So you are there

Doing the job

Getting ready to suck down yet another

Submarine Sandwich for lunch

‘Cause they are healthy for fuckssake

When your ever present ever squawking ever lovin’ radio bursts out

Another sad tale

Firemen being shot at

Need help yesterday

Send the ARMY

Aint no army though,

Just us coppers

Rolling through the hot Vegas streets all ablaze with light and sound

Believing from experience that this is just another fire

With rounds cooking off inside

Must think they are being shot at but no way man

NO ONE shoots at fireman

Suddenly one of my children,

My men

My badass warriors

voices comes over the air

I SEE HIM

HE’S GOT A GUN

TAKING ROUNDS, TAKING ROUNDS

HE’S MOVING

HE’s RELOADING

This is information that sets ones nerves on a razors edge

I turn down the street where a guy had reportedly set his house afire

Shot at the firemen who came to put it out

And was now engaged in the attempted murder of one of my team

And nothing is there.  No one.

Street as empty as an abandoned factory

Dusty and silent

I drive down it thinking of Hogan’s alley and deathtraps

I pass a house with smoke coming out of the chimney and see him

Large man, dark skin, white shirt, long gun,

BOOM

He shoots at me as I accelerate up the street

The sound of bullets hitting metal in my Doppler

I figured he hit my car but it was the car behind me

This is now an official shit-storm

Out of the car, dead run with shotgun in hand

Rounds whizzing by me into the trees on my left

Sound of bullets smashing into concrete cinderblock

(!this guy is trying to kill us!)

See one of the other sergeants parked right in front of the house

My mind races at light-speed, HE’S IN DANGER THE FUCKER IS RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM

I take aim with the shotgun, suspect framed in a perfect sight picture

Snap the trigger, blasting the image in front of me and hit or not he moves

Didn’t know it then but my peer had already been shot at and hit

K9 cop a voice in my ear

“your too far dude” speaking of my shotgun

Didn’t matter

Had to take the shot

Had to distract him a second ‘fore he killed Sergeant Frank

Ya do what ya gotta do and then we go home

That’s my motto

Suspect taking cover now, reloading behind a car

Officers crouching, running pell-mell

Suspect still viable taking aim

I had already looked into his barrel once too many times and

Now couldn’t see him anywhere

He was crouching behind the car

Popping up to shoot at us again I hear the staccato beat of semi-automatic weapons fire

Don’t know if its bad guy or us

He’s down

Reaching for the long gun again when another one of my men lines up carefully and shoots him a final time

Moment of silence with the vine-like ropes of cordite clinging to the atmosphere

A testament of finality that clears the vision harder than cold splashing water

Medical aid for the downed man behind massive vehicular cover

K-9 dog bites him first to make sure he aint a possum

He aint.  He moves like a discarded childs rag-doll, pulled willy-nilly on the packed dirt

We approach tactical and ready

I lead an assault element to the burning house and upon kicking the door get overwhelmed with thick black rolling smoke

Heartbeat slows

Vision normal

The beat goes on

I hear a senior Lieutenant over the air saying “LET IT BURN” and my heart is glad

This man on the ground and his poor choices

Actively trying to kill innocent people

Will harm no one again and the

Other Sergeant received minor wounds and was treated and released from the hospital

So we are all ok.  Me and my team.  My fellow warriors.  Out in the thankless heat of the city we did our best to survive and we did survive and we carry on

The psycho circus still beats behind my eyelids as my minds eye pictures the Crazy Motherfucker who tried to kill us

I am sad for his mama

But like the rest of the world

He made his choices and we went home

Same ass back as you brought in,

That’s my motto.