Bad Hair Day

"Hey Sawyer, do you have the 1/2" socket?" asked Ryan as he searched his toolbox.

"Yup, almost done." said Sawyer who was under their old Malibu. "Just need to--- BAH!"

Sawyer pulled himself from under the car and stood up, his face covered in oil.

"Nice one. Good thing you're a black lab." Ryan joked as he threw Sawyer a rag.

Sawyer wiped the oil off his face, then handed Ryan the tool he needed.

"Looks like we need a new oil pan." said Sawyer "I guess I'm done till tomorrow since it's so late."

"Why? I know of a store that's open till 11." said Ryan "We can go there and get what we need and install it tonight."

"Alright, let's go." said Sawyer

* * * * *

Ryan and Sawyer piled into their truck and headed out towards the car parts store. The street was very dark despite the lamps on the side of the road.

"What's the name of this place?" asked Sawyer

"I... don't recall..." said Ryan, clearly hiding something.

"Yes you do! What's it called?" asked Sawyer a second time.

"Crooked Joe's Junk Pile and Parts..." said Ryan

"Ha ha ha! You're buying car parts from a guy named 'Crooked Joe'?" laughed Sawyer

"Hey, he has low prices." said Ryan "And I'm careful not to buy something that's broken."

Suddenly, someone ran out in front of them, forcing Ryan to slam on his brakes. A woman was frantically trying to wave them down.

"What's the deal, lady?" demanded Ryan "I could have hit you!"

"I was robbed! Two men took my purse and ran into that alley!" said the woman as she pointed to a dark alley between two abandoned buildings.

Ryan and Sawyer looked at the alley then at each other.

"One of these days, we should really just call the police." said Ryan as he pulled their truck over.

"Do we have our guns here?" asked Sawyer

"Yeah, but all I brought was rubber bullets. The kind they use in riot control." said Ryan

"Why?" asked Sawyer

"Because just knocking people out was getting old..." said Ryan

* * * * *

Ryan and Sawyer loaded up their weapons and made their way to the alley, trying to stay close to the shadows as they moved. Ryan peaked around the corner of one of the buildings but only saw darkness.

"You see anything Sawyer?" asked Ryan

Sawyer was able to see in the dark better than Ryan.

"Nope, no one there." said Sawyer "But I see a door. Let's check it out."

Ryan followed Sawyer as they made their way down the alley. They made it to the door and heard voices inside.

"Listen." said Ryan "Sounds like there's about four or five of them in there."

Sawyer put his ear to the door and listened in.

"They're saying something about stealing Social Security Numbers tonight..." said Sawyer

"Who's?" asked Ryan

"Everyone's." said Sawyer "They heard us! Look out!"

Sawyer dove for cover behind a trash can, but Ryan had no where to go. He pointed his shotgun at the door and waited for it to open.

"Who's there?" demanded the person who opened the door.

BOOM! The man at the door doubled over in pain as Ryan pumped another shell into the chamber. He looked past the man he had just shot, saw another target and fired again. BOOM! The second man was hit in the chest and fell back. Ryan saw the opportunity to step into the building and finish off the group. He motioned for Sawyer to follow him as he stepped through the door. Ryan spotted another person reaching inside his jacket and fired again. BOOM! The third man in the building fell over in pain as Ryan advanced, looking to his right just in time to see a metal bar come out of nowhere and hit him in the head, knocking him out. Sawyer hesitated, then decided to stay behind the trash can. The three men that Ryan shot struggled to their feet. Ryan was starting to wake up just as the first one kicked him in the stomach. Sawyer was furious, but managed to keep quiet.

"Take him to Mohawk." said the one with the bar as he slammed the door shut.

* * * * *

Ryan was dragged into another room and thrown on the floor. One of the men, who brought him in, placed his weapon in the corner of the room then left, leaving only Ryan and one other gang member.

"Stand up!" demanded a voice in the shadows.

Ryan staggered to his feet, then squinted to see the figure in the shadows. A man stepped into the light and stared him down. He was about as tall as Ryan, but he had strange hair. Ryan guessed that this was the leader of this group... or gang.

"Who are you?" asked the leader

"Pizza delivery. Knocked on the wrong door." said Ryan

"With a shotgun?" said the leader, motioning towards Ryan's weapon.

"Your boys are terrible tippers..." said Ryan as the remaining goon punched him in the stomach.

"I think you're a Cop." said the leader

Ryan shook his head. "Not a Cop. Just in the wrong place at the wrong time." said Ryan

"What should we do with him, Mohawk?" asked the goon

"Your name is Mohawk?" said Ryan "You're so original. Good thing you don't have a mullet." he mocked

"Lock him in the next room." said Mohawk "We don't have time to deal with him properly. We have to focus on tonight's plan."

Ryan was lead away and thrown into the next room. The door slammed behind him and locked shut. There were no windows, no lights, no chance of escape... unless Sawyer could find him.

* * * * *

Sawyer stayed hidden, trying to think of a plan. He didn't have a phone, so he couldn't call the police, but he still had his weapon. He always had the element of surprise, he just hoped that whoever opened the door was a dog-lover. He walked over to the door and started scratching at it, whimpering as if he was cold and hungry. The door opened and out stepped one of Mohawk's goons.

"Hey there, little buddy, what's your name?" asked the goon as he pet Sawyer on the head

"Perfect!" thought Sawyer "Now just let me inside and we're in business."

"Are you hungry? Come on in and get warmed up." said the goon

Sawyer walked in and noticed a telephone and the metal bar that had been used on Ryan. The goon walked past it and reached for a bag of fast food.

"You remind me of a dog I had when I was a kid." said the goon as he pulled out half of a cheeseburger.

"I don't think so." thought Sawyer as he picked up the bar.

"Here you go... What the-- !?" cried the goon as Sawyer attacked, hitting him in the jaw with the bar.

Sawyer dragged the goon into the corner of the room and tied him up with the telephone cord. He used his collar to gag the goon just as he started to wake up. Sawyer hung the phone up, then dialed 9-1-1. He couldn't talk or even hear the operator, but he knew they could trace where the call came from and hoped that they would investigate. Sawyer turned to the goon and grinned as he took a bite of the cheeseburger. The goon fainted.

Sawyer made his way down the dark halls, keeping his nose to the floor as he searched for Ryan. The trail ended at a room with no lights showing under the door. Sawyer took his AK-47 out of his back pack and opened the door.

"Ryan?" said Sawyer

"Sawyer!" said Ryan in a whisper "Am I glad to see you!"

"Let's get out of here." said Sawyer

"We can't yet." said Ryan "If they're really trying to steal everyone's Social Security Numbers, we need to stop them now or it could be too late."

Ryan lead Sawyer to the next room over where he had met Mohawk. He kicked the door open and followed Sawyer into the room. It was empty, but they had left Ryan's shotgun in the corner.

"Now we're in business." said Ryan

They quietly proceeded down the dark hallway. Sawyer stopped at a closed door and listened for a moment.

"They're in here." said Sawyer

Ryan put his ear to the door and heard Mohawk ordering his goons around.

"Hurry up with that password!" said Mohawk

"I almost got it, boss." said the goon "There! We're in!"

"How long will it take to download?" asked Mohawk

"About two minutes." said the goon

"Sawyer, we gotta move now." said Ryan "I'll take the right side of the room, you take the left."

"Got it." said Sawyer "On 3. 1... 2... 3!!!"

Ryan kicked the door open as he and Sawyer poured into the room, guns blazing. Mohawk was behind a desk, along with a goon at the computer and three other goons throughout the room. Sawyer shot one of them with a burst of rubber bullets and Ryan took out another.

"Shoot them!" cried Mohawk as he dove for cover behind the desk.

The hacker goon grabbed the laptop computer he was using and joined Mohawk behind the desk as the remaining goon pulled a pistol out of his jacket pocket. Ryan turned a nearby table over on it's side and ducked behind it. Sawyer sprinted towards the table and leaped to safety just as the goon opened fire on them.

"We have less than a minute to stop that computer!" said Ryan

Sawyer pointed his machine gun around the table fired blindly in the direction of the bad guys. A bullet hit close to his paw as he pulled his gun back and reloaded.

"As soon as he reloads..." said Ryan

Just then, the shooting stopped and Ryan heard an empty magazine hit the floor.

"Now!" yelled Sawyer

They both stood up and charged the goon as he tried to reload. Ryan and Sawyer each hit him as he fell back in pain. Ryan ran around the desk, pointed his shotgun at Mohawk, pulled the trigger and 'click'. His gun was empty. Mohawk grabbed the gun and pulled it from his hands. Sawyer pointed his gun at the hacker, who put his hands in the air in surrender. Sawyer shot him anyways, grabbed the computer and tried stopping the download.

"30 seconds!" yelled Sawyer

"Stop the download!" said Ryan as he wrestled with Mohawk.

Sawyer clicked 'CANCEL' and was asked for a password. Sawyer looked at the hacker, who was knocked out and tried to think of what it could be. He typed:

'mohawkrules' 'PASSWORD DENIED'

'mohawk4life' 'PASSWORD DENIED'

"Less than 10 seconds!" thought Sawyer. Then he remembered hearing Mohawk yell at the hacker.

'mohawksux' 'PASSWORD ACCEPTED' 'DOWNLOAD CANCELED'

"I did it!" yelled Sawyer

"Good!" said Ryan "Now stop this guy!"

Sawyer picked up his gun and aimed it at Mohawk. The gang leader stared down the barrel, then looked up at the snarling dog and stopped fighting.

* * * * *

The police arrived shortly after and arrested Mohawk and his gang.

"You haven't seen the last of me, punk!" yell Mohawk as he was placed in a squad car.

"Don't drop the soap, Moe!" said Ryan as they closed the door and drove off.

Ryan called Annie to let her know why he was late.

"Yeah, we're fine..." said Ryan "Yeah, I'll get Starbucks on the way home..."

Ryan hung up and he and Sawyer drove off in their truck.

"From now on, we're buying car parts online." said Ryan

"Sounds good to me." said Sawyer "Do you think that was Mohawk's entire gang?" he asked

"I don't know." said Ryan "I guess that will be a story for another time."