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The man knocked again and Moose’s barking grew in intensity until it reverberated in her skull. I hear you, buddy. The light from the moon shone on the metallic pink case on the top shelf of the gun safe. And in it was the stupid pink and black SCCY CPX-2 9mm Landon had given her as a Christmas present three years ago when he thought he was being cute. The .30-30 might invoke more fear, but she’d never shot it so she left it against the rest as she yanked out the joke of a semi-automatic pistol.
“Hey! I know someone’s in there.”
Moose let loose a feral growl before resuming his frantic barks. Tessa rushed down the stairs, pushing the magazine in the wrong way and slipping on the third step. She caught herself against the banister and turned the magazine around so it slid into place.
“Mom?” His sleepy voice called from above her as she reached the bottom step. Mason rubbed his eyes, trying to see through the darkness.
“Go to your sister’s room and lock the door. Don’t come out until I say it’s okay.” Somehow, she managed to keep her voice even and steady. A command he wouldn’t argue with. His silhouette disappeared as he ran to Emily’s room. She had to breathe, to will her heart to slow down. Moose’s barking was making her panic. Maybe it’s just the police.
“Open up!” A fist beat against her door.
Tessa crouched low as she made her way across the living room to where Moose was pacing. “Down,” she commanded and the dog obeyed, falling to the floor with a heavy sigh now that his job was done. Flashlight beams shone through the paneled glass and she scooted to the side, pressing herself against the wall and the front door so the light wouldn’t touch her.
“Just smash it in, William. No one’s home.”
“Will you shut up and let me think? There’s a big dog in there.”
“You have a bat. Kill the dog. What’s the problem here?”
The flashlight beam reflected off Moose’s big brown eyes as he cocked his head to the side. Tessa motioned for him to stay down, clutching the pistol in her hand as she risked a peek over the edge of the glass panel that lined the door.
Two men stood on her porch, shifting anxiously as they looked over their shoulders and both of them holding flashlights. The bigger man with the bat stood further back. William, she assumed. The second reached up to knock again. She ducked back down and pressed the pistol to her thigh to make her hand stop shaking.
“Please,” the second man cried. “We need help out here.”
“Good one.” William chuckled. “That’ll get their attention.”
Tessa held her hand over her mouth to muffle the sound of her silent scream. If she opened the door, would they overpower her? She could shoot through the glass, but what if there were more of them outside and then they would know she was in here. Their nervous laughter filled the quiet house. They were coming in one way or the other. She had to act.
She slid along the wall until she reached the kitchen. Her bare feet left quiet footsteps as she raced across the tiles. Moose leapt up to follow her and she stopped him with one word, “Mason.” He grunted in understanding and turned to flee upstairs. She couldn’t let herself think about what would happen to her kids if she got hurt, couldn’t give into the soul crushing fear of what might happen if these creeps got inside. She just had to get them away from her house. She had to get them away from her kids.
The back door slammed too loud behind her and she took off running to the fence, praying they didn’t hear anything. The moon was so brilliant it lit up the desert ground like freshly fallen snow. She kept herself pressed against the side of the house and scanned the road for a car or more people. Nothing else moved in the night.
Silently, she broke away from the cover of the stucco siding and slipped into the concave of the closed garage door. Her pulse was so loud it rang in her ears and she held her breath waiting for them to hear her.
“Alright. It’s sketch standing here like this. Open the door already.”
Tessa looked around the garage door frame to the walkway that led to her front stoop. She was hidden in the shadows, but the moon illuminated their pock marked faces and the tweaker sores distorting their skin with purplish bruises. It was just the two men and a baseball bat. She took a steadying breath. Only two men and a bat and a stupid pink gun.
“Get off my property.” The men turned at the sound of her voice. She raised the gun and held it steady. “Go now. I’m not playing.”
“Hey, it’s okay sweet pea.” William smiled with rotting gums. “Don’t be scared of us. We just need some help. The ATMs aren’t working and the shelters can’t feed everyone, you know. We were hoping you might have some food or money to spare.”
“I didn’t stutter.” She didn’t want to talk. She wanted them to leave. William took advantage of the shadow cast on the walkway by the cloud passing over the moon to lunge forward with the bat.
She fired. But the instant she did, she saw her mistake. The recoil had thrown her aim off and the bullet whizzed by his shoulder into the side of the house. The half second of panic was eased by the memory of Landon’s voice in her ear at the shooting range, “again.” She repositioned her aim with her finger on the trigger just as William crumpled to the ground.
“What the hell, man? You shot him!” the second tweaker screamed as he jumped off her doorstep, trampling her flower garden when he took off running for the desert hill. Did I shoot him? It all happened so fast she didn’t have time to think.
The baseball bat rolled down the walkway and she reached to pick it up with the 9mm trained on William’s head. Dark liquid oozed onto the concrete. She used the bat to turn him over. William’s right ear was a bloodied mess with the bullet lodged somewhere in his brain. Did it ricochet off something? She stared in confusion at the mess of a human who was rotting long before his death.
The heavy crack of a gunshot snapped her from her trance and she ducked, pressing herself against the side of the house.
“Got ‘em,” Arthur’s voice echoed through the night as he stood from the cover of the hedges and walked out onto the moonlit road. He lowered his rifle and let it hang from the sling around his shoulder.
“Did you do this?” Tessa looked to the burly old neighbor as he walked up her driveway and back to the body that was staining her yard.
“Yeah.” Arthur pulled off his ballcap and rubbed his eyes with his arm. “I couldn’t get a clear shot with them in the doorway like that. Thanks for drawing them out.”
