HOMEFRONT

HOMEFRONT

By Hai Lee aka UnknownBoxer

I throw my bag aside then let my body fall down freely on the couch. I had my bad luck today, my final exam was a disaster and it is likely that they will not let me graduate this year. One more year in shame, doing nothing would prolly drive you insane. My family never try to understand their own child. They never put themselves in my situation. All they do is just screaming and murmuring on how bad I performed in school. And, you know? They really love to compare me to others. It’s not my fault. I tried my best but it seems like there is no place for me in the good-students list.

My crush rejected my love and that is the worst thing I ever experienced in my life. Seriously, Elena is the most gorgeous person on earth. She never told me a word since I saw her hold hands with a small, hairy, nasty oldman. The whole world collapsed since. Whenever I think about her, it just hurts me so bad. Why she chose that old goat instead of me?

Today, I fell out with my best friend. The guy called me an asshole because of some reasons that I couldn’t remember. Ah hah! If he still stick with that evil bitch. I swear she will eat him alive. Our friendship turns into a rift then. He’s a blind motherfucker.

I tiredly reach for the TV remote. It is in mid summer now. 22:00 PM and it seems like the earth is trying to fry you alive if you dare to go out. I live in the 20^th floor and I still feel the extremely hot temperature outside, even that the AC is on and the fans run at full speed.

There is no interesting things on TV today, an easy-to-guess talent show that you can easily point out who will be the winner even before they start. A music program that features a band playing somekind of weird, psycho tunes that called Vietnamese experimental music or something. Conflicts in the world, the International Summit, etc. I change the channels continously without finding anything interesting. Oh! Why it is so unfair? I never find any of the damn happiness in 22 years of my life. All are just miseries, boring stuffs.

Suddenly, the power blackout. Damn those people! Why they just cut off the power right in the middle of the almost-50 degrees celcius summer night? And why I never meet any happy-ending shits? I didn’t even have my dinner yet. What a damn day!

I need to find some light, candles or just anything that produce light. My apartment is just like a prison, there’s only one window and it’s in the kitchen. It’s so dark that I couldn’t even see my hands or anything else in the room. Right now, I’m trying to find a way to the kitchen. My belly hit the table. Good! It is just a few steps more to the living room. There I could… you know? Touch my way to the kitchen. I remember that I laid my cellphone there.

At the moment, I hear something outside the door. There must be more than two people out there. I think so.

Then I hear a really annoying sound. Maybe laser or something. Someone twists the door knob and it opens. Damn! Those bastards did something to my door! I remember locking it before.

A moment of silence. My heartbeats rise. It really scared me off. Who’re these people? What’re they doing in my house? What do they want? Maybe they’re hitmans sent to take my severed head? But I never fuck up with anyone. No! They must be workers from the Electric Company. But those people never pick lock. Thinking of it really screw up my brain. I feel chill to the bones.

I hear a few light steps and I’m sure they’re in the living room right now. Three men, with assault rifles. I cannot identify them in the dark but the laser devices in their guns reveal their location. One of the gunmen aims at my position. Luckily I duck in time, and the dresser and table cover me, shielding me from his sight.

The gunmen start to say something to each others. Maybe they’re arguing, whatever. But they ain’t speak the same language as mine. Foreigners!? What do those armed to the teeth foreign assholes do here? Ridiculous! Why all the bad luck in the world always fall on me, not someone else? Why only me? This is unfair! Fuck it!

The foreigners begin to search for something. They’re turning all the stuffs into a mess. All I can do is just lying still, covering my head, hoping for a chance they couldn’t find me. If those people do, they will probably drag me out like a pathetic swine, butchering me for fun, like they did with their livestock.

I think they’re in my bedroom. I need to get out of here. OK! I’m in the living room right now, hiding on the floor near the table and dresser. The bad guys are in another room, the noise they make when kicking stuffs might cover my escape. It is pretty dark that I couldn’t see anything, including my hands. The table is a few-steps near the kitchen and I think I laid my cellphone near the sink. All I need to do is just take my cellphone, reach to the front door while those assholes ‘s busy finding shit in my room and get out of here.

Suddenly my cellphone rings, I run quickly to the kitchen. The invaders seem to be distracted by the ringtone. Maybe they’re heading to the kitchen, too. Through the weak light of the cellphone, I can see the watermelon disk I ate just hours ago. The fruit knife is still there. There’s no time to decide what to do. I grab the knife instinctively, crawl my way to the toilet and close the door.

Another dead silence, the phone rings for seconds and then shut off. What did they find out? Do they aware of my presence in the room? Those questions still piss me off. I don’t know what to do! Maybe just waiting here, those soldiers would get bored and leave? No! No! this is crazy! My head is ready to explode. Why shit always haunt me everytime like that?

Phew! Maybe they don’t know that I’m here. One of the gunmen turns on his talkie and says something I could not understand. They begin to mess things up again. Looking through the keyhole, I can see there’re 3 armed soldiers standing around the dining table. One is using a tablet. Maybe he’s marking their target locations. One is giving or taking orders, I’m not sure, through his walkie-talkie and disappear into the dark. The other is walking right into my position, he will use the toilet.

The gunman opens the door and moves his way to the toilet. I’m hiding right next to the doorway. Luckily, the bastard didn’t see me or having any awareness of my presence. No hesitance, I dash to the guy and stab the knife right in the neck. Got struck unexpectedly, all he could do is to put his hands on his neck, trying to breathe. Having trained in MMA before, I quickly shoot for a double-leg, taking the man down, his head hit the toilet. BAM! I press my knee on his chest, putting my whole bodyweight on him. I stab the guy rapidly until his body lay motionless, he won’t struggle anymore. My face now full of blood and urine. I have become a killer! A monster! Tears on my cheeks. Now I’m tainted. But that’s the only thing I can do in the situation, or the dead body here would be mine. I shut the guy eyelids. Sorry mate! You don’t deserve to end up like this but I was forced to take you down for survival. You or me, there’s only one could leave the place. I take his night vision goggles, his millitary knife and his tactical AK-47. It’s time to grow up. It’s time to leave.

Someone is knocking on the front door. who can come to my place this late? Holy shit! Did they send reinforcement? My god! I’m fucked! But no! I hear that person called my name! Oh no! That’s Elena! No Elena! Run!

That’s too late. The bastards got het. The woman I’m in love with. I can hear her screaming, struggling. They’re about to do bad things to my love, and I’m just stand still quivering? This is unforgivable!

I put on the night vision goggles, knife in my hand. Opening the door I can see clearly in the dark. Those assholes forced my loved one lying on the dinning table, nothing to cover her battered, naked body. One of the bastards remove his gears and trouser. The other one press both of his dirty hands to Elena wrists, making sure that she won’t make any troubles.

With all of my strength, I throw the blade at the pantless asshole. That is a fatal shot. Blood squirt out of his neck. The invader gives his final coughs and then his body collapses, lifeless.

‘Fuck you! Son of a bitch!’

I cry, aming the AK at the last of the soldiers, pulling the trigger. The asshole is faster, he fires his pistol at me! Damn! I’m hit! That’s all I could remember.

It’s 3:00 AM now, and I’m still have headaches. In front of my eyes is Elena, sobbing. Next to her are the soldiers, but this time, our side. Their captain, an old, well-built man introduces himself. The others are searching the bodies of the invaders.

‘It was a tough night for you, son. You’re a braveman!’

‘Who’re those people?’ I ask him.

‘Enemy commandos. They were sent to cripple our defense. Their mission is to cause a power blackout so their main force could launch a suprise full-scale invasion. We found out their plans and our special force have captured all of their squads, except these three. They violated International Law. The whole world are against them now.’ The captain says.

‘You did a good job, son. Those three gunned down many of our men. You’re pretty lucky also. The bullet just grazed your head.’ He continues.

Elena gives me an extremely tight hug, tears in her eyes. My god! This is the best thing I ever experienced in my life. I have never been so closed to a girl like this! Damn! This is so cool! Tomorrow something might destroy me. But today I am the luckiest man in the world.

‘Oh my poor strong man!’ She kisses my cheek.

Standing next to her is the small, hairy, nasty oldman.

‘We come to say goodbye! Elena is so close to you that she insisted on visiting you for the last time! We will marry this November, in Russia…’ the old son of a bitch says.

‘Thank you for saving my fiancee’

Damn it! I don’t want to hear that shit anymore!

The captain rallies his troops. Before they go he gives me a millitary salute. The soldiers leave, ready to engage.

I open the kitchen window and look down the street. It is so bright right now. Tanks, soldiers, helicopters, explosions…

I look at Elena, then the oldman. So it begins. And we’re stuck here, in my aparment. Noone says anything. I’m not sure what to do next. Maybe I will find a car and drive them to the airport. But firstly, is to get out of here.