He dropped his gun and let Telo secure his arms behind his back as they made their way back to the main camp.
When they had returned to the mess hall, Special had been moved to one of the dining tables across from Zuul and looked slightly more coherent. They tied Sloth to a chair next to Zuul and they all took a seat.
“Alright guys,” Telo started, “Let’s end this once and for all. Sloth and Zuul, are you the mafia?”
“Wait, how do you know?” Doctor Galaxy said, “Where’s their symbol?” The two had already been searched and there was no symbol to be seen easily anywhere on their clothing.
“Look, guys,” Special admitted, “I’m the detective. I have been all along.” He showed them his badge. “And I quote, ‘You two have been causing trouble all along… Foiling our plans.’ Tell me that doesn’t sound like an admission of guilt.”
“Yeah, Zuul all but flat out admitted that he and Sloth were the mafia when he tried to shoot us” Haus added.
“Your mum’s the mafia,” Zuul added cockily, his posture decidedly nonchalant even through his binds.
Telo pulled out a ziploc bag. Inside were the bullets that were removed from Special’s abdomen and Haus’s leg. On each of the bullets, now slightly dented and bent from firing, but still plainly visible, was the insignia of the mafia. He showed this to the group.
“Oh please,” Sloth scoffed. “Like that proves anything. All it does is show that the gun once belonged to the mafia; it doesn’t prove who out of us is the mafia.”
“You make a valid point, Sloth,” Special said. “I think the only way for this to go is to take a vote for your innocence.” They voted. Sloth and Zuul, of course, voted innocent, and everyone else voted guilty. “Well, I suppose that’s that.”
“So what’s the worst that you could do? Tie us up and lock us up in our rooms?”
“Too risky,” Special said to him. He turned to face Telo, Porky and Doctor Galaxy, “Take them outside, by the lake.”
They all reached the lake’s edge, Special hobbling along with Telo’s support. Sloth and Zuul were still bound, Porky behind them with his shotgun at the ready.
“Any last words?” Special asked. Sloth just shook his head, resigned to his fate.
“Welp. Guess we’re skerkt,” Zuul said. “It’s been real, guys. See ya in hell.”
With that, Telo handed Special the revolver they took from Zuul earlier. Porky turned Sloth and Zuul to face the sunset, away from the rest of them.
Special aimed, and with a bang, Sloth crumpled to the ground. Zuul restrained a flinch, and glanced over his shoulder.
“Look at the sunset, Zuul. You deserve to see something beautiful before you die.” Special advised solemnly, his expression closed off.
Zuul faced the sunset again, gulped and squeezed his eyes shut as a tear rolled down his face. Behind him, Special aimed. Zuul took a deep breath, then with a bang, breathed no more.
-------
“Guess we won’t be needing these anymore,” Telo stood at the lake’s edge, the four keychains in hand.“Thanks for the help, Fluff. Couldn’t have done it without ya.” He tossed them into the lake, in the general direction where Haus thought he saw her body. He steadfastly refused to look down the shore to where Porky and Doctor Galaxy were building rafts to place their fallen once-friends upon.
He turned and made his way over to Special to check on his wound. Just as he reached him, they heard a fire alarm go off at the main compound.
Leaving the unfinished rafts and wrapped bodies on the lake shore, they survivors slowly made their way back to the main camp.
The main building was burning, fire streaming from every window. Porky rushed to the closest entrance, only to raise an arm to shield his face from the scorching heat as he backed away. He turned around to walk back to the group when he noticed a pile of things behind those gathered. He pointed, and everyone turned to look.
The survivors found their bags all set outside the main compound, packed and ready to go. On top of their suitcases were two leather jackets, both with the mafia insignia and with the names “Zuul” and “Sloth” on the lapels.
They solemnly stood in the drive gazing upon the burning building as they realized that they were well and truly fucked.
They turned over a few of the suitcases to sit on, and there was nothing to be heard except the crackling and the occasional crash of the building collapsing in on itself.
Eventually, a different sound was heard, a sort of whirring and chopping noise. Telo looked up as a helicopter flew overhead the last rays of sunlight winking off the metallic hull.
Over the next hour, they saw a few more helicopters. Finally, one landed in the front drive. A man in an official looking jumpsuit jumped out. He introduced himself as Sgt. White, of the local Search and Rescue Team, codenamed “Bad Bishop”. He asked if anyone needed medical attention, and they explained Special and Haus’ conditions.
As Sgt. White called for an airlift evac for the wounded, the others waited for their turn to return home.
Telo realized that apparently the way to have gotten out of this entire situation was to cause a large enough emergency that outside help would arrive. Go figure, he thought.
Soon enough, it was his turn to board a helicopter to return to civilization.
As he gathered his luggage, he turned back for a last glance
In the dim light of the nearly extinguished building, a shadowy figure was lit by the dying flames. It stood off to the side, away from the firefighters who began the attempt to douse the fire.
The figure looked strangely familiar, and as it turned to face the chopper, the flames illuminated the face. It was Fluff, standing in front of the fire, her hair billowing in the breeze. Telo opened his mouth to call out to her, but when he blinked, she was gone.
He turned away to the first responders, realizing that it must have been just a figment of his traumatized imagination, and was escorted into a helicopter to be taken to the station.
Last edited by
flufffage on Thu Jul 17, 2014 11:51 am, edited 1 time in total.