Day One (Book 1): Alive by Michael Mcdonald Page A

even think you have a gun… in fact, I’d be sure of that.” He began to move forward and balled his fists.
    “You willing to bet your life on that?” I asked.
    Man One suddenly butted in. “Man, just give us the keys and let us go. It doesn’t have to go down like this… we don’t want to kill you unless you make us.”
    “Unless I make you, really?
    Since I was old enough to understand the logic of life and death, I had heard stories of the trash that travelled the interstates of America from one coast to the other, preying on innocent people. They were vile creatures that had no remorse for the things they did or for the lives they destroyed. It was all about personal gain to them and if it meant they had to kill an entire family coming back from vacation to get what they wanted, then they would do it without thought and laugh afterward. The anger I felt turned to hate and I couldn’t even stand to look at them anymore. I wanted them to die. I wanted them to suffer for the unknown things they had done in their criminal lives. I wanted them to pay… and they were about to.
    “You rush me and I’ll get one of you for sure.”
    “Then the last one of us will get you,” Man Two stated.
    “You can try.” I said and grabbed the large revolver from the shelf and thrust it up in front of him, the sights coming to rest on the chest of Man Two and I cocked the hammer. Both Men stopped, seeing that I had not been bluffing them after all.
    “Oh shit.” Man One said.
    “How does it feel to have the tables turned on you for once?”
    “You shoot and that thing comes this way,” Man Two offered.
    “And I’ll be out the back door and moving around to my SUV before it can get through those thin windows.” I shot back and my words were more lethal. “But you two won’t be so lucky. Now how does it feel?”
    “Fuck you!” Man Two spit.
    I moved from behind the counter and backed toward the kitchen area where I had seen an exit sign. The back door had to be located somewhere back there and I’d find it. If not, then I’d be able to defend myself with the revolver and put both of them down. There was a part of me that wanted them to rush me, as I would have my justification to kill them. The anger would eventually fade and the regret and remorse of killing them would haunt me for the rest of my life.
    Both Men moved toward the kitchen as I disappeared from sight, keeping a safe distance in case I emerged and began shooting at them. Man Two pulled the small derringer type pistol from his front pocket and motioned for his buddy to peek around the wall. He took several quick steps, shoved himself against the wall and slowly peeked around the corner. The back door was wide open and he looked back at his partner.
    “He’s gone.”
    Abruptly I stepped into the opening, Man One saw me and scurried out of the way, calling to his partner who took cover behind a small chip rack. I raised the revolver toward the front door and fired a single round. The concussion from the revolver blew a calendar off the nearby wall, startled Man One who dropped to the floor, as he was sprinting away. Man Two stayed where he was as the glass from the front door exploded. The screams from the thing in the parking lot cut through the cool night and grew. Both Men looked in its direction and saw it racing toward them.
    “C’mon, we gotta go!” Man Two yelled to his partner.
    The thing crashed through the front door, got caught by the handle and flipped to the ground. It recovered and was quickly on its feet as both Men flew out the back door in time to hear the SUV pull out of the parking lot with tires squealing.
    Man Two pointed his pocket pistol at the fleeing SUV, although he didn’t fire. “I’m gonna get you, you fucker!”
    I pulled the SUV onto the interstate and punched the gas, the engine responded and the vehicle flew down the onramp as I glanced to my right to see the two Men behind the gas station flipping me off. I felt a