Undead King

Chapter 4

    "I want him arrested! I was in the middle of closing my store when he and his bratty girlfriend walked in. He pulled a knife on me and threatened to kill me if I did anything while the girl robbed me blind. She took as much merchandise as she could hold in a camouflage back pack while he emptied my register!"  He cries while looking like he's on the verge of tears. 

     "He broke the hand you guys shot off and said he'd do worse if I tried to follow her" he continues to sob.

     What a lying sack of crap. He'll probably try to get the city to pay him back the money that I never took.

     "Is that so" Mr. Moustache says when they all glance at me. I feel Tiny dig his gun into my back. I can't help but think today keeps getting better and better.

     "Hold on, yes it's true I threw the lid at him but that's only because he was trying to mug me in the alley!" I say with some actual panic in my voice. These guys had seemed shady, now they seem shady and stupid, a dangerous combo when you throw guns into the mix.

     "Bull Crap!" He shouts drawing their attention. He sees that they're giving my story some credit, despite it being a complete lie. "Who are you gonna believe?! An upstanding tax paying citizen or some thieving punk!" He practically screamed that last part.

     The guards glance at each other then at me seeing if I had anything more to say.

     "I've been alone all day, I don't know what girl he's talking about and my mom won't let me carry a knife." I pull out my pockets to show I don't have anything. "Besides if I robbed his store and was threatening his life, why was he chasing me so desperately?"

      "That's a good question" the bean pole says while rubbing his chin.

      "Well can you explain where this girl is? Because I don't see one." Mr moustache questions as he reloads his gun.

      The shopkeeper realising I've turned the tables stammers "Well no, they split up I don't"

      "Oh, so no mystery girl" interrupts the hairy eggplant. "Well can you explain your filthy clothes? I see a lot of dried old stains so don't use your hand as an excuse. No upstanding tax paying store clerk would wear such trash, I can't even see a store name!"

     "Well you see it's laundry day, all my good smocks are umm in the laundry" he looks like he might pee himself.

     Suddenly I feel the hand leave my shoulder and start patting random places on me.

     "What about the knife? He don't feel like he gots one." Tiny wonders. I don't dare look back at him but I feel like he tilted his head when he asked that.

     "Well he probably passed it to his friend!" He begs.

    Time to drive this home. I clear my throat to get their attention. When I have it I say in calm voice "Isn't it a little convenient he claims I broke his now missing hand, and did you notice how drastically his emotions changed in such a short amount of time?"

     I pause and give them a worried expression "I mean, you heard how angry he was when you shot at him, then he was a crying wreck when he saw me and made his claims, then got super angry again when you showed the slightest bit of doubt in his story. I don't think he's stable."

     They glance at each other, then at us and nod. Except for Tiny they all turn to face him hands still gripping their pistols. Tiny holsters his and starts pushing me towards the street.

     "You should go to your momma, she outta be scared about you by now." He says is a friendlier tone.

     The last thing I see is the bean pole reach for some hand cuffs, but before he can unclasp them from his belt the shopkeeper pushes himself up using his good hand and the wall he was next to.  I hear couple shots and a couple clicks a few seconds later from around the corner. I'll bet he tried to run. Tiny then let's me go and turns turns around to go back to his squad.

      I hear him stop after a step and say "I'm sorry you saw that" and continues on his way. I turn stop and turn around to see what he's talking about, and see the gore splattered wall. Pff, I've seen much worse, but he doesn't need to know that.

     Now then, what am I gonna do until morning? I could try and sleep the night away but I don't know if that's be a good idea. This area seems pretty sketchy with its abandoned stores and boarded up windows. I guess I could look for that girl and try to get another pot, but she was pretty mad last time I saw her. I duck into another alley way and lean against a wall.  As I'm scratching my head, weighing my options I hear some wooden boards groan above me.

     "You seem pretty calm for someone who just got an innocent man killed." A familiar voice says from the direction of the creaky wood. No way, that'd just be too easy. I look up and see the girl eating some jerky.

     "Found you." I say with a smirk.