WANTED: For Being A Hero

Chapter 8: A Deer's Redemption

CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNING:  MENTION AND HINTS OF SUICIDE read with caution if you are sensitive to these themes.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

"ANSWER ME, GOAT!"

The very intimidating voice came screaming at Rami from the dark. He was laying on the ground, clutching at his stomach. They left him alone for a while, but decided to come back to try and obtain more answers.

"I .." he groans. "I told you already ... we don't have a deadline." his whole body was in pain.

He braced himself for another impact. This time a foot slams into his right side, sending a wave of pain throughout his body. He screams out in agony. He felt himself be grabbed, and moved up to a chair.

"You worthless pelt. I should kill you right here. You'd have more use to us as a rug on the floor at this point."

Out of nowhere, a light came on. Rami shut his eyes immediately. The blinding light being too much for his eyes to take. He was in complete darkness for so long. After a few seconds, he slowly tried to open his eyes.

In front of him was another goat. He had on a dark gray jacket, had some kind of gas mask around his neck. He was white in color with purple eyes, yellow-tipped ears that drooped like his own, and thick, red hair between his horns. One of which looked to be made of metal.

He was holding something in his arm. It appeared to be night-vision goggles. He set them down on a nearby table. He came back, and stood in front of Rami.

"I've made my choice. Obviously you're too stupid to give us the info we want. And we know how to go the hard way to find out anything we need to. So we're just gonna kill you. Though since we're doing that, we have to have SOME fun with it."

He took the gun and fired 5 shots into the floor in the corner of the room.

"There's one bullet left. As you can see, there's no windows around here, and the door here has a padlock on the other side." He throws the gun to the side. "You can either do it yourself, or you can starve to death. It's just as simple as that. We're done with you."

With that, he left the room and shut the door behind him. Rami's heart started to pound. He could feel every vessel in his body pumping with blood. His breathing was slow, but shallow. He didn't want to give up hope. But who's to say there IS any hope left. He doesn't know where he is, how long he's been here, or how to contact anybody. Is it worth waiting if he knows he's waiting for nothing?

He clutches at his ribs. He's in so much pain. There really is no hope for him. Is this is where he's going to die?

. . .

Half an hour passes and not a sign of anything. He hasn't eaten in at least a day. His ribs in pain, his stomach trying to feed on itself to gain any type of nutrition it can to survive. He looks at the gun.

Slowly walking over to it, he wonders ... is this really is the only way? He bends down and takes the gun into his hand. He looks at it. He has no experience with guns. He was always told not to point it at anything you do not wish to kill.

He takes a firm grip on it and places a finger gently on the trigger. He thinks to himself. "You can do it. Just pull it once, it only lasts a millisecond."

The goat takes aim ... and finally pulls the trigger. *BANG!*

* * *

Reid drives as fast as he can. He's almost to his new destination. This time, it's not in the middle of nowhere. He's in some sort of industrial area. There are warehouses everywhere, though not a lot of people around. It seems to still be in use, but just barely.

The GPS takes him down a small road at the edge of this industrial neighborhood. At the end of the road, there seems to be a cul-de-sac. Surrounding it, looks to be an old apartment complex that's no longer occupied.

Every window was boarded up with thick metal sheets. Somebody doesn't want anyone looking inside. He pulls his truck into the complex. He looks for the number he was given and spots it quickly. He sits for a moment, drawing out the plan in his mind before he takes action.

He looks in the back seat to check for his bat and gun, and notices something under the seat. He looks closer and sees what appears to be a box of firecrackers from the last holiday. He immediately gets an idea. He's now ready to execute his plan.

* * *

Standing outside of Rami's room, the goat with the gray jacket heard the gunshot.

"HA! Looks like he chose the easy way." He walks over to the door, and unlocks the padlock.

He looks inside and is confused by the lack of a body. Stepping more in, he is immediately thrown to the side by something. He falls to the ground. Rami stands there, stunned by what he just did. He realized though, there was no time to waste, so he launches himself at the goat and punches with all his strength.

The goat was dazed at first, but quickly came to. He grabbed Rami by the throat, and shoved him away. He stands up. Rami coughs a bit from being choked. He looks up just in time to see an elbow come right at his face.

The elbow impacts the bridge of Rami's nose, knocking him out cold. Blood starting to ooze from one of the nostrils. Rami lays on the floor, completely motionless. Moments later, he hears loud, rapid-fire pops right outside the front door.

"Go! Go check that out! NOW!" he yells at his two companions.

. . .

Reid stands at the ready. The door slowly comes open, and a head pops out. Without hesitation, Reid swings the bat down and cracks it into the back of the poor soul's head, causing him to fall to the ground into a lifeless heap. He hears a voice come from inside.

"Boss! Someone's out here! Number 3 is unconscious!"

Reid lunged himself into the doorway and grabs the henchman, shoving the barrel of his new gun to his temple.

"Don't come near me!" the deer yells into the darkened house. "If I see any weapons, he's dead!"

"Your goat's not here!" came a voice from around the corner. "We took him out back, put him out of his misery if you know what I mean."

Reid walked forward slowly, still holding onto his hostage. He had good eyesight so he was able to easily see in the dark. He got to the edge of the wall and was suddenly surprised by a pipe swinging around, coming in contact with one of his arms.

The sudden pain caused him to let go of the hostage, but Reid was still focused. He took the gun and fired a shot at his hostage, shooting into the figure's hip. He collapsed onto the ground, but still conscious.

The goat launched himself at Reid, using the pipe to knock the gun out of his hands. Reid was quick, though, and he lunged at the pipe and was able to grab onto it. He maneuvered his combater up against the wall. He had the pipe across the goat's throat, attempting to choke him out. The goat was smart too, though, and used his feet to kick Reid's knee, causing him to lose balance.

The goat followed up with a hit to Reid's back with the pipe, sending a spark of pain down his spine. Reid doubled over and winced from the pain. But his determination was able to overpower everything. In a flash, he took the gun back and aimed it at the goat.

He fired 2 shots before the gun clicked, indicating the lack of ammo. One shot entered the goat's upper arm, and the other was sent into his abdomen. The goat then fell to the ground, clutching his injuries.

Reid didn't waste no time. He made his way through the house until he found an open door with a light on inside. He walked over and saw his friend on the ground motionless with a face covered in red.

He bends down, and presses two fingers into the side of Rami's neck. He feels a pulse and lets out a sigh of relief. He carefully grabs him and lifts him up, carrying him bridal-style out of the dark apartment.

Reid could not take his eyes off Rami. He was so happy to be able to see his face again, even if it IS covered in blood. He took him to the truck and laid him down in the back seat, making sure to strap him in. He took his shirt off, and wiped off Rami's face. He wrapped it around the bleeding nose, and held it for a minute to try and stop the bleeding.

After a minute, he left the shirt in the back, and got into the driver's seat. It was time to bring him home.