Wine and Roses

Two young scientists hope to find a new future, but soon realize it may not exist.

It was as nice of an afternoon anyone could have asked for Nancy thought to herself, Robert picked the absolute perfect day for their picnic.  Tranquil scenery leaves rustling softly in the wind as they sat on their flannel blanket indulging in the sumptuous meal he’d packed.  The experience enhanced by the vintage wine Robert was able to pilfer from Doctor Felix’s secret wine cellar before they’d left.

It was as serene an afternoon as Nancy and Robert could have wanted before making their way across the country to start a new life.  Robert had just, the night before told her the intention about the Crystal Cortex Cylinder.  Codename for the project they were working on alongside their housemates comprising their elite think-tank.  She had known they were creating something the government wanted completely under wraps with all of the waivers she was forced to sign.  But had never imagined such a hideous tool of war as the one Robert had described to her.  All of them were little more than rats masquerading as ethical scientists, running through a maze to keep the world in check.

She was proud to be here with her lover, both of them rebelling against the system that had turned them into villains.  The picnic they’d just enjoyed was the first leg on their way to Washington D.C. to expose the whole mess.  Nancy could not help but revere Robert’s bravery in the face of such adversity, what other option did she have other than fleeing the compound with him.

 Robert had told her the true nature of the weapon they’d been working on for the past year or so, what other course was there than mutiny.  It didn’t hurt that this particular mutiny involved sunlit picnics.  Where her secret lover could feed her strawberries, and pronounce his true feelings to her under the clouds.  Nancy could not lie; she had been swept off of her feet by the romantic circumstances they were under.  Stealing a piece of the dreaded war machine they’d helped create, and escaping the reservation before any of those b******s were any the wiser.  But she was more than confident that Robert would be able to protect her regardless.

Just as they’d finished their meal and Robert had given her a passionate kiss on the neck, slowly migrating his wat towards her lips.  It was then that the two of them had heard a soft, but distinct rustling from the bushes mere yards in front of them.  Robert stared forward anxiously for a moment, before looking calmly at Nancy placating her by saying it must have been a squirrel.  Suddenly the frame of a man in all black wearing a mask emerged from the tallest patch.  To Nancy’s horror his left hand was wrapped in a Ziploc bag containing a nine millimeter pistol pointed directly at the two lovers. 

Robert’s hands instantly shot up, seeming far less shocked than Nancy who was still struck dumb.  “Please, I promise to give you the component back, just let us go.  Please I’m begging you!  This whole thing was her idea I swear!  She said if I helped, she’d f**k me.”  Robert simpered on the verge of tears; Nancy was still too dazed to fully comprehend what was happening.

“Enough!”  Screamed the figure in black “please, before I lose my patience, and forget my orders.”  He menacingly cocked the plastic covered bag to deliver some emphasis.  This had shaken some of the cobwebs out of Nancy’s brain; the assailant was clearly here on behalf of the facility they’d fled.  Had they really been stupid enough to think it in the realm of possibility to steal anything from that fortress and ride off into the sunset without backlash?

Robert began to hurry toward their car before the man quickly fired in the air before putting him in clear in his crosshairs, “now what the hell are you doing? “

“I’m just headed toward the car to give you what you want, sir.  Please let’s just get this over with.”

“You move when I tell you to move Robert, this is my show.”  The man looked at Nancy now all emotion anonymous through his mask, “I’m sorry you got pulled into all of this, but this stupid piece of s**t really led you astray sweetheart.”

Nancy was mortified being spoken to so bluntly by the man, and also the truth of his words; Robert had led her from an ant hole into a wasps nest.  Finally she was able to speak, “p..pp…please just let him give you whatever it is you want, sir.  Neither of us wants to die here, we were just trying to enjoy a picnic on this summer day.”

“I’m sorry, sweetie but we both know that’s a lie.  Now Robert, I’ve got a direct line of sight on your little pea brain, I want you to retrieve what you’ve stolen slow as a sloth.  And keep in mind you still haven’t seen my face.  So there’s still a chance you and your queen bee can buzz off.”

Silence ensued while Robert walked to the car in a daze.  Opening the passenger side door, and the glovebox; he pulled out a leather-bound journal.  He unclasped the cover to reveal that the pages had been hollowed out, concealing a small chrome tube.  With shaky hands Robert removed the piece and held it out towards the stranger, “here please take it, just let me go.”

The man carefully made his way over to Robert, “just give it to me, son.  We can work the rest out after.”

As he walked toward her lover, Nancy saw a mad gleam in Robert’s eyes; so alien that it wasn’t until it was too late that she realized exactly what he planned to do.  The next three seconds seemed to her an eternity, just as the man had reached Robert.  He relaxed the gun at his side and reached out his hand.  Capitalizing on this momentary lapse of control, Robert kicked with all of his might between the man’s black pant legs. 

With no idea how to follow-up on this act of violence Robert clumsily ran towards Nancy, throwing the tube onto the blanket just as there was a deafening bang.  The man rose up to a crouching position his pistol once more raised skyward.  His mask hanging off huffing and puffing from the kick he had received to his most sensitive organ.  “Congratulations dickwad, you’ve succeeded in pissing me off.  I now know exactly where the package is, and you’ve seen my face; leaving you both zero leverage and me with one option.”  Without hesitation he fired again, spraying Robert’s brain matter all over the picnic and Nancy. 

Once again she was forced into a deep state of catatonic shock.  No screams, no attempt to flee she just sat there staring at the man in black, whom realized she recognized.  Not by name, nevertheless was certain she’d seen him walking around with top brass at the facility.

Staring at what he’d just done, and then at Nancy; sighing deeply the man walked over towards the blanket.  Nudging Robert’s lifeless body out of the way he squatted before sitting next to the still paralyzed Nancy.  “I don’t know if a pretty face like yours could remember a mug like mine, but I sure know you Nancy.  And I know it means less than nothing now, but this ain’t easy.  Usually this would be the point where I would give a grand and terrifying speech to keep you far away for your own good, but he” he kicked Robert’s lifeless corpse, “made that impossible; so I’m honestly kinda at a loss for words.”

Nancy sat in silence for another half a minute or so before replying, “go ahead, might as well go through the motions.”  Her voice was dead and empty, staring off at the lake as if she had seen something of spectacular, horrifying interest.

“Well, uhhh I spend most of my time at the compound with Dr. Felix, and all of the big wigs.  And I’m sure you can’t tell I sure as hell ain’t no scientist, and I ain’t no soldier.  But about two years ago, a whole mess of cancer decided to take out a lease on my pancreas; doctors gave me three months to live.  Fellas at the facility gave me a way out other than death, and this was it.  Normally I’d be telling you to get out of dodge, and never look back, but I’m sorry Nancy; this is where it ends.”  Without another word he raised the gun, and turned her into a lifeless heap; unable to look at his finished work.

Reviews

[Andy Leavy]

So many times I read something on this site that has amazing potential as a story but is held back by sentence structure and punctuation. This has both of these things down to the tee, it's as if you have perfect the art of sentence structure, perfectly placing commas and full-stops where needs be.

As for the story I enjoyed it a lot, the two Robert and Nancy reminded me of Winston and Julia from 1984, two forbidden lovers whose very love itself is a protest against higher powers. And just like 1984 this story ends not the way the reader would have hoped but in the most realistic way.

My only tripe with the story would of been it felt a little rushed. Other than that I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[PWyates]

Thanks for your input!!