CHAPTER ELEVEN
the mercedes is back!

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CHLOE CRINGED AS she held her fist to her lips in unsettled restlessness.

She was currently standing in a corner beside Officer Garden, watching Officer Franklin slowly pace in front of the same group of school-kids from earlier, Phil, Alan and Stu standing anxiously in the opposite corner, and neither of them could sit still, each of them shifting their weight between their feet as they had no clue what was about to happen.

"Okay, kids, you're in for a real treat today," Officer Franklin started, gesturing to the boys. "These gentlemen have kindly volunteered to demonstrate how a stun gun is used to subdue a suspect."

The kids all 'oooed' eagerly, while Chloe sucked in a breath through her teeth and cringed in anticipation.

"Wait a sec, what?" Phil furrowed his eyebrows.

"What?" Stu shot the officer a frown, Alan mirroring the action.

"Now, there's two ways to use a stun gun. Up close and personal..." Officer Franklin just beelined straight for Stu, then zapping him with his stun gun without further warning.

Stu shrieked at the sudden zap as he momentarily froze in paralysis and soon collapsed to the ground, causing Chloe to gasp and clasp her hands over her mouth in shock. "Oh my god, Stu!"

The kids seemed to feel adversely as they all erupted into wholly amused laughter.

"What the fuck?!" Phil yelled as his hands floated just beside his head, the man not knowing what to do as his wide eyes darted between Stu and the officer in shock, Alan just frowning at the officer as he rested his hand on his hip.

"Or...you can shoot it at a distance," Officer Franklin swiftly moved on, glancing at the kids. "Now, do I have any volunteers who wanna come up here and do some shootin', huh?"

All of the kids raised their hands excitedly, only making Chloe question what was severely wrong with their generation.

"Alright, how 'bout you, young lady? Come on up here," Officer Franklin gestured to a student, and when the girl approaching the front, the officer then turned to gesture for Phil to approach him. "Alright. Let's go, handsome. Come on."

When Alan advanced forward, the man shook his head and shut him down immediately. "Not you, fat Jesus. Slide it on back. You, pretty boy."

Chloe widened her eyes as she witnessed Phil furrow his eyebrows and nervously glance between the kids and the officer before reluctantly joining Officer Franklin.

Noticing Officer Garden's eyes inquisitively surveying her, likely curious as to why she wasn't freaking out over her supposed 'husband' about to be harmed, Chloe just cleared her throat and darted her cautious eyes between the officer and Phil quickly, her words strained and quite unconvincing to, surprisingly, everyone but the officer. "Oh no...not my...husband...please, no..."

Phil just turned Chloe's way to furrow his eyebrows at her, the man wordlessly shaking his head at her lack of enthusiasm, in particular.

"Alright, now, it's real simple, all you gotta do is point, aim, and shoot," Officer Franklin bent down so he was eye-level to the girl he gave the stun gun to. "Alright?"

As Phil stepped up to the front, he darted his eyes to Chloe again, who was looking at him with wholehearted concern, before shifting them to the little girl in front of him, who was now aiming straight for his chest. "Okay...you don't really wanna do this."

"You can do this, just focus." Officer Franklin immediately contradicted the words as the girl just nodded quickly.

Phil shook his head as he gestured to the officer and let out a nervous chuckle to try to keep himself calm. "Don't listen to this maniac- let's think this thing through-"

"Finish him!" At Officer Franklin's direct command, the girl just fired the stun gun, this time, aiming right at his crotch, causing Phil to double over in unbridled pain, the man groaning loudly as he held his hands over his groin, eyes rounder than ever before.

"Holy shit!" Chloe couldn't prevent the curse from slipping past her lips as she physically recoiled at the sight, not wanting to imagine the immense pain he must be under, her hands going to rest on her temples in stress.

The kids broke out into a fit of laughter, including the officer's, and as Phil fell to his knees, still holding his crotch and releasing another drawn-out grunt, he soon collapsed to the ground.

"Right in the nuts! That was beautiful!" Officer Franklin's wholly humoured voice called over Phil's pained groans.

"Oh my god," Chloe let out a breath as she hurried over to Phil, crouching down so she was beside him. "Phil, are you okay?!"

Phil couldn't even respond yet, and all he could do, while he caught his breath, was send her an unamused look that Chloe could imagine aimed to voice the question, 'really?', that he was, most definitely, thinking.

"Sorry- stupid question," Chloe sucked in a breath through her teeth as she gently hovered her hands over his chest, not knowing what to do. "That looked really bad."

This time, Phil huffed out a quick breath, furrowing his eyebrows as he managed to let out a few strained words. "No...shit!"

Chloe stayed by his side as she cringed again and snatched her arms back. "Sorry!"

Phil managed to release a few more rapid breaths as he couldn't resist teasing her, the man plastering on a smug smirk through the unbridled pain he was still feeling. "Are you...worried...about me?"

Chloe sent him a pointed glare at the words, and she shook her head as she began to stand up and head over to check on Stu. "Not anymore."

"Worth it." Phil huffed out an amused laugh, though sucking in a pained breath as he still felt the vibration of the electricity shock through him.

As Chloe crouched down beside Stu, the woman's concerned eyes surveying the man who was now slowly turning around, Officer Franklin just clapped at the students and moved on. "Well done. Give her a hand, everybody."

Alan looked around, confused, before gradually joining in on the applause.

"Alan!" Chloe shouted authoritatively as she stared directly at him, and when he jumped and whipped around to meet her sharp glare, which was accompanied by a disappointed shake of her head, he swallowed and lowered his hands.

Phil grunted as he slowly writhed around, trying to gather his bearings, Officer Franklin still praising the girl as he took the stun gun from her hand and moved on to Alan. "Good, okay, we have one more charge left. Anybody want to do some shooting up here?"

All of the kids raised their hands again, and Officer Franklin just had to choose the kid that Alan was holding a grudge against from earlier. "Okay, same instructions- just point, aim, and shoot."

When the kid aimed at Alan's stomach, then beginning to gradually drag it up to meet Alan's forehead, Officer Franklin just impressively nodded slowly, Alan maintaining his unyielding glare on the kid's face. "That's the stuff. I like the intensity. Eye of the tiger. Good. You're holding fifty thousand volts, little man. Don't be afraid to ride the lightning."

Chloe slightly turned around and furrowed her eyebrows at the officer, completely disturbed, however before she could even conceptualise just how mentally warped the man was, the kid had shot the charge right at Alan's forehead, catching the woman's attention.

Alan froze, completely paralysed at the crackle of the gun, and he grunted before beginning to, very gradually, stumble forwards, Chloe widening her eyes from her place kneeling beside Stu as she held her hands up to clasp over her mouth again.

"In the face! In the face!" Officer Franklin boomed out an entertained laugh as everyone watched Alan sway from side to side, still letting out loud cries of torture.

"Oh, he's still up! He's still up!" Officer Franklin laughed again as a girl screamed in fear. "Alright, everybody relax, take it easy, we've seen it before, he just needs a little extra..."

As he jolted Alan again, the man finally collapsed to the ground with a final groan, causing the officer to grin in satisfaction. "There we go."

•

"It seems appropriate that your dick got electrocuted," Chloe started earnestly, raising her hand to block her, now slightly squinted, eyes from the sun beaming down on the group as she glanced at Phil sitting beside her. "Considering you are one most of the time."

Alan let out an entertained chortle at the words. "Yeah."

Phil just turned to humourlessly stare at Chloe for a moment before responding in an entirely sarcastic tone. "You're hilarious."

"I know, it's getting out of hand." Chloe concurred sardonically as she rested her arms over her knees, which were slightly folded up to her chest due to her current position of sitting on one of the stairs at the impound.

"Fuck those guys!" Stu yelled in pure fury as he finished his previous angry pacing and stopped in front of Phil, Chloe and Alan, the latter frowning at the ground, likely in his own little world. "You hear me?! That was bullshit! I'm telling everybody we stole a cop car!"

"They let us go, who cares?" Phil held his hand out to the side as he glanced up at Stu nonchalantly.

"I care," Stu corrected, stomping his foot down. "You can't just do that, you can't just tase people because you- you think it's funny! That's police brutality!"

Chloe squinted as she looked up at him, her words reasonably succinct despite agreeing with the exclamations. "I don't think those officers really gave a shit, Stu."

"Yeah, see, that's the problem, right there!" Stu pointed at her and jumped up as she proved his point.

Phil furrowed his eyebrows as Stu inhaled and exhaled a deep breath, the man redirecting his eye-line to land on Chloe beside him. "I know all of that other shit was a lie back there, but are you really pregnant?"

Chloe met his gaze before huffing out an amused chuckle, the woman waving the words off as she answered. "No, I just said I was to avoid getting my ass electrocuted."

"Wh- okay, that's good...I guess, but- wait, how did you know we were getting tasered?" Phil's frown curiously deepened as he turned and slightly reclined his body to face her properly.

"I read the paperwork while they were conferring," Chloe casually shrugged, and when Phil and Stu stared at her bewilderedly, Alan impressively, she just furrowed her eyebrows at the three of them. "What? I'm a paralegal, reading paperwork makes up ninety percent of my job. I'd like to believe that I'm, at least, mediocre at it by now."

"Wow," Stu drew out before frowning at her in comprehension of the words. "Wait, you knew they were gonna tase us and you didn't say anything? What the fuck, Chloe?!"

Chloe widened her eyes at him as she threw her hands to the sides. "Well, what was I supposed to do, tell cops not to do what they want? Sure, that would've worked."

"Yeah, she's got a point, Stu." Alan immediately nodded, pointing to Chloe as he glanced at Stu.

Stu just exhaled a deep breath to calm himself again before glancing away momentarily. "I'm getting a soda. You guys want anything?"

Chloe looked up at him again, this time, with a small smile. "A few PowerBars would be nice. I'm starving."

"Sure," Stu nodded at her in affirmation before glancing between the other two. "You guys?"

"No." Phil shook his head in refusal as he glanced down at the floor and curled his bottom lip in his mouth for a moment, his tongue grazing the inside of his lip.

"Thanks, Stu." Chloe appreciatively called after Stu as he began to approach the vending machines around the corner, the man just throwing her a thumbs up over his shoulder as he did so.

"My man doesn't shut up, Jesus Christ." Phil huffed out a breath, earning himself a slap on the shoulder by Chloe.

At the action, Phil held a hand over his shoulder as he now turned to frown at the woman, completely offended. "Ow, you'd really hit a man that just got tasered?"

"Your shoulder is fine," Chloe's eyebrows quirked upwards before she shot him an expected look. "I'm not even going to bother asking if you'd prefer me to slap the place you really got tasered, because I already know the answer to that."

"Well, yeah, it would've been the perfect opportunity to make that joke, I can't believe you took that away from me." Phil scoffed in an obvious manner, causing Chloe to exasperatedly shake her head and face Alan.

"You okay, Alan?" Chloe spoke up, changing the subject as she drew Phil's attention to Alan.

"I'm just worried," Alan dejectedly sighed as he glanced between the two. "What if something happened to Doug, something bad?"

"Aw, come on, you can't think like that." Phil immediately contrasted the words with a reassuring shake of his head.

"I mean, what if he's dead?" Alan's tone rose in concern, causing Chloe's curious expression to shift into one of commiseration. "I can't afford to lose anybody close to me again, it just hurts too much. I was so upset when my grandpa died."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Chloe tried to express her sympathies as she watched Alan just nod.

"Oh, I'm sor- how'd he die?" Phil questioned, tone incredibly empathetic.

"World War II." Alan answered.

Phil nodded, assuming that he knew what Alan was referring to. "Died in battle?"

"No, he was skiing in Vermont," Alan shook his head. "It was just during World War II."

Chloe and Phil just blinked in comprehension of the words, the pair staring at Alan blankly for a few seconds before Phil decided to change the subject. "Alan. Doug is fine."

"Well, why hasn't he called?" Alan worriedly inquired as he flickered his gaze between the pair.

"I don't know, but we're gonna figure it out." Phil tried to instil hope within the man.

"I'll tell you another thing..." Stu called as he reappeared around the corner to rejoin the group, opened can of soda in one hand and four PowerBars in the other. "Six-to-one odds, our car is beat to shit. Here, Chlo."

Stu threw the bars to Chloe, who caught them all and already started opening one.

"Stu, not now." Phil tried to signal to Stu that Alan was clearly having trouble grappling with the reality of their situation.

"Now's not the best time." Chloe spoke up between chews of one of the bars as she shook her head and politely held her hand up to conceal her mouth.

"No, seriously, how much you want to bet it's, like, fucked up beyond all recognition?" Stu huffed out a condescending chuckle as he found the situation amusing, Chloe watching Phil stand up and approach the man.

"That's enough- look..." Phil lowered his voice. "Alan's seriously worried, okay? Let's not freak him out anymore."

Chloe realised that she probably came off rude not offering anyone anything, and she just extended one of the bars out to the boys. "Anyone want one?"

Phil and Stu shook their heads in refusal, Chloe extending the bar out to Alan. Alan turned to face Chloe at the offer, and he sent her an appreciative smile as he nodded and took it from her outstretched hand. "Thanks, Chloe."

"Yeah, no problem, Al." Chloe sent him a smile and a nod in return, her smile slowly fading when she noticed Alan's eyes light up at the nickname.

He opened his mouth, beginning to say, what Chloe anticipated was, an inappropriate response, the woman just holding her hand up and shaking her head before he could. "Don't ruin it."

Alan just closed his mouth and nodded, smiling again as he glanced away, Chloe then standing up to stretch her legs while eating the PowerBar.

"I'm sorry, Alan," Stu apologised as he advanced towards Alan. "You know what? We'll search the car for clues, and everything's gonna be okay."

As if on cue, an employee from the impound drove the car straight up to the group, Stu cringing as he covered his eyes, and Phil turning around to avoid seeing its state. "Oh shit. I can't watch...just tell me what it looks like..."

"Hey, the Mercedes is back!" Chloe grinned, coaxing the guys to turn around and look at it. "It's surprisingly in good shape."

"Wow." Stu's voice was entirely surprised.

"Oh, thank god." Phil breathed a sigh of relief.

"Alright." Stu chuckled lightheartedly.

"You see?" Phil faced Alan. "It's gonna be alright."

•

AUTHOR'S NOTE
the skiing in vermont line is so funny 😭

© voidvaleska