Thursday, September 20, 2018

Outtake from Gypsy's Rogue

I haven't decided exactly where this will fit into the storyline, it was just nice to be able to work on the story again and start gathering momentum towards the final push to finish Gypsy's Rogue before the end of the year.

Can I do it?

I hope I can.

Thoughts, feedback, comments are always welcome and treasured.

^^^

“Stop!”
Fists clenched, Rogue spun around, growling low, the fury in his eyes so bright Gypsy took a step back, half-fearing he’d torch them with his gaze.
“I know you’re pissed but….”
“You don’t know shit!” Rogue raged. “I’m done! Damn the consequences, it ends today!”
“You can’t just march over there and….”
“Watch me!” In a flurry of motion he stormed across the yard, chickens scattering in a whirlwind of feathers and angry clucks. Gypsy watched him go, knowing that going after him would just make things worse, but that didn’t mean they had to let him barge into an already volatile situation like a crash of rhinos. Digging around in their pocket Gypsy fumbled for their cell phone, eyes on the dust cloud trailing up the road. 
“Pick up, pick up, pick up,” they whispered, pacing as the chickens resumed the hunt and peck of feeding. Just when they were about to hang up, the Sheriff’s rough timber echoed through the crappy connection. Damn it all, they really needed a better phone service, that or the town needed to upgrade its cell phone tower, but of course, the damned historical society wasn’t about to approve of a large tower in the block behind Main Street where anyone happening through town could see it. 
“Greg, I’ve got a serious shit storm about to jump off,” Gypsy began without preamble. “Are you anywhere close to 340th and Lyndale?”
“Clear cross the county Gra…erm um, sorry, Gypsy. What’s going on?”
“Rogue’s going after Randy, pretty sure he’s armed. I know Randy is. If someone doesn’t stop them it’s gonna be bad.”
“Christ, couldn’t you stop him?”
“Don’t you think I tried!” 
The screech of gypsy’s response sent the chickens into another tizzy. At this rate they weren’t going to lay for a week. 
“Point taken. Breathe, I’m already headed that way, can’t promise I’ll make it before Rogue does, knowing the way he drives, but I’ll try and get there quick enough to keep them too fools from killing each other. Damnit, if he’d just waited one more day Randy would be in custody already and this wouldn’t be an issue. Hell, he’d have been well on his way to being someone else’s issue. I knew this thing was going to turn out to be a dumpster fire waiting to happen.”
“Wait, you mean the Marshalls were coming for him?”
“Are coming, yeah, they faxed over the warrants this morning. They’re already on the way.”
“Shit.”
“Exactly. I’m hanging up now. I’ll keep you posted.”
Gypsy flinched at the shrill whine of the siren bursting over the line before it went dead. A cool gust of air sent a shiver up their spine, or maybe it was just the sudden slash of dread that left them hugging themselves as the sky unleased a torrent of rain riddled with pea sized hail.
It felt like hours before the phone rang, startling them out of their broody inspection of the storm ravaged fields. Fester shifted and let out an annoyed whine as they accidently woke him in their fumble to answer. 
Gray’s voice clipped as he spoke. “You need to get down to Gooseneck Pond, now.”
“Wait….what?”
“Don’t ask questions, just get here.”
Turning, Gypsy reached for the keys on the hook beside the screen door, shocked at the shadow shape that stepped towards them. Fester growled, but a bang-flash of explosive force sent them crashing to the floor before it even registered why he was angry. The last thing they saw before the world faded away was Randy’s face leering down at them.