Gunshots (Jimmy Gordon/Open)

[norafreeze]

Ten minutes. Ten minutes was all she had. Nora hurried down the sidewalk, trying to be sure her heel didn't get trapped in one of the cracks or holes in the cement. She was on her break from her work at Ditto's Diner, still wearing her red dress, stained apron and an off-kilter tiny hat, she felt like an idiot outside the retro-styled walls of her job.

With an almost jog, Nora made her way to the gas station, she needed to get some decent coffee. She couldn't take another oily and burned-tasting cup from Ditto's...and she couldn't finish her shift without getting something to keep her from falling asleep.

Pushing the glass door open, Nora walked in, looking around for the coffee machine. It was in the far corner, the cups tilting dangerously and the photo of warm coffee atop the machine glowing brightly. She checked that her tip money had not escaped her apron pocket and went to pour herself a large cup of their darkest blend.

As she headed across the tiny shop, she noticed the balding man staring into the freezer section, he looked either drunk or on drugs from his glassy-eyed stare at the icecream. Nora glanced over her other shoulder to the older woman at the counter, she was picking her nails and attentively studying a magazine, the front of which read, "Aliens! They're among us!" With an obviously doctored photo of a green man with a cape and a red 'X' shape across his chest.

Nora grabbed one of the paper cups that would be her salvation and began filling it with 'Double Jolt Java'.

[jimmyg]

School had been let out not too long ago, and instead of taking the school bus back home to the familiarity and comfort of his own home, Jimmy wandered a little further west than usual, and wound up taking the public train down to the area that his father worked. Not that he was going to see him, as much fun as that usually was. He'd been down to the police station a few times when it was necessary, with dad or with mom to see dad. But today, it wasn't a priority of his.

The priority today was to go to this little gas station convenience store that held more of a selection than others around the area. It wasn't too far from the school and therefore not too far from home either. Plus, it was about the closest gas station there was to home. With his backpack pulled off from his shoulders on the train, he waited until the name of the stop was broadcast throughout the train, and then had to stand up out of his seat to reach the pull cord that ran the length of the carts to tell the driver to stop.

Collecting his things, he put his backpack on again and wandered off the train in a timely fashion, walking through a series of steps that led back out to the surface of West Gotham, and made his way down about a block's length before finally entering the convenience store.

There were a few people here; notably the person behind the counter, a pretty blonde lady near the coffee machine, and some older looking man near by where he kind of wanted to be. Ice cream wasn't what he was after, but the slushee machine was right next to it, and frankly he wanted to just wait for the man to move out of his way so he could get the frozen beverage in peace.

Until the man left though, Jimmy conspicuously wandered over to a different area, near the front where the newspapers were. Sometimes, dad was in the paper. Most of the time to be praised, and he liked to read those articles. So, he scanned through the front page idly, simply waiting for the man to get away from the machine he was after.

[norafreeze]

Fumbing through the towers of varying sized lids, Nora hesitantly plucked one of the covers from the top of one of the plastic spires. She pressed it down onto the cup, and turned to see a young man standing near the counter, looking over the covers of the newspapers. Pausing, glancing at the clock that was settled inbetween the wall of cigars behind the register, she realized that the child was not buying anything. Just standing there. Nora walked past him, holding out the coffee and pulling 5 dollars from her apron pocket.

The woman, her name tag announced her name "Libby" in handwritten marker. With a slow roll, her eyes came to look at Nora. Feeling as if she was intruding, Nora gave a little smile and passed the woman her money. The woman blinked at the register, sighing as she rang up the order.

BANG!

Nora screamed, her hands going over her head instinctively. There was silence, and Nora opened one eye. Libby, still holding the money Nora had handed her, slowly sunk to the floor, a spurt of red pouring from her chest.

Spinning around, Nora ducked down infront of the counter, looking around in fear.

The man with the glassy eyes had turned, and was holding a thin pistol, his face lined with wrinkles and unshaven. Unblinking, he looked over Nora to where Libby had been standing only a second ago.

The kid! Nora looked around, trying to see if he had gotten out. She didn't immediately see him, but she was at an awkward angle...

"Stand Up. Nice and slow! Stand up and get over there!" He waved his gun towards the map section, his voice louder than it needed to be.

Nora got to her feet, heart pounding hard as she began moving over next to the display of atlases and maps. She was going to be late to work...and at this moment, she desperately wanted Victor.

[jimmyg]

Flipping through the pages of the paper, Jimmy couldn't identify anything with his father's name in the headline. Sometimes that was a good thing. That meant that no one could write any lies about him because he did something that they didn't necessarily agree with. Sometimes though, it wasn't such a good thing. At the moment, he didn't quite know which it was. In fact, he seemed to be quite neutral about it all together. Giving another brief glance at the slushee machine, he rolled his eyes when he saw the man still there, and flipped through the pages once more.

What happened next happened very quick. Seemingly all within a split second, even. There was a loud BANG sound, followed by screams, and then by silence. Jimmy crouched down out of reflex, dropping the paper in the process and keeping his eyes on the floor for a moment. His thoughts that of, maybe if I stay completely still, he'll leave me alone.

Of course though, then came the demands. Stand up, and move over to where he was waving his gun. Jimmy was already relatively close to the designated area, but not close enough.

Slowly, he stood up and started to make his way over to the map section with the others. Near the pretty blonde lady that he'd seen getting coffee and the others that hadn't been shot. Sparing a glance at the counter, he took note that the woman behind it was dead, but in all honesty, he didn't really care. He didn't know the woman, and he could bet that he wouldn't quite like her even if he had.

Staying silent, he took his place a comfortable distance away from the blonde woman, but still where he 'needed' to be. All the while keeping his eyes on the ground, trying to hide his face. Being a Gordon, especially in this sort of situation, most often worked to his disadvantage.

[norafreeze]

Nora had completely missed that there was anyone else in the store, she had been too focused on getting her coffee and back to work quickly. Now she noticed that there was not only the boy with the bowl cut, but a lithe Indian looking man and an elderly woman in a deep brown pant suit with gold trim. Nora stood stiffly with them in the group.

The man with the gun waved it quickly, as if taking the time to train it on each of them just long enough to make them uncomfortable. "Empty out your pockets. Take off your jewelery." His words slurred slightly, "EVERYTHING goes to me. Elec-electronics. Cellphones." He jabbed the gun towards the floor, seeming to indicate where he wanted the items.

Nora began battling to get her wedding ring off. She noticed the old woman was doing the same, trying to get the worn band over the swollen knuckles of old age. Nora finally pulled hers free and crouched to set it in the designated area. She then undid her necklace and pulled it free from under her shirt, setting it down. The Indian man had set a phone, a golden chain, a watch and an earring in the pile. The old woman set her purse into the pile after Nora noticed her hesitating as if holding an inner debate.

Glancing over his shoulder, the red-eyed man stared out of the store, gun still pointed in their direction. Nora wondered if she stood a chance to do something daring. No luck. The man turned back and showed bright white teeth in a huge smile. "Now lads and ladies. We wait for the show to arrive."

Nora had expected him to grab the loot and run. He hadn't even moved towards the register. He just stood there, over their belongings. Watching them with those scarlet rimmed eyes.

[jimmyg]

As the man with the gun pointed the weapon at each of them, Jimmy's eyes widened slightly when the barrel was pointed at him for that brief moment. The man was crazy; that much was obvious. But also drunk. Those two traits together didn't bode well for those unlucky enough to be in the shop, but as long as people followed his demands he figured they might all just make it out of there alive.

Hearing the demands, Jimmy remained completely still. He didn't have anything that the man would want, aside from his cell phone, which was actually one of the things the man had deliberately said. The device was in the top portion of his backpack though, and he knew better than to make a sudden movement and reach into it. Silly though the thought might've been, the man was drunk, and maybe he would've thought Jimmy had a weapon?

Instead of reaching for anything, Jimmy continued to remain completely still, only shifting his eyes to look at the others as they gave into the criminal's demands. He wondered if anyone was in the back; maybe they'd called 911 by now? Maybe his dad was on the way, or at least a couple of cops in his unit. He hoped so. He'd never experienced anything like this before, and he did not like it one bit.

The blonde boy kept quiet, turning his head to look out the window with a relatively calm expression as the man looked out the window as well, listening to see if he heard any sirens. So far, nothing. What if no one had called?

With his hands clutching the straps of his bag, he stood there silent and still, and waited for the whole scenario to be over. The man was getting what he wanted. He could leave any time.

[norafreeze]

Nora shot a glance at the kid, he hadn't moved. He didn't seem to have anything immediately valuable on him. She then checked the mad man with the gun. He didn't seem to mind that the young boy hadn't anything to hand over.

The gunman settled himself into a crouch in front of them. His sweat stained shirt sending up a dreadful reek with the movement. He motioned at them with his gun. "You-you all sit down. Nice and slow." He licked his chapped lips, swallowing hard, and looking at them each in turn.

Nora shifted uncomfortably as his gaze lingered on her a little longer than she would have liked. She tried to hold her short red and white striped skirt to it's longest length as she sat down. The elderly woman struggled down to the floor and turned her attention to the blood pool that was working its way across the tilted floor from behind the counter. Nora watched it as well, she felt a little sick just looking at it. She swallowed hard and glanced at the other people that were held captive.

The Indian looking fellow had his eyes closed, his lips moving in what she could only assume was prayer. She only hoped who ever he was praying to could offer a little help right about now.

The gunman, as if suddenly remembering it should be important, walked over to the register, stepping over the dead clerk, and blew a hole into the change box. Helping himself to the pile of ones and a few twenties, he kept his gun trained on them while shoving the money into his jacket.

He returned and crouched again, tilting his head a little. His eyes narrowed, and he stared intently at the child. Nora could see he was trying to dredge up some memory or something, and what ever it might be, she was pretty sure it wouldn't bode well for the kid.

[jimmyg]

Again, another order was given to those on the opposing end of the gun barrel. Though he wanted to make a run for it, Jimmy knew better than that. To do so would just make the target on his back even larger. Him being a Gordon was already bad enough for his luck.

He sat down slowly, apart from the group after he was told to do so. He was no hero like his father. He wasn't even considering doing anything that could get anyone out of the situation. Just let the crazy man with a gun get what he wants, and then go home. Don't tell dad about it. What would he do anyway? How many dirty looking bums were there in Gotham? He'd never get caught.

Again though, he glanced back briefly behind the counter. No one called 911. He had a feeling that no one did. Even if the number was dialed, he was certain that his dad wouldn't be showing up. Dad was always busy when he needed him most, and bitterly he thought that this occasion would be no different.

Looking back over the others that were being told what to do, he looked relatively calm for a child in this situation. Regardless, he was scared. The man had killed someone already, and it was clear he was in the state of mind to kill someone else if he needed to, to get away. Maybe even just because he wanted to. Either way, he locked his eyes on the floor at the sound of another gunshot, and kept completely still, the smallest of shivers making it's way up his spine.

Then, after the money was taken from the drawer, the man came forward. Crouched down, and looked right at him. No, not looked. Stared. Jimmy did his best to avoid eye contact; something he was good at, but after a few seconds of being within a distance to smell the bum's odor, he looked up and furrowed his brows a bit. "..What?" He asked, immediately regretting saying anything at all.