Lungs burning, legs beginning to feel like leaden weights had been added and mind racing.  He ran.

Briefly, his mind drifts to the evening’s events.  How the night had turned from one of so much promise to a nightmare filled with blood and death.  He ran.

Reflecting back, it all started when Tops said he was tied up at HQ and wanted Goose to pick up his clothes from the tailor.  Begrudgingly, Goose had agreed to once again do Tops “chores” for him.  But he needed to hurry as he had a date lined up with a new dame.   Back to reality and the pain he was feeling in his side from the exertion.  He ran.

Walking into the tailors shop, he knew that something was amiss.  Maria was always at the front counter to provide a greeting and convince you that you needed a new suit.  But Maria wasn’t in her usual location.  The smell of cigar smoke filled the air.  While not uncommon, was something Maria didn’t tolerate as she didn’t want the smell to overwhelm the scent of newly tailored suits.  Jumping over a broken section of sidewalk, he ran.

Stepping around the counter and looking into the back, he can hear the shuffling of feet and the soft cry of a woman.  This puts Goose on high alert.  Having left his gun in the armory at HQ,  Goose questions if he should just leave.  That would be the safe thing to do.  But Maria had always been kind and her husband, Pauly, was well respected by the family.  He needed to find out what was happening.  Avoiding the side of the street with the lights and to avoid being an easy target, he ran.

Seeing a brown paper bag that looked similar to a lunchbag, Goose grabs it, takes a deep breathe, and walks into the back saying in a loud voice “Hey Pauly, I brought you some lunch!”  Goose wasn’t sure what he expected, but seeing Pauly laying on the wood floor, hopefully just unconscious, with blood running from a injury on his head wasn’t it.  Maria was on her knees behind Pauly, attempting to care for him while also covering her mouth to keep down the sobs.  Glancing over his shoulder, he sees headlights before turning a corner and he ran.

Standing over the tailors were two large men, one holding a knife and the other holding a gun that was at first pointed at Pauly, but now was pointed directly at Goose’s head.  The gun holder says “What the fuck do you want pretty boy?  Are you wanting my friend here to cut that smile off your face?”  Realizing that he always smiles during stressful times he accepts that the next few seconds will determine his fate.  Turning a corner, he heads toward HQ and his sanctuary, if he can just avoid them for a few more minutes.  He ran.

With the gun wielder only being a few feet away, Goose takes his only chance and jump right to avoid an errant shot, grabbing the shooters arm with his left, and bringing a full round house right into full contact with the big mans face.  Whether it was the grabbing of the arm or the obliteration of the nose from the crushing nose, by relax the gun was fired and the concussive blast was close to Goose’s ear, rupturing the ear drum.  The big man falls backwards, luckily dropping the gun as he tries to grab the counter for support and the second big man trying to catch his companion rather than going on attack.  Completely exhausted, Goose steps into a dark alley way and hides behind a trash dumpster, gulping in large breaths of air.  Just as he begins to hope that he has lost them, he hears voices yelling out orders to “circle around back”.  He ran.

Not seeing where the gun fell, Goose grabs a pair of tailored scissors sitting on the counter, as the only available weapon and turns on the two attackers.  Not being prepared for any aggression, the knife wielder is focused on pulling the now gunless attacker from the room.  Once he sees that Goose is armed, even with just scissors, he loses his nerve and darts from the room and out the back door.  Breathing a sigh of relief, Goose moves over to check on Pauly.  Only two blocks remaining to HQ and his legs ache more than he has ever experienced.  He ran.

Realizing his mistake a little too late, Goose feels an massive arm come around his neck from behind and yank him backwards, off his feet.  Now that he’s in a prone position, the arm tightens even more around his neck completely cutting off his airflow when a voice says “Fuck with me punk.  I’m going to enjoy feeling you die in my arms!”  With panic setting in and no hopes of breaking the stranglehold by shear force, Goose remembers the scissors in his hand and with one quick motion, drives the improvised weapon deep into the eye socket of the attacker.  Instantly, the grip is released and the attacker drops to the ground…Dead.  Only one more block and he hears a car’s engine coming around a corner and then begin to accelerate.  He ran.

Just as the dead attacker’s body hits the ground, Goose hears voices coming from the back of the store.  The knife wielder has brought reinforcements.  Goose races for the front door and out into the night.  Goose doesn’t know who would be doing a shakedown in Tyki-Mikk’s territory, but he needed to get back to HQ.  Only 100 ft to his sanctuary, he can hear the car’s engine coming on strong and see that his silhouette is being highlighted by the car lights.  He ran.