The Guangul Brothers
05 Apr 2018MMMMMalcolm
BOOM! Bang! The commotion jarred me from my sleep. Like a scared cat I leapt out of bed. I stood beside the king sized bed naked but I was more concerned about finding the source of the noise. I wouldn’t have to look very far.Four males, varying in height from five foot nine to six foot two, casually strolled into our room. The shortest guy looked to be about thirty two years old. He looked like a holo-ball linebacker as well. Muscles bulged from his ankles to his neck and stretched every stich of his jeans and t-shirt. He carried a blaster pistol and he pointed it at me while he moved towards Kay’s side of the bed. The next two were taller. They stood at five foot eleven and six foot. They were also younger; about twenty eight and thirty respectively. They weren’t rippling with muscles like the first intruder. But the looks in their eyes and the blasters in their hands told anyone who would listen not to mess with them. They too had on jeans and t-shirts. The younger one wore a black leather jacket as well. They both moved in front of me. The last intruder appeared to be the oldest; maybe thirty four years old. With the ability to look me in my eye, he was also the tallest. A long brown leather duster hid the strength of his slim physique. But when he raised his hands to light a cigarette, I noticed he too wore blue jeans and a white t-shirt under his coat. He leaned in the doorway of our bedroom.
All four men had similar facial features. Brown eyes that peered out of nearly closed lids were set deep into round tanned faces and flanked long wide noses. Each had ears that stuck out a little from their heads and wide full lips. But there were some differences as well. The shortest guy had a nasty scar over his left eye that was a pale grey as a result. While the other men had wild dark brown hair that fell chaotically around their shoulders; shorty (I’m calling him that) was bald. All were clean shaven.
“My apologies commander,” the oldest said in calm tones after blowing out a long smoke trail. “Did Bull wake you while kicking your door down?”
“I don’t know who you are, but you have made a big mistake…”
“No commander, you’re the one who’s made the mistake!” he screamed cutting me off. “And you know exactly who we are. I mean you must, you’ve been searchin’ all over for us.” I took a glance at Kay. She was still in the bed with the covers pulled up to her neck, but her face showed no fear as she kept her eyes locked on shorty. “Daddy always told me, if you want to find someone, you just gotta know who to ask. If you had asked your sister where to find us, Ms Wantz, instead of Mr. Brewer you might have found us sooner.” He took another pull from his cigarette. Kay’s eyes went wide as she shifted her gaze from shorty to the leader. The three younger brothers started chuckling. “Yes huntress, I know who you and your punk boyfriend are. Your sister has loose lips.” He blew out another smoke trail. The brothers chuckled again.
“But not so loose they can’t wrap around my…”
“Bull! I know it’s hard with one eye, but I need you to stay focused!” He glared at shorty while he inhaled and released another drag. “Now where were we? Oh yeah, Ms. Wantz if you would be so kind as to come with us. My older brother would like to discuss your part in the death of my brother Delphy.”
“She didn’t kill your brother, I did,” I protested. “Take me instead.”
“Oh don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about you. But for now, we… want her.” The brothers chuckled again. A regular pack of hyenas this bunch was; ugly and just as deadly. The leader calmly finished his cigarette and crushed the butt in the carpet with his boot. “Let’s go bounty hunter; I won’t ask nicely again.”
Kay slowly rose out of the bed. Bull’s good eye went wide to take it all in. The bopsy twins in front of me let out a whistle and shifted their focus as well. I took a step closer to them. Kay smiled, but I knew a fire burned within. She posed for a second and sucked her left thumb. Satisfied everyone’s attention was on her, I took another step toward tweedle dee and tweedle dumb.
“I’m afraid I’m not dressed for the occasion.”
“S#%& girl, don’t even worry about that,” shorty drooled. “What you got is just fine.”
When he took a step toward her, she drove her left thumb into his right eye. Her fingers gripped the side of his head, locking the digit into his socket. Shorty screamed and I jabbed four fingers into the throat of the closest brother; the one without the jacket. I relieved him of his gun, while he was gasping for air, and pointed it at his head. Kay twisted shorty’s gun out of his hand, nearly breaking his finger in the process, and hit him in the head with the butt. He dropped to the floor unconscious. She then shoots jacket boy in the shoulder and he fell screaming at his older brother’s feet.
“D@&$ it Bull, you stupid idiot! Always thinking with the wrong head! You okay Billy?” His question was met with more screaming.
The leader stood in the doorway of our bedroom with a gun in each hand pointed at us. Kay aimed her gun at him. I held my gun at the head of jacketless who I put between me and the leader. We stood that way for a moment before Kay spoke.
“If you take your crying brother, Billy is it, and go, I promise you these two will live long enough to be tried for their crimes.”
“I’m not leaving without all my brothers.”
“Then you’re not leaving at all.” She didn’t wait for another response. She fired, striking the man in his right shoulder, rendering that arm useless. The force of the blast spun him slightly and he fired his left weapon in response. Two shots hit Kay and she fell behind the bed. Horrified, I screamed and squeezed the trigger of my gun. My captive fell to the floor with a smoldering hole that kept what was left of his brain from oozing out. As I turned my gun on the leader, I felt a sting and a burning sensation near the top of my left thigh. I looked down and saw crying brother’s blaster pointed at me; smoke wafted from the barrel. I put two shots into his chest just as he put another into mine, top left, knocking me to the floor. I heard three more shots right before everything went black.
********
When I opened my eyes my head hurt something fierce. The bright light shining in my face only made it feel worse. Where was I? I couldn’t see no matter how hard I squinted, so I concentrated on what I could hear. Soft music was playing and melodious voices harmonized with the tune. Aw man, they got me. I’m dead. I panicked. Where’s Kay, is she dead too? Tears welled up in my eyes. She must be dead. I saw her get shot twice; once in the side and once in the chest. No, no not that; not now. She just expressed a joy for life. My heart started beating fast. My breath became short. I needed to find her, to see her, to hold her and I needed to do it now.
I tried to move and I couldn’t. Something was holding me down across my head, my chest, my thighs, and my ankles. I became aware of a beeping sound above my head. Ok, maybe I’m not dead. But being taken captive by the Guangul Brothers is worse. I strained against my restraints but it was no use. I wasn’t going anywhere. The beeping noise got a little louder. A moment later I heard a door open and someone entered my cell.
“You best kill me now,” I demanded.
“Oh good you’re awake,” a woman’s voice answered.
“It will do you no good to take me captive,” I continued. “If you make the slightest mistake, if you let your guard down one bit, if you underestimate me in any way, I will kill you.”
“Relax Mr. Goodwin; you’re safe. No one here wants to kill you and you’re not being held captive. You took a nasty bump on your head. We restrained you to prevent any further damage. Oh dear, someone left the examination light on and over your head. I’m sure that’s not helping your recovery.” The woman turned off the bright light and rolled the device into a corner. Everything slowly came into focus.
I was in a hospital room. Three of the four walls were white. The fourth wall, the one housing the door, was made of glass. Through it I saw hospital staff going about their daily routines. The woman who entered, drew a white curtain to cover the glass wall, cutting me back off from civilization.
“I’m Nurse Louise,” the woman stated. “If you promise not to kill me, I’ll remove these restraints.” She gave a pleasant smile and began freeing me from my bonds. She was a short plump woman with rosy cheeks and golden blonde hair tied in a neat bun. “Blaster pistols are terrible devices. Those beams do a lot of damage to cells deep within the tissue. Let’s see how well the Progenitor Cell treatment is progressing. Your leg is healing nicely. It appears you exercise. If you keep it up, you shouldn’t walk with a limp. Your chest may need another treatment. I don’t know how that shot missed you heart and arteries.”
“How long have I been here?” I asked.
“You came in early yesterday, you and your lady friend.”
“How is she? Will she be ok?” I was desperate. I attempted to lift my head and look my nurse in the eye. “Ugh!” My head resisted. My chest ached. I gently lay back on my pillow.
“Hey! Stop that. If you don’t cooperate I’ll have to restrain you again. I assume you two were together since you both came in naked as the day you were born and with multiple blaster wounds. The good news is her condition is improving. The bad news is her condition is still critical. The shot in her chest looks worse than it really is. Had it been on her left side instead of her right, she would’ve been dead before she got here. The shot to her abdomen is the troublemaker though.”
“Abdomen, I thought she got hit in the side?”
“No it was her abdomen, lower right side, just above her hips. Normally her wound wouldn’t be life threatening, but her condition complicates things.”
“Condition, what condition?” The nurse looked down on me as I lay waiting for her answer. Her eyes went wide with fear and she rushed to check the panel that displayed my information.
“Oh dear, you two aren’t married are you?”
“No, why? What’s that got to do with anything?” She hurried out of the room and returned with a needle tipped syringe. Without a word she injected a clear liquid into a tube connected to my right arm.
“I’m sorry sir. I can only discuss patient information with immediate family.” I started to protest but my eyes got heavy. The room around me faded to black. My mind screamed out, “Wait! What are you not telling me?! What’s wrong with Kay?!”
********
I opened my eyes and groaned at the all-white ceiling with built-in lighting that glowed back at me. I was still in the hospital. At least my head no longer hurt. I couldn’t say the same for my chest. It held center stage for pain and suffering. I turned my head and saw… I blinked hard to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. Who knows what affects the drugs they were giving me could have.
“Mrs. Wantz?” She stirred from the book she was reading. “How long have I been here?”
“Including the time it took us to get here, four days.”
“Us? What are you doing here; how’s Kay?”
“My husband and I came the minute we heard Kay was in the hospital. She’s the reason I’m here. She’s still in intensive care, but her condition has stabilized. Anthony is with her now.” I let out a sigh of relief. I don’t know what I would do without Kay. I guess Mrs. Wantz felt the same way. “Don’t take my baby back out there with you.” She was standing beside my bed, holding my hand. “The doctor said your injuries aren’t that severe. You’ll be out of here long before she will. If you care for her as much as I suspect you do, you’ll leave her here with me.” So the doc can discuss my patient information, but the nurse can’t discuss Kay’s? Mrs. Wantz squeezed my hand. ”This was what I was trying to avoid. I don’t know what I would do without my little girl. Please commander, Malcolm, don’t take her from me.” My heart jumped when she said my name. I felt her desperation.
“Mrs. Wantz…”
“Please, call me Denise.” I just stared at her; it all was just too much to process.
“You raised a strong woman who is also strong willed. Even if I left her here, what would keep her from flying after me?”
“I’m hoping the loss of this child.” We both stared at each other in shock. “Oh, I’m so, so sorry. I didn’t mean to say that out loud. That was inconsiderate.”
“Child, what child? Kay was pregnant?” Mrs. Wantz’s shock turned to horror.
“Oh no. She didn’t tell you? I thought you knew.” She dropped my hand and turned away. “The doctor said she was six weeks pregnant. That’s why her body isn’t healing as quickly as it should. The sudden loss of the child threw her into shock. Even after her body recovers, it may take years for her mind to heal. You know what she was like when her husband died. You have no clue what a woman goes through after losing a child.”
“All the more reason for me to stay. She's helped me through some crazy stuff; saved my life more than once. Kay needs me more than ever. I’m not leaving her, not now, not ever.”