{"id":2030,"date":"2016-01-23T10:49:12","date_gmt":"2016-01-23T15:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lifeinspice.com\/?page_id=2030"},"modified":"2016-01-30T14:12:24","modified_gmt":"2016-01-30T19:12:24","slug":"scene-5","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/lifeinspice.com\/?page_id=2030","title":{"rendered":"Scene 5"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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\"05empire02\"<\/p>\n

Malcolm and Henry continue their conversation at the wall.<\/em><\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

\u2026 Hobby?<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

Yeah, a hobby.\u00a0 You know the dope on that fastballer for the Yankees, what\u2019s his name, Maxie Ortega?<\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

His balls are really fast?<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

I wouldn\u2019t know, but his money pitch was his low fastball, cuz it\u2019s a sinker.\u00a0 So all these batters been whiffing on low pitches that end up out of the strike zone.\u00a0 But now word is getting around, and the hitters are laying off the low stuff \u2014 getting a lot of walks \u2014 so Maxie\u2019s got to move his pitches up.\u00a0 But his high fastball doesn\u2019t sink, just comes in straight, and now he\u2019s getting shelled \u2026<\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

I\u2019ll try to keep that in mind next time I come to bat against him \u2026<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

You do that.\u00a0 But my point is that old Maxie\u2019s got tendencies.\u00a0 His good stuff is down low, he don\u2019t cut it above the belt.\u00a0 (raises his hand sharply as Malcolm opens his mouth to object)<\/em>\u00a0 Shaddup, I\u2019m not through.\u00a0 See, the point is, I got tendencies too.\u00a0 I pull to the right \u2026<\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

Doesn\u2019t that make you hit right-handed batters?<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

(smiles)<\/em>\u00a0 Not exactly. \u00a0I pull to the right when I\u2019m firing the guns.\u00a0 You may not have noticed, but our ammo load has a higher-than-average percentage of armor-piercing rounds, as opposed to incendiaries and frags.\u00a0 When I fill out the requisitions, I always ask for more AP, tell \u2019em that the waves coming at us here are deeper than average, and the AP rounds give us better penetration, kills per bullet, thus a shorter-than-average killing time, and most importantly, cost savings in total rounds fired.\u00a0 Whatever.\u00a0 If you\u2019d been paying close attention instead of sucking your own dick, you\u2019d have noticed that when I swing the guns to the right, I let them hang there an extra second before I traverse back left.\u00a0 An extra second pumping them into the almighty Empire State Building.\u00a0 Smart gunners would notice that kind of thing.\u00a0 If they want to grow old.<\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

And you do this why?<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

Because I\u2019m trying to bring the motherfucker down!\u00a0 Shoot away enough of the main supports and see if its weight makes it fall over.\u00a0 Crash!\u00a0 Kaboom!\u00a0 Change the skyline all by myself.<\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

Well, I must apologize for calling you senile, sir.\u00a0 You\u2019re just stark raving mad.\u00a0 You think you could actually \u2026<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

Don\u2019t rightly know, but I\u2019m aiming to find out.\u00a0 \u2026 Heh, heh, gunner humor\u00a0 \u2026\u00a0 Them AP rounds are designed by the military to penetrate metal, light armor, like with planes and personnel carriers, not a dense mass of steel girders and concrete.\u00a0 And I\u2019m no goddamn architect or engineer.\u00a0 But I got no question that if I could sit here and blaze away long enough, I really could bring the motherfucker down.<\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

Oh, right.\u00a0 Like they would just let you do that.<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

Exactly my point.\u00a0 That\u2019s why I\u2019ve developed this tendency, chipping away bit-by-bit.\u00a0 I really do gotta shoot down my quota.\u00a0 I mean, sacred oath bullshit aside, if they knew I was seriously fucking around with their guns, they\u2019d tie me out there like a scarecrow and let the rats have me.\u00a0 You know about the rats around here, don\u2019t you?<\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

I\u2019ve noticed they\u2019re kind of big.<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

And how do you think they got so big?\u00a0 Don\u2019t bother trying to guess.\u00a0 They\u2019ve developed an \u201cepicurean delight\u201d \u2026<\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

Epicurean delight?<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

Yeah, I heard some French cooking guy say it on TV.\u00a0 Got a nice ring to it, don\u2019t you think?\u00a0 Yeah, they\u2019ve developed an epicurean delight in human flesh.\u00a0 And that\u2019s one thing I don\u2019t wanna be \u2014 some fatass rodent\u2019s epicurean delight.\u00a0 And don\u2019t think it doesn\u2019t happen to gunners who fuck up.\u00a0 Old Darnell who used to work the guns over in Sector R next door, he fell asleep drunk one afternoon, and his partner was off taking a piss when them niggers started pouring out of those ruins over there.\u00a0 His partner, whatsisname, some young guy now transferred to the shooting range triumphant, barely got back to his guns in time.\u00a0 Me and the guys two sectors over had to coordinate a crossfire together, and still cover our own fields of fire.\u00a0 It was a damn close thing \u2014 way too close.\u00a0 For Chrissake, we could\u2019ve had another Chicago!<\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

What\u2019s Chicago got to do with it?<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

Hmmm.\u00a0 I guess you buy the Mother Goose version about some mechanical breakdown at the plutonium factory setting off the storehouse \u2026 ?<\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

It could\u2019ve happened that way.<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

You say \u201ccould\u2019ve,\u201d which tells me you\u2019re not the dumbest gunner who\u2019s ever been out here.\u00a0 Good.\u00a0 Credit where credit is due.\u00a0 But the story as I heard it is that in Chicago they somehow broke through, they broke through a whole section of the goddam wall, the helicopter gunships couldn\u2019t contain the break cuz there was too much cover once they were through, and some crazy assholes upstairs decided to nuke the whole city rather than let it all break down.\u00a0 Bad luck for White Sox fans.\u00a0 Cub fans, maybe it was for the best.\u00a0 Whatever.\u00a0 So don\u2019t you for one itty-bitty second think I\u2019m not serious about my work.\u00a0 Anyway, Old Darnell and his partner, they tied \u2019em up together out by that pillar, and we all had to listen to them screeching and hollering all day long while they got turned into epicurean delights.<\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

Even Darnell\u2019s partner?<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

Damn right.\u00a0 And he deserved it, for chrissake.\u00a0 Should have known the guy was drunk.\u00a0 I don\u2019t buy that Cub Scout line you been spoutin\u2019 like you had some divine revelation, but still \u2026 sometimes I wake up sweating and shaking in the middle of the night.\u00a0 That something could go wrong.\u00a0 That all four barrels could jam.\u00a0 That the ammo might be the wrong caliber.\u00a0 That my trigger finger might freeze \u2026 that I might start to see, and not be able to fire.\u00a0 I stare eyes wide open and then I start screaming.\u00a0 I know that failure might get us all blown off the map.\u00a0 Not just me, but all of us.\u00a0 My wife, my friends, all memory of us, every trace of us.\u00a0 Ain\u2019t fair, ain\u2019t right, but that\u2019s the deal.\u00a0 So I enjoy my tendencies, and it makes the time go by a little easier.<\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

Unless I rat you out, no pun intended.<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

Feel free.\u00a0 They don\u2019t take me serious, anyway.\u00a0 See, they sort of know I\u2019m not shooting with a full clip.\u00a0 But come showtime, I am the black hand of death.\u00a0 Nobody gets by me alive, body counts in the top 10 for six years running.\u00a0 I am a fucking celebrity.\u00a0 When I go to Yankee Stadium, the microphone guy announces it and 60,000 white folks cheer.\u00a0 They might want to kill every nigger inside these walls, but they cheer me, and as long as my stats are good, I\u2019m aces with the bosses.<\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

But if they knew about your tendencies \u2026<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

Maybe they do know.\u00a0 They watch us real close.\u00a0 But so fucking what?\u00a0 Everybody\u2019s got some tendencies.\u00a0 If they threw a rat banquet for everyone who had some tendencies, there\u2019d be nobody left on the guns.\u00a0 They may be stupid, but they\u2019re not crazy.\u00a0 Or they may be crazy, but they\u2019re not stupid.\u00a0 Something like that.<\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

But if you brought it crashing down onto the wall?<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

Even if they guessed that that was my intention, I\u2019d assume they don\u2019t think it\u2019s possible.<\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

It\u2019s not, you deranged old coot!<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

See?<\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

It would take forever.<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

I got forever.<\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

It might come down right on top of us!<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

Well, that would be kind of interesting, wouldn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

previous scene next scene Malcolm and Henry continue their conversation at the wall. Malcolm \u2026 Hobby? Henry Yeah, a hobby.\u00a0 You know the dope on that fastballer for the Yankees, what\u2019s his name, Maxie Ortega? Malcolm His balls are really … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2030","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P77v4L-wK","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeinspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeinspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeinspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeinspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeinspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2030"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/lifeinspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2030\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2370,"href":"https:\/\/lifeinspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2030\/revisions\/2370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeinspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}