* The Sandman's Dream Journal o/***

Shotgun

I got off of a bus. I have a man at gun-point. I step off cautiously with him in front of me, and then at the back of the bus, I see a guy with a shot-gun kneeling down.

I say to the guy I'm holding at gun-point, "Is he your protection?" The guy says, "Yea."

I see the other guy at the back, and I see him as I look underneath the bus. I back into a building with my guy in front of me and I say to the guy with the shotgun, "Come on! Let's go! Come and get me!"

In the building, I shoot the guy and run. Shooting my pistol was not vivid, but I did make the decision to pull the trigger, and he was no longer with me after that point.

I ran through the room and found another room. It was poorly lit, and had old, makeshift wood tables and not much more. They were well built, but not store bought. Here comes the guy with the shotgun.

He comes in and he shoots me on the left side of my stomach. Damn! I can feel it, but it isn't as bad as it would be if I were really shot (obviously?). I'm not bleeding, but I have some sense that I'm hit, and that that isn't good.

Shotgun guy is now doing something on the other side of the room, and he is with a buddy of his. I make it over to them and take the shotgun. It is as long as an old musket style rifle. It is very un-wieldy.

I pump it and I cock it. I pull out some wire thing from the front, but I have to hurry and shoot or the people will move and take the gun, so I just shoot. Click! It dry-fired.

I pump the gun and cock it again. The wire thing is still out. The length of the entire unit is ridiculously long. I dry-fire again.

I pump and cock again, and realize I need bullets. pull back a bolt action system to open a place for a bullet. This gun apparently requires every preparation device ever created for a gun. I find a medicine bottle with little 5 sided tablets. They were the size of a tic-tac, but with 5 sides and they were cream-colored. There were also these little discs about the same size in the bottle. I dumped some of the tablets in where I opened the bolt, and shut it again. I fired at one of the guys.

The tablets just popped out with no real consequence. Fuck! I had needed to push the wire thing in. Now I start to look for more tablets. I find a pill tube full of those pins with a little plastic thing at one end. I put it back. I'm screwed.

Nothing much happens from there except that I'm under this guys control. I keep looking for ways to get away. Eventually, I feel like asking if the guys holding me now could just call it even. I shot one guy, they shot me, and now we aren't doing anything to each other. Let's just go our separate ways and leave each other alone.

I woke up then.