The Punisher Needs to be Punished

Chapter 1: What Can Ruin Everything?

Frank's POV:

"I have eyes on the kid, Red," I whispered, knowing that he could hear me, even though we were on separate rooftops. The two male kidnappers were trying to force the boy into their van. "The kid can't be more than 12 years old," I mumbled, half to myself and half to Red. I carefully aimed my sniper rifle at one of the men's left hips and shot. He instantly crumbled, screaming in agony. I didn't want to traumatize the kid with headshots. I aimed for the same spot on the other man, my finger resting on the trigger, ready to fire. As my finger was already in the process of squeezing the trigger, the man shifted the kid in front of him. The next second seemed to happen in slow motion as the bullet flew straight into the poor kid's right hip. A loud scream pierced the air, and the kid was on the ground. "S**t!" I yelled as both me and Red ran to the kid, taking out the other man in the process. Sliding onto our knees beside him, we analyzed the injury. "Hey, kid, what's your name?" I asked, trying to keep him awake.

"O-oliver. You-you're t-the P-punisher?" he replied shakily, eyes fluttering.

I could feel tears beginning to well up in my eyes when I softly said, "Yeah, kid. I was trying to protect you. I'm so sorry. I didn't want this to happen."

After a moment of hesitation, Oliver tried, "It's-" He cut off, eyes closing shut.

"Red, what's going on?" I asked, hands shaking slightly.

Matt's POV:

I could tell how panicked Frank was by his pounding heartbeat, so I decided to stay calm. "Oliver has a shattered right hip. It's not fatal, but..." I started, but trailed off.

His voice shaking, Frank asked, "But what, Red?"

Taking a deep breath, I said, "But he will likely never be able to walk or move his right leg ever again."

Frank's breath hitched as he mumbled, "This is all my fault..." Seemingly realizing he said it out loud, Frank quickly whispered in a broken voice, "We need to get an ambulance," before I could say anything about his previous statement. I nodded and dialed 911. ( Matt memorized the locations of those numbers on his phone.)

"911, what's your emergency?" the female dispatcher asked.

"Hi, I need an ambulance to 322 South 4th Street. A kid has been shot in his right hip," I responded and hung up. I turned to Frank and firmly said, "We need to leave. The kid will be fine by himself until the ambulance gets here. They're about a half a mile away. You can stay at my place for tonight."

Frank's POV:

I scoffed at that. "What, do you think I need a babysitter? Newsflash, I don't," I forced, turning to leave.

Before I could get more than a couple of feet away, he grabbed my arm and argued, "Frank, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Either way, you're not gonna be alone, so follow me to my d**n house." I reluctantly followed him, and he let go of my arm.