In the Heat of the Fight

Someone had put a notice on the bulletin board for a lost dog named Midnight.

The bullets tore it to shreds.

The cops aimed for the creature's chest, of course. Not only was it in line with their training, but it also tended to draw the eye.

And perhaps one or two of them thought it might be a weak point.

A notice of a community barbeque, two weeks away. Gone, just like the chances it ever happened.

Other cops aimed at the head. Wasn't standard doctrine, but as it stretched and elongated like some sick kind of balloon, perhaps it drew their attention.

A round ricocheted off something, and smashed the display case for the station softball trophy. It was from 2 years prior, and they had been hoping to get the title back from the fire department.

Not much chance of that anymore.

One enterprising officer even aimed for the massive - and getting massiver - ribbed organ that poked out of the alien's crotch.

This accomplished precisely nothing, unless you count splattering green slime from the tip onto the notices behind it.

Carney said something. The cops didn't hear him. He waved his arms. Kelly saw him first, took her finger off the trigger, and the cessation of hostilities spread out from her like a wave.

And then things went quiet.

Unless you counted the ringing in their ears.

The creature that had been Cavanaugh looked at them all. Presumably. "Is that it? Are you finished?"

Carnell surveyed the situation and frowned. Not a scratch on it.

He glanced at the end of the monster's arm.

There was a scratch or two on Lopez. Didn't look fatal. The thing that had been Cavanaugh held its arm out straight with the approximate effort a normal person would use to lift a pencil.

It had protected him.

...Maybe there was still a little Cavanagh in there.

The thing sighed. "Look at you. like children. Mewling children, throwing a tantrum because you don't want to eat your vegetables."

The cops didn't respond. Unless one included the ones who grimly reloaded.

"Law and order." It snorted. "Rules and strictures for those without our-"

It ran a claw up its body.

"-unity."

"What do you want?" someone called. Beaufort, maybe.

It put a hand to its sizable chest. "Me? Let's stick with the classics. Take me to your leader."

Carnell swallowed. "I'm right here."

The monster spun around as if she hadn't noticed him. When she said "Chief! There you are!" she sounded almost - almost - like Cavanaugh.

Carnell stepped forward. Looked the thing up and down once. Started walking around it, like a man examining a car in the dealers lot.

But he was pretty sure kicking the tires wouldn't go well.

He'd had a cat once. If you walked into the room with it it would turn its head curiously to track you. With an impression of complete and utter near-indifference to your continued existence.

Carnell shivered, and stopped.

The bulletin board was behind him. Which meant the cops were behind the creature and its whisking tail.

Some, at the back, slipped out. In the direction of -

The armory.

Good thinking.

Carnell looked past the creature. Locked eyes with Hofferson.

And then jerked his gaze in the same direction the other cops had gone.

She didn't get it, at first. Then she glanced over her shoulder, looked back at Carnell, her eyes went wide, and she shook her head.

Carnell frowned.

She shook her head again with a little less energy. Until finally she stopped. Her shoulders slumped.

And she quietly joined the low-key exits.

But not without stopping in the doorway to take one last look over her shoulder.

Good. That was good.

Carnell squared his shoulders, and looked up at the thing's face. Which was nearly scraping the acoustic tiles. Firmly: "No thanks."

It tilted its head. "Why not?"

Something bubbled up in his chest. Something hot and angry.

"I already know who I am." he snarled. "I already know what I am. Might not be the easiest job, especially these days, but it's honest work. So what-"

He pointed.

"-are you? Just another black piece on the board? Another cog in the machine? Same as all the other freaks out there that are tearing this town apart?"

He stepped forward, and snorted with every bit of disdain he could muster. "Gotta tell ya, from where I'm standing? That don't seem like a real good offer."

It actually had to think about that. Scratched its head and everything.

And then it smiled.

"Me?"

It leaned closer to it's once and former chief, and whispered, "I'm the distraction."

And that was precisely when the lights went out.

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