Page 94 - Musings 2021

who were still alive were caught in a dilemma whether to turn around and flee for their lives
or to honour their job. But witnessing their leader in a hapless condition with no vest on and
having visibly surrendered, they seemed as if they were about to run for their lives. The
moment both of them turned in the opposite direction, Bang!

One of them fell to the floor face first. It was at that moment, John realised the killer’s ploy.
“IT’S THE BULLETPROOF VESTS!” He shouted, “Remove your vest right now and go
inside and tell the ambassador to remove his too, and stay there; don’t come back until either
one of us is dead. Now John had a possessed look on his face. “Who does that son of a bitch
think he is? He has some kind of a device that can see through walls and locate the special
material the vests are made of, and with his ability to curve bullets, he just has to aim above
the vest and bam!” Clean headshot. “I have got you now, you bastard”, whispered John to
himself. Taking rifles in both his hands he marched forward. He knew the killer couldn’t see
him now. Having tiptoed his way forward he unleashed a curving shot upon seeing a glimpse
of a shadow. He anticipated that the killer might reciprocate with a similar shot and jumped to
his right to evade the incoming shot. As luck might have been, the bullet hit the chain on his
neck to which his locket was attached. Clank! it broke and his locket fell on the floor.

A sense of emptiness took over John’s body as he lost his precious locket. He was almost
certain now that he was going to die. Wanting to take down the killer along with him to hell,
he thrust forward as fast as he could. The killer couldn’t have anticipated this as he was taken
aback by this manoeuvre. This shamble created a split second delay during which John was
able to see the face of the killer. A young man, in his early twenties with bloodthirsty eyes
stared right at John. Those eyes! They reminded him of someone. Ah yes, his ex-wife. He
could never forget those eyes. And that’s when it all came together, in that few seconds, his
entire life flashed in front of him. Everything made perfect sense now. How that man could
master the skill of curving bullets and how the age of the killer and his long lost son could
match and on and on. Few seconds passed, and the killer realised John had the upper hand as
he was shocked by John’s sudden burst forward. But he seemed confused as to why John
wouldn’t shoot. With no remorse whatsoever he unleashed a vicious curved shot at John and
simultaneously John called out from the other side, “SON?” The killer was filled with
confusion all of a sudden and John watched the bullet curve through the pillars and pierce his
chest. He fell behind with a thud. Spurting out blood, he tried to get up to see the face of his
son one last time, but he couldn’t. To his utter surprise the killer came running towards him
and asked, “Did you just call me son?” “Yes, my dear, and I want you to know that I’m really
sorry for everything that has happened and I’ll always love you”. He faded into oblivion as
the words “I’m sorry dad, I’m really sorry. I love you too” echoed through his brain.

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