Pull

by Craig Borri

The door chime pinged as Mark Jackson walked into the shooting range’s service area. He saw Ben behind the counter. That was good. He liked Ben.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Jackson. How are things?” Ben always called him Mr. Jackson. It was a nice touch.

“Not great, Ben. It’s been a rough week. I thought hitting a few targets might relax me.”

“Yeah, I know how that is,” Ben said as he got the M1 Garand off the rack without asking. It was Mark’s favorite rifle, accurate and it packed a punch. “Hey, did you hear they’re talking about doing away with the Early Release program?”

“Yeah, I heard,” Mark said, shaking his head in disgust. “It’s that damn Senator Conway from California, the one with all the pull in Washington. What are people thinking? Do they want to go back to the way it was in the late 90's and early 2000’s, with the prisons practically overflowing? Early Release has been a godsend to this country.”

“I know. I guess some people can’t leave well enough alone.”

“You’ve got that right.”

Mark paid his range fees and headed out. It was a good day for shooting, clear with very little wind, and plenty of light from the setting sun. There were a few people hanging around watching. He stepped up to the firing platform and nodded to the range master.

“Okay,” the range master said. “First up is Otis Anderson, fifteen to twenty for assault with a deadly weapon, out after two years.”

“Pull!”

There was a loud clunk as the spring-loaded circus cannon shot a screaming Otis Anderson towards the outer prison wall and freedom. Mark’s first shot hit him in the leg. The second was a miss, but the third was a real beauty, hitting him just under the chin and blowing his head clean off. The headless body landed in the safety nets beyond the wall, and the onlookers cheered. Mark flushed with pride.

“Nice shot,” said the range master. “I make that 100 points for a Clean Kill, with a 50 point bonus for a Head Shot.”

Next up was Frank Jones, doing twenty to life for rape. He got another Clean Kill with two shots in the chest. Last up was Phillip Williams, doing a ten year stretch for car theft. He didn’t do as well with him, only getting a 75 points Crippling Wound with a shot that shattered his spine. Williams was picked up by the ambulance waiting outside and taken to the hospital, where he would receive minimum lifesaving treatment.

“It’s too bad they’re trying to do away with Early Release,” Mark thought as he turned in his rifle and received Ben’s congratulations. It’s not like the prisoners were forced to take it, and they did get a good sporting chance. Besides, it was therapeutic. He was whistling as he walked back to his car.

━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━
Craig Borri is an old software engineer with four kids, one wife, one grandson, and one somewhat annoying dog. His life is boring enough that he'd much rather write stories than biographies about himself. Bluesky: @craigborri.bsky.social