Richard Stephenson - Collapse

“I could use some exercise.”

“Thought you might say that, Billy.”

Richard jumped the curb and eased forward into the parking lot. As the tailgaters kept a watchful eye, Richard pulled closer and stopped. No weapons had been drawn. Richard opened his door and slowly got out. He smiled and put on the appearance of being a clueless, lost traveler.

“Evening, fellas. My friend and I are lost. We’re trying to get back to the interstate and got turned around.” Richard waited to see who the men would look to for instructions, either vocally or by body language. If that didn’t happen, the first one to speak up would be in charge. He needed to single out the alpha of the pack.

A man in a black sweatshirt spoke. “Are you trying to be funny, asshole, or are you just stupid?”

Richard pretended to be frightened and let his voice quake. “Huh?”

“You heard me. Answer the question.”

The rest of the group laughed at Richard like they were on the schoolyard. Richard took a few steps back and said in a soft voice, “I’m sorry to bother you; we’ll figure it out. Have a good night.”

The alpha male shot a wicked grin at Richard. “Hey buddy, take it easy. I’m just fuckin’ with you. Turn around.”

Richard stepped up his fake nervousness and just stared back at them.

“Relax, man, we’re not gonna hurt you. The interstate is right there behind you, about a block away.”

Richard let out a panicked laugh. “Oh, I guess I am stupid! Yeah, right there. Thanks. You guys hear about some big attack to the east?”

The alpha male dropped his grin. “I look like I work for fucking CNN?”

Richard feigned a look of terror.

“This is what’s gonna happen,” said the leader. “You and your friend are gonna leave us your car and start walking back to the interstate. If you’re lucky, you might be able to hitch a ride for a blowjob.”

The entire tailgate party erupted in laughter. Richard used the distraction to leap forward and grab the alpha male’s right wrist with both hands. Richard spun around three hundred and sixty degrees and brought the alpha along for the ride. When Richard completed the circle, he cracked the man’s arm like a whip, broke his wrist and flung him into two of his goons. Richard planted his foot under the next guy’s chin, clamping shut his jaw and causing him to bite off the tip of his tongue. Tank was already sprinting from the car and ran full speed into another man who was standing completely still in shock. The impact threw the man into the bed of one of the pickups. Tank punched the fifth man in the face, who spat out several teeth on his way to the ground. The sixth and final member of the tailgate party was down on his knees with his hands in the air, crying. Richard kicked him in the ass like a football. He fell to the ground and curled up in a ball. The alpha and the two men he’d knocked over like bowling pins were not willing to give up so easily. They charged Richard, roaring like Vikings, clearly trying to bring back the frightened man they’d been teasing a few seconds ago. The first two men went down hard. The alpha male, however, managed to grab a shovel from the bed of the pickup and was running toward Richard. He swung the shovel like a baseball bat, as Richard easily ducked out of the way, gladly accepting the gift of the alpha’s exposed torso. Richard punched him in the ribs as hard as he could. With the wind knocked out of him, the alpha male fell to the ground.

Richard squatted down over the alpha male and spoke in his ear. “You should be kinder to your fellow man. When someone is lost, you offer them help and give them directions. That blowjob you were talking about? You’re lucky I don’t let my friend here loose on you. He’d do more than just make you blow him. That’s the difference between you and me. I’m willing to show mercy to someone when they’re down on their luck. Remember that. Words to live by.” Richard patted him on the head a few times and stood up.

Richard looked at Tank. “Billy, I trust that was enough exercise for you?”

“Not really, but I did have some fun.”

“Glad to hear it.”

Richard surveyed the cars in the parking lot. The time for worrying about gas was now over. He needed a bigger vehicle that could go off road if the situation required it. A nice battering ram to get him out of a sticky situation would also be nice. He decided on a full sized, four door pick up. He opened the driver’s side door and looked inside. Four wheel drive. Perfect.

Richard walked back over to the alpha male who was struggling to get back on his feet. One swift kick and he was hugging the concrete again. “Here’s the deal, friend. We aren’t going to steal any of your cars like you wanted to steal mine. We’re gonna be nice enough to leave this nice Honda Accord with you and trade it for that pickup. Whose pickup is that? I really like it.”

“Mine!” spat the alpha male.

“Terrific! I’m gonna need the keys from you. Sorry! I hope you’re left handed, seeing as how I broke the right one. Need my friend here to help you?”

The alpha male shook his head, handing the keys to Richard.

“Great! We’re just gonna grab our stuff. Won’t take a minute.”

Richard and Tank walked back to the Honda and loaded the contents into their “new” pickup. Richard fired up the engine, and they pulled forward toward the alpha male. Rolling down the window, Richard tossed the Honda keys to the alpha male. “It was nice meeting you fellas, take care!” Richard drove around the traffic jam at the intersection and pulled back onto the road.

“You are the baddest motherfucker I’ve ever met,” said Tank.

“You ain’t so bad yourself. I know you coulda handled all six of them but I wanted to give them the chance to do the right thing and let us by. They didn’t quite pass the test.”

“No shit,” Tank laughed, “how much farther?”

“Just a couple of miles,” answered Richard. “How’s your eye?”

“Feels fine in this nice chilly weather. I like it here.”

“Well Billy, I don’t know about you, but I don’t plan on staying long.”

“Oh yeah? When were you planning on filling me in?”

“Not really a secret. I find my kids and we’re headed to Canada.”

Tank didn’t say anything, which was good. Richard was going to part ways with Tank once he found his kids. He was sure Tank would realize that his kids were the top priority. When Richard was an operator with the SEALs, he’d set up a new identity and stashed the credentials for his new life — driver’s license, passport, credit cards, and cash in a cemetery not far from the U.S-Canada border. He was going to take his kids and get far away from the United States.

Richard found the street he was looking for and turned into what looked like a decent sub-division. He was pleased to see that the neighborhood was deserted. Many of the houses had been ransacked and pillaged, but no gangs of desperate, angry people wandered the streets.

“This is it,” said Richard as he stopped the car in front of a nice, two-story house. “You mind staying with the truck?”

“Of course, man, go get your kids.”

Richard got out of the truck and headed to the front door. He had thought about this very moment for so long. His daughter would have no idea who he was. His son, on the other hand, probably had the memory of him savagely murdering a man in front of him permanently fixed in his brain. They would be nine and thirteen years old, and their absent father was about to thrust himself into their lives. He stopped at the front door and had no idea what to do. He had rehearsed what he would say for years, but at this moment he couldn’t remember any of it. After a minute or so, he realized the only thing he could do was knock, so he did.