Martha’s Baby
Hiadel
Did I really need the money that badly? Rent was due in just a few days and I didn’t have anything. If I got the kids and I kicked out of the apartment there wouldn’t be a place for us to go.
As answering to my problem this old man I met on the street the other day offered to pay my rent if I helped him out with a pest problem he’s having. He told me that he had received a package from the zoo earlier that week. Apparently whatever he had gotten got out of its cage and started to tear up his basement.
I asked him what he had ordered and he refused to tell me. He said that if he were to tell me I wouldn’t go through with helping him. I didn’t care though because I really needed that cash and I was desperate enough to do anything for it.
Knocking on the door the next day the old man welcomed me into his home. A wide wrinkled smile and a worn down face accompanied the handshake I received from him. Stepping into his living room I could tell that he was a hunter. Moose heads sat above his fireplace and hunting rifles were hung up on a gun rack nearby. All these things brought together a perfect picture of an old retired hunter. The only thing that seemed odd was one of the trophy bases that were mounted on the wall were empty. I asked him what it was for and he told me that he was looking for something new to hang there, and wasn’t quite sure yet as to what it was going to be.
Leading me into his kitchen he presented me with a double barrel shotgun. “This is all you need. Two shots should be enough for the job. Just don’t miss.” He told me. Looking at the rifle I questioned what I was getting myself into. What could be down there that was bad enough that a hunter had to hire someone to go down and shoot it for him? He was old and looked like he was nearing his final years but still seemed to be more proficient with a rifle than I’ll ever be. It was a little too late to walk out of it now though. I guess I’ll just have to find out for myself.
Letting me get to grips with the gun he then showed me the way to his basement. He opened the door leading downstairs, and let me get on with doing my task.
Making my way to the bottom of the basement I could feel sweat building up on my back. The basement was hot and humid, and as I looked around I could tell that something had come through and wrecked the place. Boxes were strewn all over the place, and a workbench was on its side in a corner. Looking around the rubble I found what I was looking for. It apparently had been woken up by the lights that had turned on and was making its way across to the other side of the basement. From the looks of it the thing I had been sent down here to kill was a baby alligator. It was rather small, but I could still see the detailed scales that lined the alligator’s body. It realized that I was looking at it and froze. Taking advantage of the pause I primed my gun and brought it to my eyes to aim. By then the gator realized what was going on and threw itself like a lightning bolt across the basement towards me. Right before he was going to get me I let him have it right in the face. His small green body recoiled with the blast from the gun, blood splattering against some of the boxes that were nearby. As I was pulling the trigger for the first shot though, my nerves had gotten the best of me and I accidently pulled hard enough to fire the secondary round in the shotgun. The second burst only jolted the rifle up and sent fragments of buckshot spewing across the room.
After I killed the alligator I walked over to it and examined its body. Crouching down I could see that there was a collar around its head. A dog tag read: “Mark, Martha’s baby”. Standing back up I was about to turn back towards the staircase when I heard the old man shouting to me. “Did you get both of them? I heard two shots go off.” A feeling of fear took over my body. There were two of them? Turning around to run up the stairs and escape I saw Martha laying on the floor right behind me. I wanted to blast her face off just like I did her son’s but I knew that the shotgun had nothing left in it.
Martha quickly brought herself upon me. Opening her mouth I thought she was going to swallow me whole. Before I was about to become lunch I was saved. A bullet whizzed through the air and struck Martha upside the head and caused her to turn her head in agony as she brought down her massive mouth to a close. I was still scratched by her passing teeth but I’m much happier that I got a scratch than had my entire head ripped off by her.
Looking up to the staircase I saw the old man with a rifle in his arms. I asked him why the hell he had sent me downstairs to kill alligators. “Didn’t I tell you not to miss?” He said, smiling. Walking down the steps he examined Martha. “Yup, she’s going to make a nice addition to the wall.” He still hadn’t answered me. I asked him again. “Oh, I’m sorry to put you through all of this. I can’t go hunt big game out in the wilderness like I used to, so I thought I’d bring the game here to my basement. My plan worked for awhile but eventually it got boring hunting things in my basement. It was too easy to kill things brought here and I never could feel like anything was on the line to lose. I just thought that putting a little bit of tension on the situation might make it a little more enjoyable, and I was right!”
