Friendly Fire
February 2nd, 2021
Starring: Corporal Billy (male, late 20’s), Rider (female, 15ish)
The middle of the night. (Corporal) Billy and Rider are lying on the roof of their parents’ home, in dark camo. Billy wears full Army-issue combat fatigues. Rider has borrowed another pair from Billy, which are way to big for her. Nevertheless, they lie there, prone, overlooking the large garbage bins. Billy looks down the scope of a large paintball rifle. Rider, acting as his spotter, stares into her own night vision binoculars. They wait, silently:
RIDER
Bill?
CORPORAL BILLY
Mmm?
RIDER
I’m hungry.
CORPORAL BILLY
There’s a nutrigrain bar in my right cargo pocket.
Rider pokes into his pocket and retrieves the bar. She has trouble opening it, making noise:
CORPORAL BILLY
Try not to crinkle.
RIDER
Sorry.
Rider eats the bar, trying to be quiet as possible:
CORPORAL BILLY
You getting tired?
RIDER
No.
CORPORAL BILLY
Because I need you.
RIDER
I know.
Rider finishes her snack, looking back down range. She gives a mini-gasp:
RIDER
I have movement. Half a click East, headed our way.
CORPORAL BILLY
Keep eyes—
RIDER
Gaining fast—
CORPORAL BILLY
That’s alright. Let ‘em come to us.
Rider continues to track, her head moving with the binoculars horizontally:
RIDER
Moving under the fence now.
CORPORAL BILLY
Can you confirm target?
RIDER
...no. I can only get an outline.
CORPORAL BILLY
Keep the tail...
RIDER
Got it. Approaching recycling.
CORPORAL BILLY
Roger. Holding position.
…
RIDER
Moving again. To the trash now.
CORPORAL BILLY
Contact.
RIDER
I can hear the rustling.
...
It’s tail’s sticking out!
CORPORAL BILLY
On your call.
RIDER
Me?
CORPORAL BILLY
You’re my eyes, I want you to call it.
RIDER
I can’t confirm the target—
CORPORAL BILLY
I trust you if you trust you. On your call.
…
…
RIDER
Mark.
Billy fires a salvo of quickfire paintball rounds. There’s a distant sound of the paintballs making contact, then the trash can toppling over.
RIDER
Confirmed hit.
Nice shot.
CORPORAL BILLY
Nice call.
Shall we take a look?
Rider nods. They slide off their bellies and down the roof’s incline. Billy takes out a flashlight and shines it down on the cans. The trash can is on its side, peppered with blue paint. Next to the can, a squirrel lies dead on its back, also covered in blue. Rider puts her hand over her mouth:
RIDER
No....! But...where’s the skunk?!
CORPORAL BILLY
Hm. Not here tonight, I guess.
RIDER
I swore I saw—
CORPORAL BILLY
I know.
RIDER
I promise I didn’t mean to—
CORPORAL BILLY
I know.
RIDER
And then you said make the call and I didn’t not want to—
CORPORAL BILLY
It’s alright. This happens.
RIDER
But I killed it! I just killed something for nothing!
CORPORAL BILLY
You didn’t kill it. I did.
And it’s not for nothing. When the threat is imminent, you have to make decisions. Difficult decisions. Ones you don’t want to make. Sometimes they’re right, sometimes they’re wrong. But you have to make them, for better or worse. If you wanna do this someday, you have to be at peace with that. It’s why I’m showing you now.
…
I’ll clean this up. You get to bed, ok?
RIDER
Ok.
CORPORAL BILLY
Don’t let it get to you. You’ve got a lot of promise.
Rider looks at Billy, then the squirrel. Rider climbs back up the roof and slides open her bedroom window. She salutes to Billy. Billy returns the salute. Rider climbs into her window. Billy climbs down the gutter and gets to work cleaning.