'I Blame Edward Becerra'


We'd had the suspect cornered.

Understandably, we were more than a little overconfident.

I suppose the fact that we'd been sent in with full tactical gear should have
clued us in.

We couldn't understand why, though.

The suspects were supposed to have been nothing more than a few religious
whackos, with no real fire-power to speak of. Of course we were suspicious,
but when the brass tighten their lips we don't have many options.

So there we were, six of us surrounding one man.

He wasn't a very large man, and ordinarily I would've regarded him as a
minimal threat.

His body language was all wrong, though. He was utterly unafraid. Not dumb
macho bravado, nor drugs, but total self confidence. I'd only seen that kind
of thing once before. They brought in a martial arts master to show us grunts
a few things.

The martial arts master had had that same kind of utter self-assurance that
the cornered man displayed. The knowledge that, without a doubt, he could kick
each and every one of our asses without even trying.

My squad wasn't stupid though. We could all read body language, and were
approaching with weapons drawn.

The suspect hadn't spoken, but at that point he made a brief chant. "Blood,
heal me; fear, change me. Belief will always save me..." And then before he'd
even finished the last word, he changed.

My first thought was 'Gee. The horror 3vids are overly complex.' But that only
last a fraction a second as soon as the shooting started.

I'm not sure who first pulled the trigger, but I know I wasn't the last to
follow. Not that another seconds hesitation would've made much difference.
That thing ignored every shot that hit it. And we'd skipped directly to the
heavy rounds.

I only survived by luck. I was the second closest to it. Henderson was
closest, it ripped through him with a single swipe, and caught me on the back
hand.

It sent me flying across the room, and with several broken ribs I lost
consciousness.

When I came to I was in the hospital.


=====

Philip Barkow
pbarkow@is2.dal.ca


The Sunburst Project, Week 5
http://www.chaoseed.com/btr/sbp/
4/13/00