The Officer (676 hits)
Category: Quotes & StoriesRating: 0.69 on 21 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Hood (View user info) at 2005-01-07 20:49:08 EST
The stress was unbearable. Not knowing his opponents next move was a terrifying way for him to continue. He couldn't tell whether or not to move or hide till the coast was clear. His strategy had always been simple. Attack, Attack, Attack. The only problem was his lack of self-confidence; he simply couldn't pull himself together. Without his old friends to push and prod him in his brilliant yet futile attempts he never gathered the nerve to make more than a couple moves without having to start over.
The terrorists had taken the building and everyone in it hostage. Some nine hundred odd people had been taken. The other officers and him had arrived shortly after they took the place. He was one of the last groups to enter the building. Five groups before him had tried and failed to save any hostages, now he knew why. After fighting their way to the third floor they were in a bottleneck. The bodies of previous officers were scattered across the room. The few of them left were now trapped. Believing he wouldn't survive, his life suddenly flashed before his eyes.
After spending the first part of his life breaking the rules he later on he would enforce, he seemed to merely trod along with life only to never really become the great person he had the potential to be.
Throughout elementary he was incredibly popular with his peers and even his enemies. Hardly anyone disliked him; until that dreadful day he moved to the North Side. The kids were rich, snotty, ungrateful punks. They had their own gang that all the "cool" kids were part of. It was an entirely different world for him. He had no idea what he would do next.
He started off the new chapter of his life in his own world relying on his own imagination to keep himself amused. After the beginning of his middle school career he discovered his old way of life again. People that he once had hung out with were back again. He made new friends that he could relate to, that came from the same background. Life was good again and he was prepared for the bold new world ahead of him. He never knew how much he would rely on his experiences.
After a wonderful couple of years he had the most horrible thing he thought possible happen to him. He moved again, this time out of town. The young man kept contact with his old friends while he went to a new school in a new town. Not long after, his friends moved to other states and he was left to make new friends. Being the person that he was he had little trouble making new friends. He developed his new friendships, but he would never have friends like he once did.
High school started a new chapter in his life. It was by far the most hectic time of his life. He had only made about one real friend at this small town, a young woman in his class that he simply referred to as Shorty. Shorty had had similar experiences in her life and was easy to relate to. Sports were the only thing in his life. People had always called him crazy, but they no longer really believed it. Then during one fateful football game he snapped. All of the rage in his life was unleashed in a small twenty minute burst. His mind cleared, he saw his goal, and he was ready to take on the world. At that moment his coach saw in him the potential that would later carry him to the only great achievements of his life. He went in and annihilated his opponents without feeling the slightest fatigue.
The rest of that year he spent pondering his life in ways that he didn't know he could think. Deep into not only high school, but within his own mind, he unlocked his greatest fears. Being alone and angry. Having a long fuse had always been his virtue, but things were beginning to change. He had discovered the girl he wanted to spend his life with, but he was too afraid of asking her out to ever do it. After a couple years he finally snapped. That dreadful day was the worst of his life. Every mental barrier he had created suddenly collapsed in one giant fit and destroyed the person he thought he was. He spent hours standing in a cornfield yelling at absolutely nothing. That was the scariest thing he had ever seen. He saw the truth of which he feared so much. He didn't want to be angry, not like that, not when he threatened his own life.
Within a few short months he had sunk into a brooding depression. He only cared about a few things anymore. He no longer talked to Shorty very much, and the only thing he could think about was the girl he had fallen in love with and how much of a coward he was. The poor man was now lost in his own mind. He convinced himself that he wasn't good enough for that amazing woman. No matter what he did he was always pulled back to those depressing thoughts that had overwhelmed his life. There were so many chances he had to ask that girl out, but he never gathered the courage to do it. The only satisfying thing he had ever done was win two state titles in wrestling; even through his depression and quickening anger he still had done something no one before him had.
In the beginning of his college life he simply pushed on and lived his pitiful life. After two years of studying he started to try and kill himself again. During one of his moments of self-investigating he had finally discovered how big of a fool he was. He had let the greatest girl of his life slip away without him ever even trying to ask her out. Not being able to live with himself any longer, he dropped out of school and joined the police academy. His intent wasn't to make the world a better place, but to try and improve his life with law and order. If nothing else, when all other attempts to improve himself failed; he might die in a gunfight someday.
He never thought that day would actually come. Now he was here; him and his comrades were trapped in a terrorist controlled building. The officers' bodies were everywhere around him, he was finally afraid of something other than his own anger and loneliness. He was afraid to die. He had taken out over half of the terrorists himself, and suddenly he was out of ammunition. The fire continued until he was the only one left of his group. Then silence... he could hear footsteps approaching... from around the crates he saw the men stand and salute. Their leader was here.
"My young officer!" the bearded man said. "You are very impressive in your fighting skills. I have decided to allow you to speak with a hostage. You may stand up. You have my word you will not be harmed."
Sure that he would not survive this encounter; the man stood to have a conversation with the madman. Upon seeing the hostage he nearly fainted. It was her... the woman of his dreams, the one that got away. He recognized her immediately; he would never forget her, no matter the circumstance. She remembered him as well, that boy that would have done anything for her. This was the last place they expected to meet each other. They embraced in a moment of pure joy before being reminded of the place they both were trapped in.
"I see you know each other. I'm afraid I will have to kill her now then. I can't permit you to know each other any longer, it's bad for business."
All the other terrorists left so that none but the leader could claim the kill. The bearded madman had a revolver; the madman drew it and aimed. In that last second before the trigger was pulled, he jumped in front of his long love. He took all six of the madman's bullets in his back. While looking her in the face he finally said the one thing he had wanted to since those long ago days of high school.
"I...Love... You..." He collapsed to the floor as she ran for the exit. She turned, and in that moment he saw that she loved him too; not for saving her life, but for being willing to give his own. Hearing on his radio that she was safely outside; he took his last tear filled breath feeling that his life was fulfilled because he took that chance to love that wonderful woman, whether she loved him or not didn't matter. He was complete.
User Reviews
Submitted by transhuman (user info) at 2005-04-06 01:00:05 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Here are a couple of characters you left out when typing this:
Submitted by LadyPlural (user info) at 2005-01-08 10:56:03 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No, he said "queerly". As in, much the same way that your laugh came out. :)
Have one more +2, for providing a bit of amusement in my empty, depressingly geeky life.
Submitted by rad1101 (user info) at 2005-01-08 05:46:58 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Oh yeah, the story was pretty good, too. Doublespace your paragraphs for better Uberesults.
Submitted by rad1101 (user info) at 2005-01-08 05:17:06 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Huh huh, he said "queer", huh huh. n00b. From Uberuser #12309
Submitted by LadyPlural (user info) at 2005-01-07 23:15:56 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Well, I'm glad that it's been a learning experience for us all. Yes, we argue over the completely trivial and the utterly mundane, but that's just so that we are in shape for when the next *real* argument occurs- you know, like the next time somebody calls somebody else a doody-head.
Submitted by algermetiphist (user info) at 2005-01-07 23:01:11 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Honestly, I'm finding this both educational and amusing. The fact that you are arguing over such trivial things is queerly funny. For myself, I've learned that better spacing will definitely be required next time. And in case you're wondering, I am a guy.
Submitted by Genko (user info) at 2005-01-07 22:20:44 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Jesus Christ, Zakalwe, I don't hate you.
In fact, I don't harbour any ill-will toward you at all.
Submitted by LadyPlural (user info) at 2005-01-07 22:16:05 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
...or (s)he might decide that we're all a bunch of crazed fucks who just might be contagious. There's always that possibility.
Submitted by zakalwe (user info) at 2005-01-07 21:59:06 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Genko hates me for no given reason, and it pisses me off. As for why you joined in, who knows.
At least we garnered this post some reviews, and thus extra attention. Maybe he'll be spurred to use paragraphs next time.
Submitted by LadyPlural (user info) at 2005-01-07 21:50:01 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
That was a number that I totally pulled out of my ass. You are allowed to look down upon any user whose user number is more than 2000 above yours. As far as number of total hits... That means little to nothing. IHAKF was on most viewed, as was that guy whose name I can't remember because I'm an idiot. Point is, why are we even arguing about this?
Submitted by zakalwe (user info) at 2005-01-07 21:38:25 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
So it's roughly half the highest user id then. Once 16700 signs up I'll be whatever a noob becomes. How arbitrary.
Did you know I'm the 89th most viewed poster on this site? That good enough for you?
Submitted by LadyPlural (user info) at 2005-01-07 21:29:32 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
You are a n00b if your user number is more than 7500. That's all there is to it. Yes, the text was badly formatted, but the writing itself isn't bad. Mixed reinforcement works a hell of a lot better than just positive or negative reinforcement. So yeah, this isn't perfect or even all that great, but it's sure as fuck better than that whole 'what the hell, man' thing. That one was so stupid I refuse to even remember it correctly.
Submitted by zakalwe (user info) at 2005-01-07 21:23:58 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Less than 4000 users seperate Genko and I.
algermetiphist is almost 7000 users after me.
I signed up almost 8 months ago, this guy 2 days ago.
When do I stop being a noob?
It's not really irrational, as shit posts from 15000's thus far outweigh quality ones. Plus this is a seriously ugly block of text, near unreadable.
Submitted by LadyPlural (user info) at 2005-01-07 21:20:34 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Guys, this wasn't total crap. Neither was it obviously an alter. People such as this should be encouraged, not screamed at from the beginning. Trust me, I am *always* happy to flame those who deserve it, but this person doesn't.
Yet, anyway.
Submitted by Genko (user info) at 2005-01-07 21:17:41 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Is the hatred irrational because he's a newbie himself, or because the post is deserving of, at least, a -1?
Submitted by LadyPlural (user info) at 2005-01-07 21:16:34 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I think that's why he said 'irrational'.
Hood- you need to put actual spaces in between your paragraphs. I only read a bit of your actual writing, because the spacing was making my head hurt, but the content itself wasn't badly written. Have a +2 because certain people can be asses sometimes.
Basically, get a bit better. Carry on.
Submitted by Genko (user info) at 2005-01-07 21:14:43 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Kind of, I don't know.
It's just a little weird to me to have Mr. 8000 walking around calling people new.
Submitted by algermetiphist (user info) at 2005-01-07 21:13:50 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Everyone is new sometime. An irrational hate for noobs is good though. I do it to people on other things.
Submitted by zakalwe (user info) at 2005-01-07 21:12:57 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Really?
Submitted by Genko (user info) at 2005-01-07 21:11:26 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
You're a fucking noob, zakalwe.
Submitted by zakalwe (user info) at 2005-01-07 21:02:36 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
An irrational hatred for noobs just feels good, you know?