[WP] 11:11 pm. Winter. A dog trainer can't understand why their most well-behaved dog is acting so anxious and panicked. Over and over, the dog slaps its paws on a string of Pet Speech Buttons: "NO/OUTSIDE/BAD/AFRAID", and does everything it can to keep you from approaching the front door...
*****
It was 11:16 PM and time was running out. Indecisiveness wouldn't be of any help to me, since only God knew what was going on down there while I was debating whether to proceed with what I wanted to do and ignore Al's significant warnings or just stay and allow the miscreants to do what they wanted to.
But then again, what did I know about their mission here? There was no assurance that they were only after the animals in the barn - if that was what they were after at all. What if I was in danger?
"First blood," my father usually said. "First blood matters a lot. The person who attacks first isn't always the winner, but attacking first can go a long way to make sure you come out the victor. Don't be afraid to attack first, as tactically as possible. The best offence is a good defence.*
Now I had to weigh the two lines of action, and then I knew what to do to stay within the bounds of safety and still confront them.
The attack was more like the archery post at the top of a tower. There were a few spaces, hidden from view to people standing or moving around outside, where guns could be mounted and fired. What was better about them was that the holes were situated all around the room, providing the owner with a wide range of view of the whole area.
I decided that I was going for a less dangerous mode of attack. Shooting live rounds and risking the death of any of my targets would be about more scandal and controversy than I needed in my quiet life.
What was available then was the special gas my father formulated, prepared for animals that had gotten out of control and were too wild and dangerous for close contact. It was anaesthetic and a one-litre canister was enough to knock out a horse for an hour, and an average adult male for two hours.
Loading it into the cannon, I turned and silently inserted it into the hole, facing it towards the ground right in front of the man standing with his back to the tree. Putting on my gas mask, I aimed before firing it, watching it fly out with a pop and a hissing sound. The man did not move because of the cold winds blowing against the trees prevented him from hearing anything and reacting in time, until the canister hit the ground, releasing its contents around his person.
He managed to stagger off, dashing towards the door of the barn even as the effects of the gas kicked in. The speed at which the gas reacted was remarkable, that it knew all too well, so it just felt so funny to watch him struggle to resist its effects, all to no avail.
He managed to bang against the door wildly before he was out cold.
As I watched keenly, a man broke out, a man with a pronounced limp in his gait. There were about five men with a limo in the town, and I keenly watched him. hobble around to make sure I would be able to identify him.
Seeing what happened, he put his face in the crook of his arm and ran away wildly.
I was taken aback by the events that had just transpired before I realized that the other man was about to make a clean getaway. I dashed downstairs and flew out the door, knowing that he could not have gotten very far. He was more than likely to fall very soon since there was a high chance he inhaled the gas before he took off.
But when I got around there proper, I knew that I had been too slow to act, or perhaps there was no way I could have avoided it. There was another man on my grounds, and he was on a horse. I raised my gun to shoot, but he had already picked the man who was in a state of delirium, and their horse was riding haphazardly, obviously in the direction of the experienced rifer to avoid getting hit by any bullets, which would have been unavoidable if they were riding in a straight-line path.
I bit my lip wistfully as I wondered what part of my fence they were able to bypass to get a whole horse in. It did not look like one of mine anyway, but I couldn't be sure until I assessed the situation and took stock of what was touched if anything was at all.
I could not allow myself to sleep off that night. I had seen plenty of action already, and there was no guarantee that it was over yet. I still had the man who was unconscious to tie up and interrogate and then I would have to involve the sheriff which was a whole other circus that I wasn't eager on entertaining, but then there was no avoiding or going around that.
The next day was going to be a busy one for sure.
*****
TO BE CONTINUED.
Awww... I'm still following.